Calendar Guide - Managing Cancellations, No-Shows, Overbooking, and Recalls

This article explains how to handle common appointment disruptions in Elation—including planned cancellations, unplanned no-shows, overbooking scenarios, and patient recall workflows—so your practice can maintain an efficient schedule and ensure patients receive timely follow-up care.

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Overview

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What are appointment statuses?

Appointment statuses track where a patient is in their visit journey. Elation supports the following statuses:

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Why is managing appointment statuses important?

Accurate status tracking helps your practice:

• Identify patients who need follow-up after missed appointments
• Generate reports to analyze cancellation and no-show trends
• Ensure billing workflows proceed correctly
• Maintain visibility into provider schedules for the entire care team

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Workflow Instructions

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Handling planned cancellations

When a patient notifies you in advance that they need to cancel, you can update the appointment status and optionally reschedule using Quick Reschedule.

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Canceling from the Calendar

1. Open the appointment - Click in the shaded area of the appointment to open the appointment popover box.
2. Update the status - Update the Status to Canceled.
3. Reschedule if needed - If the patient prefers to reschedule, use the Quick Reschedule workflow below.

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Using Quick Reschedule

Quick Reschedule streamlines moving appointments by letting you instantly select a new date and time without leaving your current workflow.

1. Open the appointment - Click in the shaded area of the appointment to open the appointment popover box.
2. Show suggested times - Click Show suggested times next to Quick Reschedule.
3. Select a new time - Select a new appointment time from the list of the next six available options, based on the appointment’s Location, Duration, and the provider’s Availability.
4. Save - Click Save new time.

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When patients cancel via appointment reminders

If you have enabled the Allow patients to cancel their appointments online setting, patients can cancel directly from their appointment reminder. When a patient cancels through a reminder:

• The appointment status updates to Canceled
• The patient receives a follow-up text or email
• If you use the Patient Booking Site, the patient will be prompted to book a new appointment
• The time slot becomes available for other patients to book

For complete setup instructions and configuration options, see the Calendar Guide - Using automated appointment reminders article.

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Handling unplanned no-shows

When a patient misses their appointment without prior notice, update the status and use reports to track patterns and follow up.

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Setting the status to No Show

1. Open the appointment - Click in the shaded area of the appointment to open the appointment popover box.
2. Update the status - Update the Status to No Show.

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Tracking no-shows with reports

Use the Appointment Report or Appointment Dashboard (Premium EHR) to identify no-show patterns. Appointment Report:

1. Navigate - Click Reports → Appointment Report at the top of any page in Elation.
2. Select criteria - Select the provider and date range.
3. Generate the report - Click Update List.
4. Analyze results - Download as CSV to sort by appointment status and group all no-show appointments together.

Appointment Dashboard (Premium EHR): The dashboard displays a graph of “Appointments by Status” with quick-view counts for:

• Total Appointments
• Canceled Appointments
• No Show Appointments
• Canceled Ratio
• No-Show Ratio

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Following up with no-show patients using Patient List

Use the Patient List Report to generate contact lists for appointment recalls.

1. Navigate - Click Reports → Patient List in the blue bar at the top of Elation.
2. Apply filters - Apply filters such as:
   • Last Appointment – to find patients who haven’t been seen recently
   • Next Appointment – to identify patients without upcoming visits
   • Patient Status – to filter for active patients
3. Generate the list - Click Generate List.
4. Follow up - Use the results to contact patients and schedule follow-up appointments.

For more details, see the Patient List Report Guide - Searching your patient panel article.

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Using Office Messages for recall workflows

You can use Office Messages to create internal reminders for patient follow-up.

1. Send an Office Message - Send an Office Message about the patient to the appropriate staff member.
2. Schedule for future - Use the Pd (post-date) field to schedule the message for a future date as a reminder.
3. Use Quick Reply - Use the Recall patient Quick Reply option, which sends the message: “Please call the patient in for appointment.”

For more information, see the Office Message Feature Guide - The enhanced inter-office communications tool article.

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Overbooking and double-booking procedures

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How to double-book appointments

Elation allows you to book multiple appointments in the same time slot when scheduling manually. To book multiple appointments in the same time slot, click on the white space to the right of the time slot. The most recently booked appointment will appear on top.

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Booking Site limitation

Each appointment slot on the Patient Booking Site can only be booked by one patient. Elation does not allow double-booking the same time slot through the Booking Site. If a provider is already booked for another appointment or event, the availability for that provider will be automatically updated on the Booking Site to avoid double-booking.

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No native waitlist

To manage patients waiting for earlier appointments, consider:

• Maintaining a manual list (spreadsheet or Office Message thread)
• Using the Patient List Report to identify patients who need rescheduling
• Contacting patients directly when cancellations occur

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Using reminders and Booking Site configurations

Appointment reminders and Booking Site settings directly impact how your practice handles cancellations, no-shows, and rescheduling. Understanding these configurations helps you optimize your workflows.

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How reminders reduce no-shows

Automated appointment reminders ensure patients have the information they need to attend their visit. Reminders can also allow patients to confirm, reschedule, or cancel appointments directly—updating your calendar in real time. For complete setup instructions, delivery options, and troubleshooting, see the Calendar Guide - Using automated appointment reminders article.

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Booking Site cancellation and rescheduling behavior

When patients cancel through an appointment reminder:

• The appointment status updates to Canceled
• The time slot becomes available for other patients to book
• If enabled, patients are prompted to reschedule immediately

You can also configure a cancellation policy message in your Booking Site settings. For full configuration options, see the Patient Booking Site Guide article.

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Checking reminder status for an appointment

To verify whether a patient received their reminders:

1. Open the appointment - Click in the shaded area of the appointment in the Calendar.
2. Edit the appointment - Select Edit.
3. Review the Activity Log - Review the Activity Log section at the bottom of the appointment box.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How do I see all no-show appointments for a time period?

Download the Appointment Report as a CSV file and sort by the “Status” column to group all no-show appointments together.

Can patients reschedule their own appointments?

Patients can confirm or cancel appointments via the appointment reminder and can then reschedule through the Booking Site, if enabled. If they need to reschedule before receiving a reminder, they must call the office.

What happens when a patient cancels through the Booking Site or reminder?

The time slot becomes available for other patients to book.

Can I create a waitlist for patients who want earlier appointments?

Elation does not have a native waitlist feature. You will need to manage this manually and contact patients when openings occur.

Why didn’t my patient receive an appointment reminder?

If the patient only has Work, Night, Fax, or Other phone number types in their demographics, Elation will not send reminders. Ensure patients have a Mobile phone (opted in to SMS), email address, or Home/Main phone number on file.

How do I track patients who are overdue for follow-up visits?

Use the Patient List Report with filters like Last Seen and Patient Status to identify patients who haven’t been seen recently and need to schedule appointments.

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Related Articles

• Calendar Guide - Using the Calendar for appointments & events
• Calendar Guide - Using automated appointment reminders
• Patient Booking Site Guide
• Patient List Report Guide - Searching your patient panel
• Calendar Guide - Searching for appointments using the Appointment Report
• Office Message Feature Guide - The enhanced inter-office communications tool