Appointment for which patient does not attend appointment and does not call to reschedule or cancel

UTMB Health’s No-Show and Missed Appointment Policy


We at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB Health) understand that you may at times need to cancel or reschedule an appointment due to emergencies or other unexpected issues. If you are unable to keep your appointment, please notify us at least 24 hours prior to your scheduled appointment time. You can reschedule or cancel appointments by calling your clinic or by contacting our 24/7 Access Center at 409-772-2222 or 800-917-8906. You can also utilize the MyChart app for cancelling appointments or contacting your clinic.

To ensure that each patient is given the proper amount of time allotted for their visit and to enable us to provide the highest quality care to everyone, it is very important for each scheduled patient to attend their visit on time. As a courtesy, we will attempt to provide an appointment reminder to you within 7 days of your scheduled appointment. However, it is your responsibility to arrive for your appointment on time, even if you do not receive a reminder.

Please Review the Following Policy:

  1. Please notify the clinic or UTMB Health Access Center at least 24 hours prior to your scheduled appointment should you need to change or cancel your reserved time. We keep a list of patients who need to be seen by our clinicians and, when possible, we offer cancelled appointments to patients on our waiting list to provide more timely care.
  2. If less than a 24-hour notice is given, the cancellation will be documented as a “No-Show/Missed” appointment.
  3. If you do not present to the clinic for your appointment at the designated time, this will be documented as a “No-Show/Missed” appointment.
  4. After the first “No-Show/Missed” appointment, you will receive a phone call or letter reminding you of our "No-Show/Missed Appointment" policy. Our clinic staff will help you reschedule this appointment if needed.
  5. If you have 2 “No-Show/Missed” appointments within a 12-month time period or you have 2 consecutive “No-Show/Missed” appointments, you will receive a letter from our clinic advising you of the second no-show/missed appointment occurrence and the potential for a third occurrence to prevent you from scheduling any future appointments with our specialty.
  6. If you have 3 "No-Show/Missed" appointments within a 12-month time period or you have 3 consecutive “No-Show/Missed” appointments, you will receive a notice from our clinic stating that your appointment records are under review and that you may not be able to schedule any future appointments with our specialty. You will be notified by letter of UTMB Health’s decision regarding your status once the review is complete.

As a patient of the UTMB Health System, please note that it is your responsibility to plan appointments accordingly and to notify the clinic or the UTMB Health Access Center promptly if you have difficulty keeping your scheduled appointment(s).

We appreciate your choosing UTMB Health and we look forward to providing excellent care to you!

Thank you, UTMB Health

When a patient misses an appointment without calling the office it is commonly referred to as what?

Follow up with the hospital and patient. When a patient misses an appointment without calling the office, it is commonly referred to as what? No-show.

What is patient appointment scheduling?

Proper patient scheduling allows front-desk staff to avoid spending all of their time and energy on patient management. This allows staff members to focus on other tasks, such as handling patients who are already in the office while simultaneously reducing the number of calls that the practice receives.

What is the best approach for handling the cancellation of an appointment by a patient?

The best approach to handling patient cancellations is to send appointment reminders at least six days before the appointment. If you can do them again 48 hours before, that would be great. Try using phone calls for the final reminder.

When an appointment is rescheduled the first appointment date and time must be removed?

When an appointment is rescheduled, the first appointment date and time must be removed. If a late patient is scheduled as the last patient of the day and does not show up before the office closes, the medical assistant is obligated to wait until the patient arrives.