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However, there is a solution – artificial intelligence (AI) technology can tackle one of the NHS's biggest challenges; predicting and reducing the number of people who DNA.

Why are DNAs on the rise?

DNAs occur for multiple reasons; appointment letters can be delayed in the post, long phone queues can stop people from rescheduling, or people may need more information to understand the purpose of an appointment. More personalised care is desperately needed to tackle these issues, but it can be hard for administrative staff to take an individualised approach.

Thankfully, AI and patient engagement technology can deliver the solution to unlocking high-volume, personalised care.

Using AI to identify why people DNA

AI can help trusts predict and prevent missed appointments by analysing the multiple factors that impact DNA rates. For example, the DrDoctor AI-driven DNA model is analysing 35 different factors such as demographics, appointment times, working hours and travel, to identify patterns and enable providers to predict who will DNA accurately.

The intelligent risk stratification tool - developed using funding from NHS England’s Accelerated Access Collaborative - is being trained on burgeoning datasets so that NHS administrators have even more insight into which patients need an improved or alternative approach to engagement.

However, staff also need to be able to act on the insight that AI provides.

Patient engagement reduces DNA rates

There’s evidence across the NHS to show how patient engagement technology saves time for staff by automating many tasks associated with patient communication. Letters are digitised and available directly to the patient, reducing the requirement for teams to manage the post.

Patients are texted or emailed with appointment times that they can reschedule without manual intervention, saving hours on the phone managing diaries. Text reminders nudge patients to attend.

And if someone can’t attend, patient engagement tools make it easy to offer last-minute slots to others, so that clinical time doesn’t go to waste.

The AI DNA tool works hand in hand with these solutions. For example, the prediction model can identify patients who are 90% likely to miss their appointment. Personalised communications to such groups can be fully automated, which can meet individual preferences whilst saving further time for NHS teams.

Often these cohorts are the most vulnerable and have the highest accessibility needs. Staff now have the capacity to contact them directly and provide a more tailored, meaningful service built to meet their needs.

The future of AI

AI-powered patient engagement technology is a solution to a significant problem for the NHS –customers using the DrDoctor patient engagement platform reduce DNAs by up to 30 per cent and there’s an expectation for this to increase by another 18% using the AI tool.

Patients today demand more personalised and convenient healthcare services. With the use of AI- powered patient engagement technology, healthcare providers can give people more tailored and productive care in an efficient and scalable way.