You can set the appropriate status for an appointment to indicate if your client has shown up as planned, canceled, late canceled, no-showed, or if the clinician has canceled the appointment. Each status produces specific actions related to billing. In this guide, we’ll cover:
Show
When creating an appointment, the appointment status is set to Show unless the status is changed. This status indicates that the client will be at the appointment and billed the fee associated with the appointment.
Canceled
If the client cancels the appointment far enough in advance where they shouldn’t be billed, you can set the status to Canceled. When the status is set to Canceled, this appointment:
- Won't be treated as a billable event, so the client won't be billed for this appointment
- Won't appear on the client’s Billing page
- Won't appear on statements or superbills
Clients can also cancel upcoming appointments in the Client Portal. If they do this, the appointment status will automatically update to Canceled. Appointments canceled by clients will include a Client canceled note next to the appointment status in the calendar flyout.
Note: You can also allow your clients to cancel appointments from their text reminders. To learn more, see Allowing clients to confirm or cancel through text reminders.
Late canceled
If the client cancels the appointment outside your cancelation window, you can change the status to Late canceled. This indicates that:
- The client will be billed for this appointment
- The appointment and the appointment fee will be visible on the client’s Billing page and on statements
- The appointment won't be included on a superbill or a claim form since you aren't permitted to bill insurance for appointments that didn’t occur
Clinician canceled
If you need to cancel an appointment already scheduled with a client, you can update the appointment status as Clinician canceled. This indicates that:
- The client won’t be billed for the appointment
- On the client Overview page the appointment will appear with a status indicating the Clinician Canceled
- The appointment won't be included on a superbill or a claim form since you aren't permitted to bill insurance for appointments that didn’t occur
No show
In the event a client doesn’t show up for a scheduled appointment, you can change the appointment status to No show. This indicates that:
- The client will be billed for the appointment
- The appointment and the appointment fee will be visible on the client’s Billing page and on statements
- The appointment won’t be included on a superbill or a claim form, as you’re not permitted to bill insurance for appointments that didn’t occur
FAQs
- What happens to the client’s responsibility when updating the appointment status?
- Can I edit the appointment fee for a Late canceled or No show appointment?
What happens to the client’s responsibility when updating the appointment status?
When an appointment status is updated from Show to Late canceled or No show, the full appointment fee is automatically assigned to the client. Even if the appointment status is updated back to Show, the full appointment fee will remain the client’s responsibility. It’s recommended that if you’re updating the appointment status back to Show, you’ll also want to update the client’s responsibility of the appointment fee. To do this:
- Navigate to the client’s Billing page
- Find the appointment in question
- Click Manage > Edit details
- Adjust the amount in the Client Owes field
- Click Save
Can I edit the appointment fee for a Late canceled or No show appointment?
You can update the client responsibility for a Late canceled or No show appointment from the client’s Billing page at any time. To do this:
- Navigate to the client's Billing page
- Find the appointment in question
- Click Manage > Edit details
- Adjust the amount in the Fee field
- Click Save
