FORT POLK, La. –– Soldiers and Family members who miss appointments cost the Army time, resources and money. Each missed appointment costs the Army an average of $70, according to BJACH’s chief of business operations, Maj. Shonnel Makwakwa. Currently, no show rates are 6.8 percent at Bayne-Jones Army Community Hospital. This equates to nearly 2,000 missed appointments per month, which result in wasted financial and staff resources, as well as a missed opportunity to provide care to other patients.

“BJACH experienced 1,826 no shows in September, resulting in appointments going unfilled and costing more than $120,000 in prospective earnings,” said Makwakwa. A “no show” is defined as an individual who misses or is late to an appointment without cancelling or rescheduling. At BJACH, if you are more than 10 minutes late, you will be considered a no show. Appointments should be cancelled at least two hours prior to appointment times, so that the slot can be offered to another beneficiary.

To make or cancel an appointment, call 531-3011. You can schedule and cancel appointments by visiting TRICARE Online 24 hours a day, seven days a week at www.tricareonline.com. If you have not used TOL before, you will need to establish a login name and password on your first visit by selecting the link on the right-hand side of the home page called “Register Now on TOL” and following the step-by-step instructions. Registered users can schedule, view and cancel primary care and select self-referral specialty appointments on behalf of themselves or for authorized Family members, including adults (who have granted access) and minor children (under 18 years of age), with the feature called TOL Booking Appointments for Minors, or TBAM.

Once you have scheduled your appointment, you may receive an automated reminder call up to two days before your appointment. Additionally, BJACH will offer appointment text reminders to patients that opt into the service.

If you are unable to make it to your appointment, it is critical that you cancel it as soon as possible to ensure that BJACH can use that slot to provide a fellow Soldier or Family member needed care. Cancelled appointment timeslots are used for other patients that need an appointment as well as patients waiting to be seen in the ER. When an appointment is missed, the space is not filled and the time slot may go unused. When a patient misses an appointment without cancelling, they may keep another patient from using that appointment slot. Missed appointments can result in impaired continuity of care and possibly continued health problems.

The next time you are unable to make it to an appointment, be sure to call or go online to cancel, because an appointment missed by you is an appointment missed by two.