Appointment Status

What you'll learn: What each appointment status means, when to use them, and how status affects your records.

Understanding Status

Every appointment has a status that indicates where it stands in its lifecycle. Status helps you track what happened with each appointment.

Available Statuses

Scheduled

  • The appointment is booked and upcoming
  • This is the default status for new appointments
  • The patient is expected to attend

Confirmed

  • The patient has confirmed they will attend
  • May be set manually or through confirmation systems
  • Indicates higher likelihood of attendance

Completed

  • The appointment happened successfully
  • The patient attended and was seen
  • Use this after the visit concludes

Cancelled

  • The appointment will not happen
  • Use when the patient or practice cancels
  • The original time becomes available again

No Show

  • The patient didn't attend without notice
  • Use when someone misses their appointment
  • Tracked for patient reliability metrics

Rescheduled

  • The appointment was moved to a different time
  • The original slot shows as rescheduled
  • A new appointment exists for the updated time

Viewing Status

Status appears in several places:

  • Calendar events — As a colored badge or indicator
  • Appointment details — In the status field
  • Patient profiles — In their appointment history

Status Colors

Status Color
Scheduled Gray
Confirmed Purple
Completed Green
Cancelled Red
No Show Orange
Rescheduled Blue

Changing Status

Marking as Completed

When an appointment finishes:

  1. Open the appointment details
  2. Click the Complete button (checkmark icon)
  3. The status updates to Completed

Marking as Cancelled or No Show

When an appointment won't happen:

  1. Open the appointment details
  2. Click the Cancel button (X icon)
  3. Select the reason:
    • No Show — Patient didn't attend
    • Cancellation — Appointment was cancelled
    • Rescheduled — Moved to another time
  4. Confirm your selection

Status Best Practices

Update promptly — Change status as soon as an appointment concludes or is cancelled.

Use No Show specifically — Don't mark no-shows as cancelled; the distinction matters for tracking.

Complete after the visit — Mark appointments as completed at the end of the day or immediately after.

Track patterns — Watch for patients with high no-show rates.

How Status Affects Reports

Status data feeds into your analytics:

  • Show rate — Percentage of scheduled appointments that complete
  • Cancellation rate — How often appointments are cancelled
  • No-show tracking — Identifies unreliable patients
  • Utilization — How much of your schedule was actually used

Patient-Level Impact

Status tracking per patient shows:

  • Total completed visits
  • Cancellation rate
  • No-show history

This information appears in patient profiles and helps you understand patient behavior.


Next: Cancelling Appointments | Previous: Editing Appointments

← PreviousEditing Appointments