Segmenting outpatient appointment behavior: a data-driven approach to understanding no-shows, delays, and walk-ins in specialty care

Appointment reminders and age are strong, actionable predictors of attendance. Behavioral segmentation revealed latent patient profiles with distinct needs. Personalized scheduling strategies-especially targeted reminders and flexible systems-may improve outpatient efficiency and reduce inequities. These findings support the integration of behavioral clustering into appointment optimization frameworks.Keywords: outpatient appointments; no-show behavior; appointment reminders.