Case Study: AI-Powered Reduction of Did Not Attend (DNA) Rates at The Hadleigh Practice
The Challenge:
Missed appointments, commonly known as Did Not Attends (DNAs), are a persistent issue across the NHS, leading to significant waste of clinical time and resources. Each year, millions of appointments are lost due to DNAs, creating delays in care, reducing appointment availability, and increasing pressure on already stretched healthcare teams. Despite their commitment to high-quality care, The Hadleigh Practice faced a persistent problem with DNA appointments. Missed appointments, particularly for blood tests, were frequent and contributed to inefficiencies, wasted staff time, and delays in patient care.
Analysis revealed a particular area of concern: the over 65s patient demographic was missing approximately 10-20 appointments per week. The practice needed a targeted solution that would improve attendance without overburdening staff with universal reminder systems.
The Solution
The practice adopted the SystmOne DNA Probability Report, a clinical tool powered by an AI-driven algorithm designed to accurately predict the likelihood of a patient missing their scheduled appointment.
The SystmOne DNA Probability Report has three key steps:
- Data Analysis: Machine learning models analyse various patient data points – excluding information on patients under 18 – to generate a prediction score for non-attendance.
- Risk Categorisation: Patients are classified into distinct risk groups:
- Red Flag: High risk of non-attendance.
- Amber Flag: Medium risk of non-attendance.
- Green Flag: Low risk of non-attendance
- Targeted Intervention: This classification allows staff to prioritise proactive engagement with those patients most likely to DNA, maximizing the efficiency of outreach efforts.
Implementation and Ease of Use
The Hadleigh Practice integrated the tool into its weekly workflow, finding it easy to deploy and manage:
- Workflow: The probability report is run once per week.
- Intervention Strategy: Manual text reminders are sent to all patients flagged as Red (High Risk) and Amber (Medium Risk).
- Smart Booking: The risk status is shown in the appointment booking dialogue, helping identify patients who may have additional challenges and manage available slots more effectively based on predicted attendance.
The Outcome
The ease of implementation allowed staff to focus resources where they were most needed, using a combined approach which includes the universal reminders and the targeted, intelligent intervention model. By proactively contacting the right patients at the right time, the practice successfully reduced the missed appointments especially in the >65s age group. This improvement demonstrated the power of AI in moving from reactive management to predictive clinical efficiency.
The practice is committed to fully integrating the risk status marker into broader practice usage to ensure all processes, from booking to day-of reminders, are governed by the AI’s predictive power. The SystmOne DNA Probability Report proved to be an invaluable, easy-to-use tool in upholding The Hadleigh Practice’s dedication to modern, efficient family care.