No-Show Rate
Definition, formula, a worked example, and the mistakes that make it wrong. For infusion centers.
What is no-show rate?
Formula
No-shows ÷ appointments scheduled for the day
What each part means
- No-show
- A patient who does not come and does not call. Same-day cancellations are counted separately.
- Appointments scheduled
- Every infusion appointment on the schedule for that day, before anyone misses. Appointments cancelled in advance are left out.
- Same-day cancellation rate
- The companion rate: appointments cancelled on the day they were due, divided by appointments scheduled for that day. Each has a different fix.
Worked example
A center has 200 infusion appointments scheduled in a week. 10 patients do not come and do not call, so the no-show rate is 10 ÷ 200 = 5%. Another 8 cancel on the day, a same-day cancellation rate of 4%. Together, 18 chairs sat empty unless they were refilled.
Run your own numbers: Infusion no-show cost calculatorWhere the numbers come from
- Appointment list from your infusion software, with appointment status and date
- Your written rule for which statuses count as no-show and which as same-day cancellation
Mistakes that make it wrong
- Lumping no-shows with cancellations
- No-shows, same-day cancellations, and advance cancellations each have a different fix. Keep no-shows and same-day cancellations as two rates, and leave advance cancellations out.
- Staff marking statuses differently
- If no-show and same-day cancellation are marked differently from month to month or site to site, the rate moves without anything changing on the floor.
- Counting every no-show as a lost treatment
- A no-show rebooked inside the dosing window is not lost. The margin moves rather than disappears, though the chair time that day is gone.
- Counting a rescheduled visit twice
- A visit moved to a new slot should not appear twice in the scheduled count, once in its old slot and once in its new one.
What good looks like
There is no single benchmark that fits every center, because payer mix, drug mix, and how staff mark appointments all move the rate. Pull your own rate from appointment statuses, define it the same way every month, and use that as your baseline.
Common questions
What is the difference between a no-show and a same-day cancellation?
A no-show is a patient who does not come and does not call. A same-day cancellation is an appointment cancelled on the day. Both leave a chair empty unless you refill it.
How do you calculate the cost of infusion no-shows?
Multiply scheduled appointments by the no-show and same-day cancellation rates to get missed visits. Take out the slots you refill that day, multiply the rest by 52 weeks and your margin per infusion, then add drug waste for every missed visit.
Does refilling a missed slot save the drug?
No. Drug mixed for the patient who missed usually cannot be used, so the waste stays even when another patient takes the chair. Mixing after the patient arrives keeps waste low.
Is every missed infusion lost revenue?
No. If the patient comes in later that week, the margin moves rather than disappears. Count only treatments that are never given.
What is a typical no-show rate for an infusion center?
We do not know of a benchmark that fits every center. Measure your own rate from appointment statuses each month and track the trend by site.
Want no-show rate from your own data?
We build the reports that calculate it the same way every month, from the systems you already use.