---
title: "One in five appointments is a no-show · WorkWeaver"
description: "A clinic group of 6 sites had 17 empty chairs on a Wednesday. With WorkWeaver, every patient who hasn't confirmed gets a call, and freed slots go to the waitlist."
url: https://workweaver.ai/workflows/no-shows.md
canonical: https://workweaver.ai/workflows/no-shows/
updated: 2026-10-21
---

# One in five appointments is a no-show.

With WorkWeaver, every patient who hasn't confirmed gets a call, and freed slots go to the waitlist.

![An empty dental chair in a quiet treatment room](https://workweaver.ai/workflows/no-shows/)

Operations · clinics

## Wednesday's day sheet.

Monday

### The reminder text.

Text message Your dental clinic: you're booked Wednesday at 9:00 with Dr Okafor. Reply C to confirm.

**72**confirm

**18**don't reply

Waits until Tuesday afternoon

Clinics in India see the same: the text goes unread, a WhatsApp gets read.

Tuesday, 3 pm

### Calls between check-ins.

- **Haddad**No answer

- **Shah**No answer

- **Lin**No answer

- **Bell**No answer

- **Silva**No answer

- **Yilmaz**No answer

- **Bauer**No answer

- **Owens**No answer

- **Patel**No answer

- **Quinn**Reached

- **Lee**Reached

- **Adeyemi**Reached

- **Nunez**Reached

- **Rahman**Reached

- **Mbeki**Reached

- **Greene**Reached

- **Popov**Reached

- **Ellis**Reached

The front desk reaches 9 of 18.

No time to call the waitlist

On the monitor

### The waitlist nobody calls.

![A sticky note on the edge of a reception monitor](https://workweaver.ai/workflows/no-shows/)

Patients who asked for an earlier slot. Their names stay on a note.

Wednesday

17

### Seventeen empty chairs.

17 patients don't come. The dentists wait in empty rooms.

**Wednesday · 6 clinics**90 booked 72 confirmed · 18 no reply 9 of 18 reached by phone 17 empty chairs

*Wednesday's day sheet: 90 appointments in 6 clinics, 17 of them empty*

Northgate

Riverside

Elm Street

Harbour

Hillview

Old Town

8:00

**Ellis***Cleaning*

**Shah***Cleaning*

**Murphy***Cleaning*

**Lin***Check-up*

**Okoro***Filling*

**Novak***Crown fit*

8:30

**Reyes***X-ray*

**Bauer***Cleaning*

**Costa***Cleaning*

**Iyer***Cleaning*

**Walsh***Check-up*

**Kim***Filling*

9:00

**Haddad***Check-up*

**Fischer***X-ray*

**Abara***Cleaning*

**Moreau***Cleaning*

**Patel***Cleaning*

**Lund***Check-up*

9:30

**Sato***Check-up*

**Greene***Check-up*

**Rossi***X-ray*

**Khan***Cleaning*

**Ward***Cleaning*

**Silva***Cleaning*

10:00

**Berg***Whitening*

**Adeyemi***Check-up*

**Park***Check-up*

**Russo***X-ray*

**Jensen***Cleaning*

**Nair***Cleaning*

10:30

**Bell***Crown fit*

**Ortiz***Whitening*

**Weber***Check-up*

**Mehta***Check-up*

**Grant***X-ray*

**Hale***Cleaning*

11:00

**Ito***Filling*

**Vance***Crown fit*

**Torres***Whitening*

**Quinn***Check-up*

**Rahman***Check-up*

**Fox***X-ray*

11:30

**Lopez***Check-up*

**Brennan***Filling*

**Chen***Crown fit*

**Ahmed***Whitening*

**Dunn***Check-up*

**Kaur***Check-up*

12:00

**Moss***Cleaning*

**Varga***Check-up*

**Owens***Filling*

**Sousa***Crown fit*

**Price***Whitening*

**Ng***Check-up*

12:30

**Cruz***Cleaning*

**Popov***Cleaning*

**Kerr***Check-up*

**Dias***Filling*

**Malik***Crown fit*

**Hart***Whitening*

13:00

**Wong***Cleaning*

**Byrne***Cleaning*

**Gill***Cleaning*

**Romero***Check-up*

**Frost***Filling*

**Yilmaz***Crown fit*

13:30

**Reid***X-ray*

**Mbeki***Cleaning*

**Lowe***Cleaning*

**Santos***Cleaning*

**Ali***Check-up*

**Ford***Filling*

14:00

**Oduya***Check-up*

**Tan***X-ray*

**Pike***Cleaning*

**Rao***Cleaning*

**Mills***Cleaning*

**Haas***Check-up*

14:30

**Cole***Check-up*

**Diaz***Check-up*

**Boyd***X-ray*

**Arora***Cleaning*

**Shaw***Cleaning*

**Lee***Cleaning*

15:00

**Kemp***Whitening*

**Nunez***Check-up*

**Black***Check-up*

**Sim***X-ray*

**Webb***Cleaning*

**Ruiz***Cleaning*

Booked No reply, or empty on the day

3 hours of front-desk calls a day. And the waitlist never called.

![A clinic front desk with a phone and a printed call list](https://workweaver.ai/workflows/no-shows/)

With WorkWeaver

## Tomorrow, full by 11 am.

An agent calls every patient who hasn't confirmed, and offers each freed slot to the waitlist.

1. **Tue 10:00**The agent calls the 18 who haven't confirmed. 12 confirm.

2. **Tue 10:12**6 can't come. It moves each to another day, on the call.

3. **Tue 10:14**It offers the 6 freed slots to the waitlist on WhatsApp.

4. **Tue 11:00**The front desk gets one summary.

**Wednesday · 6 clinics**6 from the waitlist · 4 empty

*Wednesday's day sheet after the calls: 6 slots filled from the waitlist, 4 empty*

Northgate

Riverside

Elm Street

Harbour

Hillview

Old Town

8:00

**Ellis***Cleaning*

**Brandt***Waitlist*

**Murphy***Cleaning*

**Qureshi***Waitlist*

**Okoro***Filling*

**Novak***Crown fit*

8:30

**Reyes***X-ray*

**Bauer***Empty*

**Costa***Cleaning*

**Iyer***Cleaning*

**Walsh***Check-up*

**Kim***Filling*

9:00

**Mensah***Waitlist*

**Fischer***X-ray*

**Abara***Cleaning*

**Moreau***Cleaning*

**Patel***Cleaning*

**Lund***Check-up*

9:30

**Sato***Check-up*

**Greene***Check-up*

**Rossi***X-ray*

**Khan***Cleaning*

**Ward***Cleaning*

**Ota***Waitlist*

10:00

**Berg***Whitening*

**Adeyemi***Check-up*

**Park***Check-up*

**Russo***X-ray*

**Jensen***Cleaning*

**Nair***Cleaning*

10:30

**Alvarez***Waitlist*

**Ortiz***Whitening*

**Weber***Check-up*

**Mehta***Check-up*

**Grant***X-ray*

**Hale***Cleaning*

11:00

**Ito***Filling*

**Vance***Crown fit*

**Torres***Whitening*

**Quinn***Check-up*

**Rahman***Check-up*

**Fox***X-ray*

11:30

**Lopez***Empty*

**Brennan***Filling*

**Chen***Crown fit*

**Ahmed***Whitening*

**Dunn***Check-up*

**Kaur***Check-up*

12:00

**Moss***Cleaning*

**Varga***Check-up*

**Owens***Empty*

**Sousa***Crown fit*

**Price***Whitening*

**Ng***Check-up*

12:30

**Cruz***Cleaning*

**Popov***Cleaning*

**Kerr***Check-up*

**Dias***Filling*

**Malik***Crown fit*

**Hart***Whitening*

13:00

**Wong***Cleaning*

**Byrne***Cleaning*

**Gill***Cleaning*

**Romero***Check-up*

**Frost***Filling*

**Lindqvist***Waitlist*

13:30

**Reid***X-ray*

**Mbeki***Cleaning*

**Lowe***Cleaning*

**Santos***Cleaning*

**Ali***Check-up*

**Ford***Filling*

14:00

**Oduya***Check-up*

**Tan***Empty*

**Pike***Cleaning*

**Rao***Cleaning*

**Mills***Cleaning*

**Haas***Check-up*

14:30

**Cole***Check-up*

**Diaz***Check-up*

**Boyd***X-ray*

**Arora***Cleaning*

**Shaw***Cleaning*

**Lee***Cleaning*

15:00

**Kemp***Whitening*

**Nunez***Check-up*

**Black***Check-up*

**Sim***X-ray*

**Webb***Cleaning*

**Ruiz***Cleaning*

Confirmed From the waitlist Empty on the day

Phone call to Mrs Haddad · Tue 10:12

"Hello, this is your clinic's assistant. You're booked tomorrow at 9:00 with Dr Okafor. Can you still make it?"

She can't. Rebooked for Thursday at 4:00 pm.

To the waitlist, on WhatsApp · Tue 10:14

A cleaning slot opened tomorrow at 9:00 with Dr Okafor. Reply YES to take it.

YES Booked at 10:20.

To the front desk, in Slack · Tue 11:00

Tomorrow: 84 confirmed, 6 moved to another day, 6 freed slots filled from the waitlist. Send the new day sheet to the 6 clinics?

Empty chairs on a Wednesday

17

4

Front-desk time on reminder calls

3 hours a day

None

Waitlist patients seen

0

6

**Leila, front desk**Spent afternoons on reminder calls Spends the time with patients at the desk

**Dr Okafor, dentist**Waited in an empty room Sees a full day of patients

**Sam, practice manager**Found out about gaps on the day Sees tomorrow's chairs by 11 am

**How the calls work**

Calls happen in the patient's language, at the times the clinic allows, and say who is calling. The agent never changes a treatment, only the time. Leila approves every change in one tap, with the call notes attached, and anything unusual reaches her the same morning.

Calls and WhatsApp run on the clinic's own phone and WhatsApp accounts. What the evening calls hear reaches Leila the same morning.

## The front desk's day.

### Only the front desk uses

Dentrix Open Dental Practo Jane Cliniko Zocdoc Weave NexHealth

### Every team shares

WhatsApp Google Calendar Slack Excel and Google Sheets Gmail and Outlook Zoom

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Bring it to a 30-minute call. We'll map it with you.

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Human version: https://workweaver.ai/workflows/no-shows/