That means that no-shows -- those who have an appointment but don't arrive for it -- can seriously impact wait times and be a waste of physician time.

Jennifer Furie, nursing student, is one of three people hired to do call-backs for the three Yellowknife medical clinics. Monday was Furie's first day on the job and she said she was enjoying it so far. - Chris Puglia/NNSL photo

According to YKHSS data, 20 per cent of patients at one point were not informing the clinic they would not be there for their appointments.

The trend was causing serious concern, which prompted the beginning of a call-back program.

Earlier this year three high school students, for an hour a day, called patients and reminded them about their appointments.

"Certainly we saw a dramatic change," said Heather Leslie, director of clinical services.

The no-show rate was cut in half.

Leslie said the problem wasn't always with people not wanting to attend their appointments.

"Some people may have been scheduled a while in advance. These people might really want to come to their appointment, but they don't have the best time management skills," said Leslie.

Over the summer the clinics lost two of their call-back personnel, and the results were obvious. No-shows rose by four per cent.

It was then that the project was re-evaluated to determine if it could be fit back in the budget. For $400 a month, YKHSS decided to go back to three people conducting call backs.

Leslie said although there are no monetary benefits to reducing no-shows, it does improve on patient care.

"What we're trying to do is make as much use of doctor's time and we're able to do that by rescheduling patients," said Leslie.

Ideally the best solution would to increase the number of physicians to speed up access and, Leslie said, that is something YKHSS is trying to do.

"We know what we need is more physicians working in the clinics and we're working on that," she said.

The problem, she said, is recruiting physicians is a long-term process and can be difficult when the requirements are doctors with special training.

"We're looking for physicians with very specific skills," said Leslie, who cited obstetrics as an example.