What It Is

Cancellation rate measures how often patients cancel or no-show their appointments. This includes same-day cancellations, late cancellations, and last-minute changes that disrupt your schedule.

At its core, a high cancellation rate signals a breakdown in communication, patient buy-in, or systems. Whether the patient didn’t understand the value of the visit, wasn’t aware of your policy, or simply wasn’t prioritized correctly, cancellations cost time, production, and workflow consistency.

Why It Matters

Cancellations affect far more than the day’s schedule — they impact the entire health of the practice.

1. Production Loss & Schedule Gaps

Every cancellation creates unused chair time. This reduces daily production and puts stress on the team to fill openings at the last minute.

2. Team Efficiency

Last-minute schedule changes create chaos — double work, extra calls, and unnecessary stress. When the policy is clear and upheld, the team works from a more predictable, controlled schedule.

2. Patient Perception

Patients take cues from you.
If cancellations are easily accepted or contradicted with inconsistent policies, patients learn that breaking appointments is not a big deal, or if we are not telling the patients about our cancellation policy-they will never know. 

Benchmarking

The industry benchmark for cancellation rate is: Under 10%

The lower the better. Anything higher usually indicates weak policy communication, inconsistent systems, or unclear value being conveyed to patients.

How to Make It Better

1. Overcome Cancellation Objections First

Before simply rescheduling, try to save the appointment.

Use this phrase:

“Thanks for calling. Just to make you aware, we do have (x minutes) reserved for your appointment today, and we do have a 24-hour cancellation policy. Is there anything I can do to help you keep this appointment today?”

This phrasing:

• Reminds the patient of your time investment
  
  
• Reinforces the policy
  
  
• Opens the door to solve the real issue
  
  
• Saves appointments you would have otherwise lost

2. Don’t Contribute to the problem
   A common scenario we see in dental offices is a patient cancels their appointment today (violating the 24-hour policy), and the team says, “No problem, we can get you tomorrow.”
   This removes all accountability and makes the policy meaningless.

Don’t move appointments. If the office moves a patient’s appointment, that patient becomes far more likely to cancel or change it again — because you already showed the appointment wasn’t concrete.

2. Clearly Communicate Your Policy

You can’t hold patients accountable to something they never knew.

State the policy:

• At new patient visits
  
  
• In welcome packets
  
  
• On the website
  
  
• At every appointment confirmation
  
  
• Anytime you coach a patient about scheduling expectations
  
  

Example Verbiage:
“We value your time and aim to provide the best care possible. To ensure we can accommodate all our patients, we kindly ask for 24-hours notice if you need to make changes to your appointment. Thank you!”

3. Stop Contradicting Your Own Policy

Common ways teams weaken the policy:

• Allowing a patient who breaks the policy to still come at the same time
  
  
• Moving appointments for patients (teaches them it’s flexible)
  
  
• Not documenting or tracking cancellations appropriately
  
  

Consistency builds trust — and better habits.

4. Reschedule Policy Breakers Appropriately

Any patient who cancels inside the 24-hour window should be:

➡️ Rescheduled at least 2 weeks out

This reinforces the importance of the appointment and reduces the habit of repeating the behavior.

Important:
Still offer these patients your ASAP list for last-minute openings.

5. Follow Up When You Don’t Reach the Patient

If you cannot reach a patient who missed their appointment, send them a kind, simple letter acknowledging the missed visit.

Always put repeat offenders on the ASAP list.
When you offer them last-minute openings, you avoid holding valuable prime-time slots for patients who may not show.

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