Patient no-show cost calculator.
Enter your providers, schedule and no-show rate to see what missed appointments cost your practice each year, and what each percentage point of improvement is worth.
Your practice
Example numbers to start. Use averages across your providers.
Use what you actually collect per visit, not the charge. Count a slot as refilled only when another patient was seen in it.
Lost to no-shows, per year
$259,200
- Missed visits per year
- 1,920
- Per provider, per year
- $51,840
- MGMA aggregate rate, 2023
- 6.8%
Runs in your browser. Nothing you type is saved.
How the numbers work.
Missed visits are providers × booked visits per day × clinic days × your no-show rate. The calculator removes the share of those slots you refill with another patient and values the rest at your average collected amount per visit. It leaves out staff time spent chasing and rebooking, and care that is delayed, so the real cost is higher.
The benchmark comes from MGMA DataDive as reported by MGMA Stat in January 2025: a single-specialty aggregate no-show rate of 6.81% in 2023, after 5.55% in 2020 and 5% in 2021 and 2022. Compare against your own specialty and your own trend before setting a target.
Most practices already send reminders. The gap is usually what happens next: confirmations that don’t update the schedule, cancellations nobody offers to the waitlist, and no-show rates nobody reports by location or provider. When scheduling, messaging and reporting run on the same patient record, those gaps close. See software for medical practices, why multi-location practices are consolidating their software or add up what your current tools cost.
Using the calculator.
How do you calculate the cost of patient no-shows?
Multiply the visits you book in a year by your no-show rate to get missed visits. Take off the slots you manage to refill, then multiply by what you collect on an average visit. Five providers seeing 20 patients a day for 240 days, with an 8% no-show rate and $150 collected per visit, lose about $288,000 a year before any refills.
What is a normal no-show rate for a medical practice?
MGMA DataDive put the single-specialty aggregate no-show rate at 6.81% in 2023, up from 5% in 2021 and 2022 and close to the pre-pandemic 7%. Rates vary widely by specialty, payer mix and how far ahead visits are booked, so your own trend matters more than the average.
Should I use the charge or the collected amount per visit?
The collected amount. Charges overstate what a visit is worth because of contractual adjustments and patient balances that are never paid. Your practice management system’s collections per visit is the right number.
What reduces no-shows?
Reminders by text with an easy way to confirm or reschedule, a waitlist that fills cancelled slots, shorter lead times for new patients, and a clear no-show policy. In a January 2025 MGMA Stat poll, 25% of practices with a no-show fee reported improvement in 2024, against 16% of practices without one.
Is my data stored anywhere?
No. The calculator runs in your browser and nothing you type is saved or sent.
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