Tuesday, December 2 | 3:20 p.m.-3:30 p.m. | T7-SSNPM02-3 | Room S402
This session tackles the problem of imaging exam no-shows and suggests that radiology administrators may be able to maintain scheduling efficiency and ensure high productivity using proactive, automated patient confirmation processes.
Patient no-shows remain a significant challenge in radiology departments worldwide, with rates reported as high as 25% in some institutions, according to presenter Patricia Carrascosa, MD, PhD, and colleagues.
The presentation provides a case study of how a large imaging center implemented a structured, multichannel patient confirmation system to prevent imaging equipment underutilization, workflow disruptions, and financial losses.
To quantify long-term impacts on productivity and revenue, researchers evaluated no-show rates across all imaging departments and modalities from 2018 to 2025. In 2019, the imaging center moved from no confirmation system to a WhatsApp-based system with automated reminders sent to patients prior to the scheduled exam.
According to results provided for RSNA 2025, no-show rates fell from 15% in 2018 to 6.6% in 2025, over 55%, corresponding to an 8.38 percentage point improvement. Given that each percentage point of no-show reduction represents an estimated value of $30,000, this improvement translates to a financial gain of approximately $251,400 in productivity and billing, Carrascosa and colleagues noted.
“Maintaining low no-show rates offers significant operational and economic benefits and should be a priority in imaging service management,” they said, recommending widely used platforms such as WhatsApp.
Drop in to learn more about how the practice used no-show management to create “significant” operational and economic benefits.