The rate of failed appointments in post-discharge NICU graduates was 50% among the families in 1993. Interventions such as, (3) preclinic telephone reminders 24 hours prior to scheduled appointments, and (4) a tour to ambulatory clinic and ER facility for parents of NICU graduates at the time of discharge from the nursery were added to already exiting interventions such as(1) post-failure telephone call and (2) postal delivery of a rescheduled appointment card. 291 out of a total of 404 neonates were followed for six months and appointment keeping behavior following NICU discharge was coded:(1)failed to transfer, failed first appointment and attempt to reach by phone and postcard were unsuccessful; (2)lost to follow-up, kept only the first immediate appointment; (3) partially compliant, missed some appointments after transfer; (4) fully compliant, kept all appointments. A statistical analysis was done using chi square and a p value of <0.05 was considered significant. Conclusion: Awareness of a problem of failed appointments and interventions such as preclinic reminder calls and tour to ambulatory facility reduced failed appointments in follow-up clinic in the first two categories. Table

Table 1
Full size table