Will not enough to remember to cancel, if you can't come? Then there namely another from the waiting list, which can get your time.

that is How it sounds in a Facebook lookup from of pulmonary medicine Department at Aalborg university Hospital.

Along with the invitation is a picture of a glass cylinder filled with balls, each representing a cancellation or no-show from the department.

"We would like to have a more general attention to the no-shows is a waste and loss to society. There has been much focus on that we, as doctors and nurses must be effective, but we need citizens ' help to be able to be it. So we do this in the hope to get in contact with some of them, there is lacking," says senior senior physician at the of pulmonary medicine Department, Steffen Kristensen.

of pulmonary medicine Department at Aalborg university Hospital is not the only place in the country, where the danes apparently can't figure out how to cancel our time, if we are being prevented. F. ex. according to figures from the Region of southern denmark, to 181.262 patients absent from their agreement at the hospitals in 2018, equivalent to 4.7 per cent. of the patients. In the north denmark Region is about 3.7%. of the patients.

of pulmonary medicine Department cost $ 2000. for a as lung function tests, so if the patient does not show up, it is a lot of money in the long run. F. ex. estimated Bispebjerg Hospital in 2015, to no-shows alone for their hospital cost 40 million. crowns.

"Our udeblivelsesprocenter is unfortunately fairly constant. We would like to have, they went down, but we have not been able to achieve yet," says Steffen Kristensen.

Is there a suspicion of lung cancer, people are, however, better to show up (around 2 per cent. is absent), than if there is a survey for asthma (8 per cent. Betsmove fails to appear). It may be due to the patients typically will be summoned a few days before the examination, where a less serious one of its kind can be made several weeks in advance.

"It is the dødærgerligt, for then there was another that could have scored square. We also find that people call a half hour before a study, and so it can be hard to reach to get another patient in," says the chief physician.

At Aalborg university Hospital, calls in Facebook-lookup the citizens to join the NemSMS – a service that makes it easier to remember appointments with the public.

But the scheme has not had quite so much effect as one might have wished for. The problem is often that the text message must not contain sensitive information, and therefore the message can not disclose in concrete terms how the investigation is to be conducted, but only that there is talk about an investigation.

"It could be delicious, if you instead got an e-mail and then smoke it directly in your calendar. Or it could be a secretary, two days before the agreement called up and reminded the people about their agreement. If we are nearly at 10 per cent., who cancels their time, so can a secretary almost fund itself," says Steffen Kristensen.

In the central denmark Region have previously been tried with a fine of 250 dollars for no-shows. It led however not to a decrease. The conclusion was then, that the minimum had to be set up to $ 500. in order to have an effect.