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:
- Open the appointment details
- Click the Complete button (checkmark icon)
- The status updates to Completed
Marking as Cancelled or No Show
When an appointment won't happen:
- Open the appointment details
- Click the Cancel button (X icon)
- Select the reason:
- No Show — Patient didn't attend
- Cancellation — Appointment was cancelled
- Rescheduled — Moved to another time
- 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