Reschedule and cancellation workflows

Reschedule and Cancellation Workflows

FrontDeskClinic supports self-service reschedules and cancellations by patients, as well as staff-initiated changes from the dashboard.

Patient self-service

Patients receive a confirmation message with a secure link when they book an appointment. From that link they can:

• Reschedule — Select a new available slot (subject to your advance-notice policy).
• Cancel — Cancel with or without a reason (configurable).

Self-service actions are logged with a timestamp and the channel used (link, SMS reply, or web widget).

Advance-notice policy

Set the minimum notice required for self-service changes under Settings > Scheduling > Cancellation Policy. For example, requiring 24-hour notice prevents last-minute self-service cancellations while still allowing staff to make same-day changes from the dashboard.

Staff-initiated changes

1. Open the appointment in the calendar view or from Appointments > List.
2. Click Reschedule or Cancel.
3. If rescheduling, select the new slot; FrontDeskClinic will send the patient an updated confirmation automatically.
4. For cancellations, choose a cancellation reason (used for reporting).

Waitlist backfill

When an appointment is cancelled, FrontDeskClinic can automatically notify the next patient on the waitlist for that slot. Enable this under Settings > Scheduling > Waitlist > Auto-Notify.

No-show tracking

Mark appointments as No-Show from the calendar or check-in queue. No-show rates are tracked per provider and appointment type in the Reports > Scheduling section.