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. The largest single search query on this site at 101 monthly impressions.

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