University of Rochester Medicine Reduces Procedure Cancellations and No-Shows with SeamlessMD, Adding an Estimated $1.7M in Annual Revenue

University of Rochester Medicine (URochester Medicine), an eight-hospital academic health system serving patients across Rochester, New York, partnered with SeamlessMD to improve preparation and reduce cancellations and no-shows for two high-volume procedures: colonoscopies and urology biopsies.

Patient cancellations and no-shows can disrupt schedules, delay care and leave valuable procedure capacity unfilled. URochester Medicine wanted to better support patients before their procedures – helping them understand and complete preparation requirements while identifying those at risk of cancelling early enough for care teams to intervene.

With SeamlessMD Digital Care Journeys, URochester Medicine increased colonoscopy case completion by 14%, reduced colonoscopy no-shows by 68%, and reduced urology biopsy no-shows by 77% – representing the addition of an estimated $1.7 million in additional annual revenue.

Key Results

Colonoscopy

• 14% increase in case completion rate
• 68% reduction in no-show rate
• 16% reduction in cancellation rate
• $1.32M in estimated additional annual revenue, equivalent to 442 additional colonoscopies per year

Urology Biopsy

• 29% reduction in patients with a patient-initiated cancellation
• 77% reduction in patients with a no-show
• 11% higher rescheduling rate among patients who cancelled
• $364,766 in estimated additional annual revenue from avoided cancellations and no-shows

Helping Patients Arrive Prepared for Their Procedures

Successful procedures often depend on patients completing several important steps before they ever arrive at the hospital. Colonoscopy patients may need to pick up and correctly use bowel preparation, adjust medications and arrange transportation home. Urology biopsy patients may need to stop blood thinners according to medication-specific schedules and understand what to do if their health or plans change.

URochester Medicine worked with SeamlessMD to build evidence-based Digital Care Journeys that guide patients from the time their procedure is booked through recovery at home. Patients receive multimedia education, reminders, to-do lists and tasks through text message, email, mobile app and web.

Pre-procedure readiness surveys help care teams confirm that patients have received their instructions and completed necessary preparation. The pathways can also personalize guidance based on medications, automate self-care recommendations and flag patients who may need additional support before their procedure.

As Dr. Nick Bartell, Director of Clinical Operations and Associate Safety and Quality Officer for Gastroenterology & Hepatology at URochester Medicine, explained:

Whether a colonoscopy happens comes down to how well the patient is prepared. SeamlessMD allowed our care team to check on patients ahead of time, see who has not picked up their bowel prep or arranged a ride home, and reach those patients before the day of the procedure – which has increased our case completion rate.

Increasing Colonoscopy Case Completion by 14%

Among patients who used SeamlessMD, the colonoscopy case completion rate increased from 57.8% to 66.1%, a 14% improvement.

The cancellation rate decreased from 39.07% to 33.01%, while the no-show rate fell from 2.69% to 0.87%, representing reductions of 16% and 68%, respectively. The analysis compared 3,005 appointments in which patients used SeamlessMD with 3,350 appointments in which patients did not use the platform.

URochester Medicine estimates that the higher completion rate translates to approximately 442 additional colonoscopies per year, representing $1.32 million in estimated additional annual revenue. The estimate is based on the health system's provided revenue range of $2,500–$3,500 per colonoscopy, using $3,000 as the midpoint.

Reducing Urology Biopsy Cancellations and No-Shows

URochester Medicine saw similar improvements with its urology biopsy Digital Care Journey.

Among patients who used SeamlessMD, the proportion experiencing a patient-initiated cancellation decreased from 28% to 20%, a 29% reduction, while the proportion with a no-show fell from 4% to 1%, a 77% reduction. Patients who cancelled after using SeamlessMD were also 11% more likely to reschedule their biopsy.

By avoiding cancellations and no-shows, URochester Medicine estimates the program generates an additional $364,766 in annual revenue – $199,566 from avoided patient-driven cancellations and $165,200 from avoided no-shows. These estimates use the health system's provided cost of $3,601 per unfilled procedure slot; they do not include additional administrative costs, and the cancellation estimate does not account for slots that may ultimately have been refilled.

Dr. Thomas Frye, Associate Professor of Urology and Vice Chair of Clinical Affairs for the Department of Urology at URochester Medicine, shared:

Biopsy patients have a lot to manage before they arrive, particularly holding their blood thinners on the right schedule. SeamlessMD walks patients through it step by step, and makes sure they know who to contact if something changes. This has dramatically cut down on the cancellations and no-shows we used to absorb.

Integrating Digital Care into Existing Epic Workflows

Both programs automatically enroll patients through an HL7 feed from Epic into SeamlessMD. Patient monitoring is integrated into dedicated Epic In Basket pools so care teams can identify patients at risk of cancelling and intervene before the procedure date.

This integration enables the programs to operate at scale while keeping staff inside familiar clinical workflows. Patients can receive support through SeamlessMD or within their MyChart experience, while care teams can focus their attention on the patients who need additional help.

Today, SeamlessMD is also being used across URochester Medicine for hypertension, CHF, COPD, stroke and colorectal cancer screening, with deep integration into Epic and MyChart.

Read the full case study to learn how University of Rochester Medicine is using Digital Care Journeys to improve procedure readiness, protect clinical capacity and help more patients successfully complete their care.