How Can We Use Psychology to Reduce Missed Hospital Appointments?
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.
Date: 10 February 2016, 16:00 (Wednesday, 4th week, Hilary 2016)
Venue: Tinbergen Building, South Parks Road OX1 3PS
Venue Details: Lecture Theatre A
Speaker: Dr Michael Saunders (Head of Research, Behavioural Insights Team)
Organising department: Department of Experimental Psychology
Organiser: PsyNAppS
Organiser contact email address: psynapps@gmail.com
Booking required?: Not required
Cost: £5 year membership to PsyNAppS available. Alternatively, pay £2 for a single event!
Audience: Public
Editor: Janice Young