Independent register, no vendor affiliation. All entries cite primary sources.
VOL. 2026 / FOLIO 01 / HOMEPAGE
DID NOT SHOW · $150B / yr US Healthcare

The chair stayed empty.
$200 walked away.

The average US medical practice loses $150,000 a year to appointments that never arrive. Open your industry register and see what your missed slots are worth.

Source: Advisory Board 2018 (NEJM Catalyst 2022). JAMA 2022 meta-analysis, 5.9M appointments.

Open the register →Calculate my rate
Tuesday roster
Did not show × 3
  • 08:00L. Patel - annual$200
  • 08:30M. Hernandez - F/U$200
  • 09:00R. Singh - new pt$300
  • 09:30A. Brown - lab rev$200
  • 10:00K. Cohen - F/U$200
  • 10:30T. Nguyen - new pt$300
  • 11:00D. Webb - rx review$200
Day total lost$600

Illustrative entries. Three no-shows on a 7-slot morning costs ~$600.

FOLIO 02 · Industry roster

Six rosters. Six rates. Pick yours.

Every industry has its own no-show rhythm. Each row opens a calibrated calculator.

08:00
Primary Care
MGMA 2024 · $200/slot
19%Open →
09:30
Behavioral Health
Kruse et al 2018 · $175/session
30 to 40%Open →
11:00
Dental
JADA 2023 · $250/appt
15 to 25%Open →
13:30
Restaurants
OpenTable 2023 · $60/cover
20%Open →
16:00
Salons and Spas
Phorest 2023 · $90/appt
30%Open →
18:00
Fitness
Mindbody 2023 · $30/class
25%Open →
FOLIO 03 · Cost calculator

Your annual no-show entry

Pick a register, drag the inputs. The day-page recalculates as you write.

Live entry
Slot inputs
1 slot60 slots
1%60%
$10$800
Daily reading

3.8 no-shows per day on average. That is 19% of your 20 daily appointments going unfilled.

Day total · Annual
Annual no-show entry
$350,550
Direct + staff + opportunity
$190K
Revenue lost
$42.8K
Staff cost
$117.8K
Opportunity
SMS reminder ROIJMIR 2019, not vendor claims
33% reduction saves$62,700/yr
Typical platform cost-$3,600/yr
Net savings+$59,100/yr
FOLIO 04 · Rate

Don't know your no-show rate yet?

The dedicated rate calculator covers the formula, three worked examples, segment benchmarks, and edge cases. It's the most-asked question on the site.

Rate = (no-shows ÷ scheduled) × 100

Open rate folio →
FOLIO 05 · Calibrated calculators

Rosters by industry

Each industry has distinct no-show rates, revenue per slot, and cost drivers. Open a tab below for a pre-calibrated calculator.

Tab 01Most traffic

Medical Practices

23%no-show rate

Primary care, specialists, internal medicine. MGMA 2024 financial benchmarks. Six segment presets.

JAMA 2022 meta-analysis, 5.9M appointments

Open →
Tab 02Highest rate

Behavioral Health

30 to 40%no-show rate

Therapy, psychiatry, counseling, substance use. The highest-rate segment with the most underserved audience.

Kruse et al 2018 systematic review

Open →
Tab 03High value/slot

Dental Practices

15 to 25%no-show rate

General dentistry, hygiene, cosmetic, orthodontics, oral surgery. Treatment-plan disruption math.

JADA 2023, CDC dental anxiety data

Open →
Tab 04

Restaurants

20%no-show rate

Fine dining to casual. Deposit ROI calculator, booking platform policies, cover-seat economics.

OpenTable 2023 industry report

Open →
Tab 05

Salons and Spas

30%no-show rate

Hair, nail, barber, day spa, medspa, indie stylists. Card-on-file ROI, policy templates.

Phorest 2023 industry report

Open →
Tab 06

Fitness

25%no-show rate

Personal trainers, boutique classes, yoga and pilates, gyms. ClassPass model dynamics.

Mindbody 2023 wellness report

Open →
FOLIO 06 · Reduction

What actually fills the chair back up

Six interventions ranked by effectiveness. Every claim sourced from peer-reviewed literature, never vendor marketing.

Automated SMS reminders
JMIR 2019 meta-analysis
28 to 38%
Credit card hold at booking
Resy and Mindbody data
35 to 50%
Deposit or prepayment
Resy 2023
50 to 65%
Strategic overbooking
Operations research
fills 60 to 70%
Cancellation waitlist
MGMA 2024
fills 30 to 45%
Written cancellation policy
AMA guidance
15 to 25%
Full reduction folio →
FOLIO 07 · Reminder platforms

The vendor list, honestly priced

ROI math uses peer-reviewed reduction rates, never the vendor's own marketing claims of 50%+.

WeaveSmall dental and primary care
$300 to $500/mo
SolutionReachMid-market medical
$400 to $800/mo
NexHealthModern dental practices
$300 to $600/mo
DoctibleBudget and small practices
$100 to $200/mo
ArteraEnterprise health systems
$20K+/yr
Luma HealthMulti-site systems
$15K+/yr
Full comparison + ROI math →
FOLIO 08 · Primary sources

Three numbers, three primary sources

No vendor-blog round-trips. Every figure on this site links back to its origin.

$150B
US healthcare annual no-show loss
Advisory Board 2018, cited in NEJM Catalyst 2022
23%
Average healthcare no-show rate
JAMA 2022 meta-analysis, 5.9M appointments
28 to 38%
Reduction from SMS appointment reminders
JMIR 2019 meta-analysis, 14 RCTs
Citation archive →Benchmarks →
FOLIO 09 · Margin notes

Frequently asked questions

How much do no-shows cost a medical practice per year?+
A typical primary care practice with 20 slots per day, a 23% no-show rate, and $200 average revenue per visit loses approximately $230,000 per year in direct revenue. Adding wasted staff time and opportunity cost of unfilled slots raises the total to $280,000-$350,000. US healthcare as a whole loses an estimated $150 billion per year to no-shows (Advisory Board, cited in NEJM Catalyst 2022).
What is the average no-show rate for healthcare?+
A JAMA 2022 meta-analysis of 5.9 million appointments found an average healthcare no-show rate of 23%. Rates vary by segment: primary care 19%, behavioral health and therapy 30 to 40%, dental 15 to 25%, specialist 10 to 12%. Behavioral health has the highest rate of any appointment-based industry.
How do you calculate the no-show rate?+
No-show rate = (number of no-shows / total scheduled appointments) x 100. For example, 23 no-shows out of 100 scheduled appointments = 23% rate. Only patients who failed to appear without any contact count; same-day cancellations are not no-shows. See our dedicated rate calculator at /calculate-no-show-rate.
What is the best strategy to reduce no-shows?+
The most evidence-based strategy is automated SMS reminders sent 48 hours and 2 hours before the appointment, which reduces no-shows by 28 to 38% (JMIR 2019 meta-analysis of 14 studies). Combined with a clear written cancellation policy and a credit card hold at booking, practices typically achieve 40 to 55% total reduction.
Should I overbook to offset no-shows?+
Yes, but calibrated carefully. The common mistake is overbooking by the full no-show rate, which creates problems on high-attendance days. The correct approach is to overbook by 60 to 70% of your no-show rate. For a 23% no-show rate, overbook by 14 to 16%. This keeps you within acceptable service variance without risking patient experience on good-attendance days.

Register entries verified 2026-04-28