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How to Calculate Your Patient No-Show Rate
The patient no-show rate is the share of scheduled appointments where the patient did not attend and did not cancel. Enter three numbers below to see your rate, your weekly, monthly, and annual revenue loss — and roughly how much is recoverable.
Reminders notify everyone. NoShowFlow shows who actually needs attention.
For the recoverable share of this loss, see recoverable appointment revenue. For benchmarks, see no-show rate benchmarks. For the operating layer, see clinic no-show software.
The no-show rate formula
The standard formula used across outpatient operations and peer-reviewed literature:
No-show rate (%) = (missed appointments ÷ scheduled appointments) × 100
- Missed appointments — patients who did not attend and did not cancel in advance. Define your own cancellation window (24h, 4h, 0h) and stay consistent.
- Scheduled appointments — all confirmed bookings in the period, including those later cancelled. Some clinics exclude same-day cancellations; document whichever rule you use.
- Period — calculate weekly for operations, monthly for trend, quarterly for board reports.
Example: a clinic with 400 scheduled visits and 60 missed visits in a week has a no-show rate of (60 ÷ 400) × 100 = 15%.
Compare your number against specialty no-show rate benchmarks for context.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate a patient no-show rate?
Divide the number of missed appointments by the total scheduled appointments in the same period, then multiply by 100. Keep the cancellation cutoff (24h, 4h, or 0h) consistent month over month so the trend is meaningful.
Should late cancellations count as no-shows?
Operationally yes, when the gap is too short to backfill — typically anything inside 24 hours. Many clinics under-report by excluding same-day cancellations from the no-show numerator while still losing the slot. Track both numbers separately.
What is a good no-show rate for a clinic?
There is no universal target. Primary care typically lands at 5–15%, dental at 8–18%, physiotherapy at 10–20%, and behavioral health at 15–30%+. Your own trend matters more than any cross-specialty average — see the no-show rate benchmarks.
How much of the no-show revenue loss is recoverable?
Roughly 30–40% with prioritized outreach 24–72 hours ahead, depending on lead time, wait-list depth, and outreach capacity. The calculator above uses 35% as an illustrative midpoint — see recoverable appointment revenue for the breakdown.