Students who have grown accustomed to skipping classes or meetings during their time at SMU may now think twice about not showing up for a scheduled appointment at the Memorial Health Center.
This time, financial implications are involved.
In an effort to cut down on the number of missed appointments (or no shows), Health Center officials, along with representatives from Health Services and Student Affairs, have announced a fee of $10 which will be charged to a student’s account should they fail to show up at the scheduled time. In order to avoid the charge, the student must cancel at least one hour before the appointment time.
According to Nancy Merrill, Co-Medical Director for the Memorial Health Center, no shows can cause more than just a minor inconvenience.
“When a student misses a scheduled appointment,” she explained, “the time slot may often be lost to another student who may be ill or have other medical needs. There are also time, efficiency [or] overhead issues involving the front desk staff, the nursing staff and the physicians who are there to take care of patients.”
The action was taken following a fall semester that, according to Dr. Merrill, “revealed an average rate of no shows … around 10 percent, but as high as 20 percent per day.
“Over 50 percent of those no shows,” she continued, “were students who had booked the appointment 24 hours in advance.”
While the fee of $10 may sting the pocketbook of a young Mustang student, Dr. Merrill pointed out that SMU is not alone when looking to bring down the number of missed appointments. In fact, benchmark universities such as Tulane charge students up to $20 for each no show.
“TCU has a strict policy for all students booking an appointment with the Nurse Practitioner in the Women’s Health Clinic. If a student who has booked an appointment for that clinic no shows,” Merrill said, “they are not allowed to book another appointment with the Nurse Practitioner again for an entire semester.”
In addition, “many physicians’ offices now charge higher fees for missed appointments.”
While the semester rolls on, Health Center officials will examine the effectiveness of the new procedure. The main issues to be readdressed are the overall number of missed appointments, the number of missed appointments by patients who schedule 24 hours in advance and/or are frequent no show repeaters and whether or not students in need but without an appointment are able to be seen.
As Dr. Merrill explained, the motive behind the new no show policy is a more smooth-running Health Center.
“We are not trying to make a profit or punish students,” she said, “but help them.”
The goal is, “to be as kind and gentle as possible while trying to improve our services to all students.”
Any questions or comments regarding the new missed appointment fee should be directed to the Memorial Health Center at (214) 768-2141.
