Researchers examined 886 patients at a medical practice. They divided the patients into three groups — those whose physicians scheduled appointments for them to get a flu shot, those who were asked to make their own and those who were given no instructions.
The study shows patients who had flu shot appointments scheduled for them were three times more likely to get vaccinated than those who were told to set their own appointments.
Sixteen percent of the patients who had vaccination appointments made for them showed up, as compared to only 5 percent of those asked to make their own appointment. Just 2 percent of those who were not given vaccination instructions showed up to get the shot.
“Prescheduled appointments are a simple intervention that clinics can use to increase vaccination rates,” said Gretchen Chapman, a lead author of the study and a professor of psychology at Rutgers University-New Brunswick (N.J.).
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