To analyze the reasons why patients fail to come to a subsequent visit in outpatient service of Periodontal Department, Peking University School of Stomatology. Measures to reduce the failure rate were explored, so as to perfect the reservation service system.

A self-designed questionnaire was handed out to 165 patients who did come to a subsequent visit to the Department of Periodontology during July to December 2013, and 158 were valid. In this questionnaire, factors affecting the patients′ failure to subsequent visit were included, like convenience of registration, satisfaction of the treatment effects, doctors′ service attitude and satisfaction of the nurses′ service.

In our hospital, patients can get registered by queuing on the spot, making a reservation on the consultation desk, 114 telephone reservation and on-line reservation. 89.23% of queuing registered patients recalled doctors on time, whereas 10.77% failed to come. For patients who made their initial reservation by consulting the service desk or by 114 phone reservation, 75.76% came as scheduled, whereas 24.24% of them failed to come. High rate of failure to come was related to lack of targeted management.

Differences in ways of getting registered lead to differences in rate of patients′ missing the reservation. This rate can be effectively reduced by perfecting reservation procedure and targeted management.

Periodontal disease; Outpatient service; Subsequent visit; Reservation