Missed hospital appointments are a major cause of inefficiency worldwide. With healthcare providers increasingly using automated reminders to reduce ‘Did Not Attend’ (DNA) rates, how can we use psychology to reduce missed hospital appointments and increase efficiency? If reminders are effective, is there evidence on whether their impact is affected by their content? What is the optimum public health intervention?

Michael is the Head of Research at the Behavioural Insights Team. His team supports the Behavioural Insights Team’s evaluation capabilities, and in particular the use of randomised controlled trials to test public policy interventions. Michael’s PhD explored the application of behavioural insights to charitable giving, and he authored a report on Applying Behavioural Insights to Charitable Giving. He holds an MSc in Economics and Public Policy, and a PhD in Economics, both from the University of Bristol. He previously taught Policy Design and Analysis at the University of Bristol, and worked as a Teaching Fellow at the University of Bath. He is currently a post-doctoral research fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, where he is part of the Harvard’s “Behavioural Insights Group”, and is a Research Associate at the Centre for Market and Public Organisation (CMPO) at the University of Bristol.