A no-show is a patient who misses an appointment without notifying the practice. Each one leaves a schedule slot unfilled and unbilled, and a missed visit can delay the patient's care. In this paper, Teresa Armstrong, MBA, MHA, FACMPE, examines:
- Why patients miss appointments
- How no-shows affect the practice and patients' treatment outcomes
- Strategies practices can use to prevent them
About ACMPE Fellowship papers
Fellowship (FACMPE) is the highest designation offered by the American College of Medical Practice Executives (ACMPE). Fellowship candidates wrote papers like this one to show command of a practice management topic through original research or a detailed business plan.
About this content
This paper was published in 2021 and has not been updated. Some of the data it cites dates to 2016 and 2017, and practices' scheduling and reminder tools have changed since then, so check figures against current sources before acting on them. For more recent data, an August 2026 MGMA Stat poll found that 32% of medical groups saw higher no-show rates so far in 2026 than in 2025, 58% saw about the same and 10% saw lower rates.
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