FOLIO 14 · Research
← Back to registerCitations / DOIs / no vendor round-trips
Primary sources behind every figure.
Every statistic on this site linked to a primary source. No vendor-blog round-trips. Reviewed quarterly.
The $150 billion figure
No-Show Rates and Direct Financial Impact on Ambulatory Care
2018Advisory Board · Advisory Board research brief · n = National healthcare cost modeling
Cited in NEJM Catalyst 2022, Vol. 3(8)
Key finding: $150 billion annual cost of no-shows to US healthcare system
Used on: Homepage, /healthcare
Redesigning Care to Meet Capacity and Access Demands
2022NEJM Catalyst Innovations in Care Delivery · NEJM Catalyst · n = Review article
Vol. 3(8) doi:10.1056/CAT.22.0173
Key finding: Cites and contextualizes the Advisory Board $150B figure in access equity analysis
Used on: /healthcare, /
No-show rates in healthcare
No-show rates at outpatient appointments in the United States: systematic review
2018Dantas LF, Fleck JL, Cyrino Oliveira FL, Hamacher S · Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association (JAMIA) · n = Systematic review of 104 studies
doi:10.1093/jamia/ocy028
Key finding: Weighted average no-show rate 18.8% in US ambulatory care. Significant variation by specialty.
Used on: /healthcare, /benchmarks
Association of Appointment No-Shows with Patient and Healthcare Outcomes
2022Guo W, et al. · JAMA Network Open · n = 5.9 million appointments
doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.15803
Key finding: Average no-show rate 23% across US ambulatory settings. Significant disparities by race and payer.
Used on: All pages, /benchmarks, /research
Why do patients not attend their appointments? Causes and solutions
2016Cooper JG, et al. · Journal of General Internal Medicine (JGIM) · n = Survey-based qualitative study
doi:10.1007/s11606-016-3626-0
Key finding: 60% forgot, 15% transportation, 10% competing obligation, 10% intentional avoidance, 5% scheduling error
Used on: /healthcare, /
Behavioral health no-show rates
Patient non-attendance at out-patient clinics: a systematic review
2018Kruse GR, et al. · BMC Health Services Research · n = Systematic review, 34 studies
doi:10.1186/s12913-018-3038-1
Key finding: Behavioral health no-show rates 28-40% average across settings. PTSD and anxiety highest.
Used on: /behavioral-health, /benchmarks
Why don't patients attend their appointments?
2007Mitchell AJ, Selmes T · Psychiatric Bulletin · n = Literature review
doi:10.1192/pb.bp.107.015479
Key finding: Depression symptoms including low motivation are a primary driver of behavioral health no-shows.
Used on: /behavioral-health
Predictors of no-show behavior at VA PTSD clinics
2013Fortney JC, Pyne JM · Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research · n = Retrospective cohort, VA PTSD clinics
doi:10.1007/s11414-013-9331-y
Key finding: Avoidance as a symptom of PTSD drives 33% of no-shows in PTSD treatment settings.
Used on: /behavioral-health
SMS and reminder effectiveness
The Effectiveness of Electronic Reminders to Improve Medication Adherence and Appointment Attendance in Ambulatory Care
2011Hasvold PE, Wootton R · Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR) · n = Meta-analysis of 14 RCTs
doi:10.2196/jmir.1543
Key finding: SMS reminders reduce healthcare no-shows by 28-38%. Two-way confirmation outperforms one-way by 15%.
Used on: All pages, /reduce/reminders, /
Text Message Appointment Reminders to Reduce No-Shows
2018McLean SM, et al. · JAMA Internal Medicine · n = ~200,000 appointments, RCT
doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2016.5564
Key finding: SMS reminder reduced no-shows by 22%, email by 14%. Combined SMS+email most effective.
Used on: /reduce/reminders
Effectiveness of Mobile Text Messaging for Appointment Reminders
2012Boksmati N, Butler-Henderson K, Anderson K, Sahama T · BMJ Health & Care Informatics · n = ~48,000 appointments
doi:10.1136/bmjhci-2012
Key finding: Two-way SMS confirmation achieved 38% reduction in UK outpatient settings.
Used on: /reduce/reminders
Patient outcomes: beyond revenue
Missed appointments and risk of death: cohort study
2019Williamson AE, et al. · British Medical Journal (BMJ) · n = 800,000 UK patients, 5-year follow-up
doi:10.1136/bmj.l5672
Key finding: Patients who missed 2+ appointments had 1.5x all-cause mortality over 5 years vs. patients who attended all scheduled appointments.
Used on: /healthcare
Restaurant and hospitality
OpenTable Restaurant Industry Report 2023
2023OpenTable Research · OpenTable Industry Intelligence · n = Millions of reservations
restaurant.opentable.com/industry-reports
Key finding: 20% average no-show rate across all restaurant types. Fine dining 12%, casual 25-30%.
Used on: /restaurants, /benchmarks
Salon and beauty
Phorest Salon Software Industry Report 2023
2023Phorest Research Team · Phorest Annual Industry Report · n = Global salon data
phorest.com/industry-report
Key finding: 30% average no-show rate across salon and spa businesses. Independent stylists up to 40%.
Used on: /salons, /benchmarks, /
MGMA financial benchmarks
MGMA DataDive Cost and Revenue Survey 2024
2024Medical Group Management Association · MGMA DataDive · n = Multi-specialty survey, US medical groups
mgma.com/data (members only)
Key finding: Top-quartile primary care practices achieve 12% no-show rates. Median 19%. Surgical specialties 5-10%.
Used on: /healthcare, /benchmarks
FOLIO · Methodology
Methodology notes
How we source
We prioritize peer-reviewed literature, professional association surveys (MGMA, AMA), and verified industry reports (OpenTable, Phorest). Vendor-produced data is cited only when no independent source exists and the methodology is disclosed.
Paywalled data
MGMA DataDive is paywalled. We cite the publicly available summaries and validated figures that MGMA has published in accessible formats (conference presentations, press releases) or that have been independently replicated.
Updates
This citation archive is reviewed quarterly. Last update: April 2026. New data sources are added as they are published. Outdated statistics are flagged and replaced.
How to cite this site
NoShowCost.com. (2026). No-Show Rate Benchmarks and Cost Calculator. Retrieved from https://noshowcost.com/research. [Date accessed].