Cancellation and no-show
Handle cancellations cleanly and mark no-shows so reporting reflects reality.
Overview
Cancellation is when the patient or clinic explicitly calls off the appointment ahead of time. No-show is when the appointment time arrives and the patient doesn't. Both are valid lifecycle endpoints; both move the appointment out of the active calendar.
Prerequisites
- Any clinical or front-desk role
- The appointment exists and is
SCHEDULEDorCHECKED_IN
Steps
Find the appointment. Calendar or patient profile.
Decide cancel vs no-show. Cancel applies before the appointment time, with the patient's awareness. No-show applies when the time has passed without check-in.
Cancel: click the appointment → "Cancel". A modal opens. Required field: cancellation reason (e.g., "Patient illness", "Clinic emergency", "Equipment failure"). Optional: tick Notify patient to send a cancellation SMS/email.
Confirm the cancel. Click Cancel appointment in the modal. The appointment status changes to CANCELLED. The slot is freed. The patient gets a notification if you ticked the box.
No-show: open the queue or appointment detail. From the queue, click More actions → Mark no-show. From the calendar, click the appointment → Mark no-show.
Confirm no-show. Optionally add a note ("Patient called 30 minutes after time, asked to reschedule"). Click Confirm.
Trigger a follow-up. No-show triggers can auto-create a recall — see Settings → Recalls → No-show rule. Otherwise, manually create a recall or call the patient.
Verify on reports. Open Reports → Appointments. No-show rate updates with the new entry. Cancellation rate updates separately.
Expected outcome
- Cancelled: status CANCELLED, the slot is free, patient notified if requested
- No-show: status NO_SHOW, slot remains marked occupied for that period in reporting (so utilization metrics aren't artificially inflated)
- Both are visible in the audit log
- Reports update on the next refresh
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Cancel button is disabled | Appointment already COMPLETED or IN_PROGRESS | Use "Mark complete" or "Mark no-show" instead |
| Patient wasn't notified | Reminders disabled, or you unchecked Notify patient | Check the box on the next cancel; or send manual SMS from Communications |
| No-show too early | Some clinics require waiting at least 15 minutes past start | Check Settings → Appointment Rules for grace period |
| Want to reverse a no-show | Open the appointment detail | Click More actions → Restore; the appointment goes back to SCHEDULED |
| Reports look wrong | Cache | Wait a minute, refresh the report |