Reminder texts reduce nuclear medicine cancellations

Automated pre-test text messages helped reduce cancellations and rescheduling for some nuclear medicine appointments, according to a Journal of the American College of Radiology article in press.

Researchers evaluated the messaging program for cardiac stress testing and FDG PET scheduling at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL. The article was titled “Pre-test Messaging to Reduce Cancellations in Nuclear Medicine: Evaluation in Cardiac Stress Testing and FDG PET Scheduling.”

Mayo Clinic implemented automated messages for cardiac stress tests on June 1, 2025, and expanded the program to FDG PET the following month. The messages reminded patients about preparation requirements before imaging appointments.

Analyses included intent-to-treat comparisons of messages sent versus not sent and per-protocol comparisons of messages opened versus not opened.

Among nearly 1,500 cardiac stress test appointments, intent-to-treat analysis showed a nonsignificant reduction in cancellations or rescheduling. Per-protocol analysis showed lower cancellation or rescheduling rates of 3.21% versus 5.91%.

Among more than 2,600 FDG PET appointments, automated messaging reduced cancellations or rescheduling in the intent-to-treat analysis, from 2.46% to 1.13%.

For completed PET appointments, median delay times also decreased. Scheduling timestamps showed a reduction from 5.67 minutes to 0.43 minutes, while imaging system metadata showed a reduction from 59.6 minutes to 52.5 minutes.

Ryoko Sato, PhD, of Siemens Healthineers, and co-authors wrote that pre-procedure messaging “improved scheduling efficiency.” The authors said the results showed potential to improve patient adherence and operational workflow.