Pull the no-show count
Most scheduling systems can report appointments marked no-show or failed to attend. Take a month or two of normal weeks and divide by weeks.
Free tool / For dental practices, med spas and clinics
What do no-shows and missed calls cost your clinic?
See the yearly number.
Pick a starting point, then swap in your own schedule and call numbers. You get a yearly and monthly estimate for no-shows and missed new-patient calls, a reminders-plus-answered-calls scenario, and the working behind every figure.
Run your numbersCalculator
Revenue at risk
from empty chairs.
Every default shows its public source, or says it is your estimate to replace. This is an estimate from the numbers you enter, not a forecast.
Estimated revenue at risk from no-shows and missed calls
$216,996a year
$18,083 a month in total
Where it comes from
From no-shows$49,920a year · $4,160 a month · about 250 missed visits a year
From missed new-patient calls$167,076a year · $13,923 a month · about 196.6 new patients a year
Could keep$146,141$12,480 from no-shows · $133,661 from calls
Still at risk$70,855a year
What if you answered 80% of the calls you miss today? Move the slider to try other rates.
Assumes 25% of no-shows are rebooked, and that an answered caller books at your usual rate of 60%.
How this is worked out
- 120 appointments a week × 4% no-shows × 52250 no-shows a year
- × $200 average appointment$49,920 / year
- × 25% rebooked with reminders and a fast callback$12,480 kept
- 120 calls a week × 30% missed × 52 ÷ 12156 a month
- × 35% new patients54.6
- × 50% who never reach you again27.3
- × 60% you would normally book16.4 new patients
- × $850 first visit × 12 months$167,076 / year
- × 80% answered (scenario)$133,661 kept
- No-shows + missed calls$216,996 / year
The link holds only these numbers, with no name, email or practice details.
Close the gap
Find out where patients slip.
The $249 Website & Lead-Flow Audit tests how a call or request actually reaches you, including after hours, and gives you a ranked list of fixes. Or bring these numbers to a free 20-minute call about reminders and call handling.
An estimate from the numbers above. It is not a forecast or a promise that any revenue can be recovered. Your figures stay in this browser unless you copy the link.
Before you trust the number
How to find
your own figures.
A month or two of real records beats any default. These are usually already available to you.
Separate late cancels
A cancellation with notice can often be refilled. Decide whether you count late cancels as no-shows, and keep that choice the same each time you run the numbers.
Count the missed calls
Your phone system or carrier portal lists unanswered calls. Mark each as new patient, existing patient or other to get your own percentages.
Use your real fees
Use the average amount a booked visit brings in, not your fee schedule's top price. Insurance write-offs and discounts matter.
Where the defaults come from
Sources and
estimates.
We chose the conservative end of each range. Where we could not find a reliable public figure, the default is labelled "Your estimate" and is yours to replace.
| Default | Value | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Dental: Appointments a week | 120 a week | Your estimate. Example of 120 booked appointments a week. Replace it with your own schedule. |
| Dental: No-show rate | 4% | Henry Schein One industry report, as reported by Becker's Dental Review. Reports an average no-show rate of 4% in 2023, down from 7% in 2022. It is vendor data from practices using that company's software, and other sources quote higher rates, so 4% is the low end. |
| Dental: Average appointment | $200 | Your estimate. A round figure for a routine visit such as a check-up and clean. Fees vary widely by practice and region, so use your own average per booked visit. |
| Dental: Share rebooked | 25% | Robotham et al. (2016), BMJ Open systematic review. Across studies, patients sent electronic text reminders missed appointments about 15% of the time against about 21% without (a risk ratio of 0.75). We use 25% as the share of no-shows that could be avoided or rebooked. The faster-callback part of the idea is our own assumption, so treat it as a starting point. |
| Dental: Calls a week | 120 a week | Your estimate. Example of 120 inbound calls a week for a small, owner-led practice. Replace it with your own phone log. |
| Dental: Missed-call rate | 30% | Dental Economics, "The economics of missed calls". Cites 30–38% of calls going unanswered during business hours. We use the low end. |
| Dental: New-patient share | 35% | Your estimate. Published figures for the new-patient share of missed calls range from about 30% (vendor data) to 60–65% (Dental Economics). We use 35%, near the low end. |
| Dental: Never call back | 50% | Your estimate. Half of missed new callers never reach you again. A cautious figure; replace it with what you see in your own records. |
| Dental: Booking rate | 60% | Your estimate. Six in ten new-patient callers you speak to book a first visit. |
| Dental: First-visit value | $850 | Your estimate. First-year value of a new patient is often quoted at $850–$1,300 in dental practice-management sources. We use the low end and ignore lifetime value. |
| Med spa: Appointments a week | 60 a week | Your estimate. Example of 60 booked appointments a week. Replace it with your own schedule. |
| Med spa: No-show rate | 8% | Your estimate. We found no independent study of med spa no-show rates. We use a cautious 8%; check your booking system for the real figure. |
| Med spa: Average appointment | $435 | American Society of Plastic Surgeons, neurotoxin cost statistics. Average fee of $435 for a neurotoxin (Botox-type) treatment, a common med spa service. Uses one treatment, not a client's yearly spend. |
| Med spa: Share rebooked | 25% | Robotham et al. (2016), BMJ Open systematic review. Across studies, patients sent electronic text reminders missed appointments about 15% of the time against about 21% without (a risk ratio of 0.75). We use 25% as the share of no-shows that could be avoided or rebooked. The faster-callback part of the idea is our own assumption, so treat it as a starting point. |
| Med spa: Calls a week | 80 a week | Your estimate. Example of 80 inbound calls a week for a small, owner-led practice. Replace it with your own phone log. |
| Med spa: Missed-call rate | 25% | Your estimate. We found no independent study of med spa missed-call rates; vendor blogs assume 28–41% without sources. We use 25%. |
| Med spa: New-patient share | 40% | Your estimate. Four in ten missed calls are new clients; the rest are rebookings and existing clients. |
| Med spa: Never call back | 50% | Your estimate. Half of missed new callers never reach you again. A cautious figure; replace it with what you see in your own records. |
| Med spa: Booking rate | 40% | Your estimate. Four in ten new enquiries book a first treatment, since many start with a price question. |
| Med spa: First-visit value | $435 | American Society of Plastic Surgeons, neurotoxin cost statistics. The same $435 average for one treatment, counted once as the value of a first booking. |
| Clinic: Appointments a week | 100 a week | Your estimate. Example of 100 booked appointments a week. Replace it with your own schedule. |
| Clinic: No-show rate | 10% | Your estimate, cautious against published ranges. Dantas et al. (Health Policy, 2018) review the research and report an average around 23% across specialties and regions, and other studies find much lower rates in some settings. We use 10%, well under that average. Your booking system will show your real rate. |
| Clinic: Average appointment | $120 | Your estimate. A round figure for a standard consultation. Fees vary by specialty, payer mix and region, so use your own average per booked visit. |
| Clinic: Share rebooked | 25% | Robotham et al. (2016), BMJ Open systematic review. Across studies, patients sent electronic text reminders missed appointments about 15% of the time against about 21% without (a risk ratio of 0.75). We use 25% as the share of no-shows that could be avoided or rebooked. The faster-callback part of the idea is our own assumption, so treat it as a starting point. |
| Clinic: Calls a week | 150 a week | Your estimate. Example of 150 inbound calls a week for a small, owner-led practice. Replace it with your own phone log. |
| Clinic: Missed-call rate | 20% | Your estimate. We have no independent source for the share of clinic calls that go unanswered. We use 20%; your phone system's log will show the real rate. |
| Clinic: New-patient share | 25% | Your estimate. A quarter of missed calls are new patients; the rest are existing patients, referrals and admin calls. |
| Clinic: Never call back | 50% | Your estimate. Half of missed new callers never reach you again. A cautious figure; replace it with what you see in your own records. |
| Clinic: Booking rate | 60% | Your estimate. Six in ten new-patient callers you speak to book a first appointment. |
| Clinic: First-visit value | $250 | Your estimate. A first visit plus a likely follow-up, kept deliberately low. Use your own figure. |
What to do next
Ways to cut
the leak.
Start with the simplest fix. Results depend on your patients and your follow-up; none of these guarantees recovered appointments.
Reminders that ask for a reply
A text or call a day or two before, with an easy way to confirm or reschedule, gives you time to refill the slot.
A fast callback on no-shows
A friendly same-day message to rebook while the visit is still fresh. Agree who sends it and how it is marked done.
Answer or capture every call
Decide what happens when the desk is busy or closed, so a new patient can still leave a request instead of reaching voicemail.
$249 / Website & Lead-Flow Audit
Find where patients slip
A recorded video audit of your website and enquiry path, including how calls reach you after hours, with a ranked list of fixes.
See what the audit coversCommon questions
About the
calculator.
How do you calculate the cost of patient no-shows?
Appointments a week × your no-show rate × 52 gives no-shows a year. Multiply by what an average appointment earns to get revenue at risk. This calculator then adds the new patients you lose when calls go unanswered, using the same steps as our missed-call calculator.
What is a normal no-show rate for a clinic?
It varies a lot. A review of research by Dantas and colleagues in Health Policy (2018) reports an average of about 23% across specialties and regions. Henry Schein One reports an average near 4% for dental practices that use its software. Your own booking system will give a truer number than either, so use it.
Do appointment reminders really reduce no-shows?
Evidence says they help. A BMJ Open review (Robotham and colleagues, 2016) found text reminders cut no-shows from about 21% to about 15% on average. Results depend on your patients and your follow-up, and nothing here is a guarantee. The calculator lets you set your own rebooking share.
Why include missed calls in a no-show calculator?
Both leaks start at the front desk and both are worth counting. A patient who does not turn up and a new patient who gets voicemail are both appointments that did not happen. Showing them together lets you see which one is larger for you.
Is my data stored or sent anywhere?
No. The calculator runs in your browser. If you copy a share link, it contains only the numbers you entered, with no name, email or practice details.
Learn more
Related.
This calculator produces an estimate from the figures you enter. It does not predict how much revenue any service would recover.
Want a second look at your numbers?
Bring your no-show and missed-call counts to a free 20-minute call. We will talk through where patients slip and what is worth fixing first.