ConceptA tool I would build. Not client work.
No-show and recall manager
A patient cancels at nine and the slot is still empty at ten, while three people on the waitlist would have taken it.
Concept
Not client work- What this is
- A tool I would build, drawn to show the idea. Nobody has bought it, and every name on these screens is invented.
- For
- A clinic with a full agenda and a waitlist kept on paper.
- The money
- One US study put the mean no-show rate at 18.8%, at $196 a missed visit in 2008 dollars (BMC, 2016 (opens in a new tab)). Use your own rate, not that one.
- Belongs to
- Health
- Drawn
- 11 Nov 2026 · sheet 4 of 4
Live demo
A slot is cancelled, offered and refilled.
Concept
Week
A cancelled slot is offered to the people on the waitlist it fits, longest waiting first. Slots at risk are outlined and carry a reason.
The other screens
Reminders and recalls, set by the clinic.
- Demo ClinicWeekWaitlist6Recalls18Set by the clinicRemindersMonth reportLotte VoorbeeldFront desk7 days beforeSent at 09:00EmailText
Your appointment at Demo Clinic is on Thursday 12 November at 10:30 with Dr. Maes. Need another time? Use this link.
If they move it, the old slot is freed and offered to the waitlist.
2 days beforeSent at 10:00TextSee you Thursday at 10:30? Reply YES to confirm or NO to cancel.
No reply by 18:00: the slot is marked “not confirmed”, with the reason.
The morning ofSent at 07:30TextToday at 10:30, Demo Clinic, Voorbeeldstraat 1. Running late? Call 09 000 01 00.
A NO this late still frees the slot. The offer stops 2 hours before it starts.
When someone answers NOFree the slot at onceOffer it to the waitlist, longest waiting firstHold each offer for30 minutesStop offering before the slot starts2 hoursWho is never messagedAsked for no reminders12 peopleNumber bounced twice3 peopleThey stay on the desk’s call list. Nobody drops out of the agenda because a text failed.
Concept
Reminders
Three messages the clinic writes once, and what happens when someone answers, or does not.
1 / 2 - Demo ClinicWeekWaitlist6Recalls18Set by the clinicRemindersMonth reportLotte VoorbeeldFront desk
Patient Last visit Due for Due from Invite State Greet Patroon 28 Apr · Fitting Insole check 28 Oct Text 21 Oct, text 30 Oct On the call list Toon Facsimile 2 Nov 2025 · Check-up Yearly check-up 2 Nov Email 26 Oct, text 5 Nov No reply, twice Jules Concept 5 May · Fitting Insole check 5 Nov Text 29 Oct Booked Tue 17 Nov Marthe Model 8 May · Fitting Insole check 8 Nov Text 2 Nov Booked Mon 16 Nov Wim Demo 12 May · Fitting Insole check 12 Nov Text 4 Nov Booked Thu 19 Nov Febe Mock 14 Nov 2025 · Check-up Yearly check-up 14 Nov Goes out Fri 13 Nov Invite planned Arne Schets 19 May · Fitting Insole check 19 Nov None Wants no reminders Lien Probe 20 May · Fitting Insole check 20 Nov Text 9 Nov Invited Concept
Recalls
Who is due a check-up by the clinic’s own rules, who was invited, who booked and who needs a call.
2 / 2
What it would be worth
A refilled slot is revenue you already had room for.
The practitioner was there, the room was free, the hour was paid for. What it adds up to depends on your own no-show rate, so that is the number to measure first.
18.8%
of appointments were missed on average in one US study, which put the cost of a missed visit at $196 in 2008 dollars.
Source: BMC Health Services Research (opens in a new tab), 2016. A US study, with costs in 2008 dollars. A public figure from another country and another decade. It is not a result of mine and not a forecast for your clinic.
Also public: patients who got a reminder were “25% less likely” to miss their appointment (BMJ Open (opens in a new tab), 2016).
Your empty slots, in euros
Type your numbers and the sum appears here.
The refill share is your guess until you have measured a month. Your numbers stay in this tab: nothing is saved or sent.
Where the line is
A reason, never a score.
What it does
- Sends the reminders the clinic wrote, on the days the clinic chose.
- Marks a slot “not confirmed” and says why: the booking is old, the reminder bounced, nobody answered.
- Offers a freed slot to the people on the waitlist it fits, longest waiting first.
- Lists who is due a check-up by the clinic’s own recall rules.
- Reports slots freed and slots refilled, per month.
What it never does
- Score a patient, or predict who will not turn up.
- Overbook on a guess that someone will stay away.
- Decide who needs care sooner. The waitlist order is time waited, among the people a slot fits.
- Message someone who asked not to be messaged.
This is scheduling. It handles appointment times and contact details and makes no clinical call, and I don’t market it as a medical device. Messages to patients need their agreement and a way out; how that is recorded is settled with the clinic before anything is sent.
Want this for real?
I would start with a week on your own agenda: your no-show rate, how the waitlist is kept today, and what your reminders say. Then a fixed price.