Start with a few recent missed visits. In Jane, open Reports → Appointments, choose the dates, location and practitioner you want to review, and filter the appointment state to No Show. That list contains appointments recorded as no-shows; check the records before assuming why someone missed a visit. Jane's Appointments Report guide explains the filters.
You do not need to change every setting at once. Use the checks below to find a problem you can verify, give the response an owner and review what happened afterward. Work with a team member who has access to the reports and settings you need.
1. Check reminder settings and patient preferences
Open Settings → Reminders & Notifications. Check which reminders are enabled and when they go out. An email before your cancellation window closes gives the patient time to change their booking.
Then check the reminder preferences on a patient record from your review:
- Is the patient subscribed to the reminder you expected them to receive?
- Have they agreed to receive texts? A default SMS setting does not replace their consent.
- Is Do Not Text enabled? Respect that preference rather than turning it off to send a reminder.
Email reminders are available on all Jane plans. SMS reminders depend on the plan and region. Use View Preview to check the wording. If it asks the patient to contact the clinic, give them a contact method your team actually checks.
Jane's Email & SMS Reminders guide covers the settings and preferences. Do not ask patients to reply “CONFIRM” unless your clinic has a verified way to receive and act on those replies.
What to change: fix one mismatch between the reminder you intended to send and the patient's agreed preferences.
2. Match the policy wording to the booking settings
Check these places together:
- Settings → Language: review the online booking and email cancellation-policy wording.
- Settings → Online Booking → Booking, Cancelling & Relationships: check Allow Cancellations and the Late Cancellation Period.
- Settings → Forms & Surveys → View Forms: edit the relevant intake form and review its Consents tab.
Jane's Cancellation Policy guide explains these settings. The late cancellation period applies across the clinic. Choose a window that matches your actual policy rather than copying another clinic's notice period.
Changing the text in Language does not update a custom consent for you. Copy the approved wording into the form too, as Jane's Intake Forms guide explains.
Wording to adapt for your clinic
Fill in the brackets and have the person responsible for your clinic's policy approve it before use:
Please give us [notice period] if you need to cancel or move your appointment. Contact us at [phone number or other monitored contact method].
A late cancellation or missed appointment may incur [fee or how the fee is calculated]. If an emergency prevents you from attending, please contact us so we can discuss [your clinic's exception process].
Check that the same notice window, fee and contact details appear wherever patients read the policy. The wording should tell them what to do when their plans change.
What to change: correct one mismatch between the published policy, booking settings and consent form.
3. Check how waitlist openings reach patients
A waitlist helps when there is still time to offer an opening to someone else. It cannot refill every missed visit.
Open Settings → Wait Lists. Jane offers waitlists on all plans, but notifications require an eligible Thrive or legacy plan. If notifications are available, check:
- Enable Wait List Notifications is on.
- Whether Send Wait List Notifications Automatically is selected. If it is off, a team member needs to send notifications manually.
- The patient's requested appointment and availability fit the opening, and their notification preferences allow the message.
- The Exclusive Access period suits how your team manages openings.
Jane's waitlist notification setup guide explains the choices. If a message does not go out, use Jane's waitlist troubleshooting guide to check booking restrictions and other causes.
The patient may receive a booking link or a request to call, depending on your online booking settings. A notification does not reserve the appointment for that one patient. Jane shows a message if someone else books it first. See the patient-side waitlist guide.
What to change: decide who handles an opening and check that patients know how to book it.
4. Give missed-visit follow-up an owner
Before contacting someone, check the appointment record, whether they have already rebooked and their contact preferences. Ask the care team if you are unsure whether another visit is appropriate.
Give each follow-up to one person. Record what happened in the clinic's approved system: no contact needed, asked to call later, or a visit booked. Keep patient details out of the checklist below.
A message your team can adapt
Use the patient's agreed contact channel and change the wording to suit the situation:
Hi [first name], we missed you at your appointment. If you would like to arrange another visit or have a question, please contact [clinic] at [contact details]. Let us know if you need help with the next step.
If a fee applies, check the policy and recorded consent before taking payment. Jane supports no-show and late cancellation fee choices, including occasions when you record the missed visit without charging. Follow Jane's fee guide. A saved card alone does not tell you whether the patient agreed to a particular charge.
What to change: make it clear who follows up, what they need to check and where they record the outcome.
Choose one change and check it next week
Made-up example: you find that an intake form still has the old cancellation wording. Update it to match the approved policy, then ask a team member to read the booking message and form as a patient would. Have them explain when they need to contact the clinic and what happens if they miss the window. If the answers differ, fix the wording before using it.
Copy this checklist into your team's work notes:
- Problem we found: ____________________
- One change we will make: ____________________
- Person responsible: ____________________
- Date to review it: ____________________
- What we will check: ____________________
- What happened: ____________________
For missed-visit counts, use the same report filters and comparable date ranges. Record how many appointments were included as well as how many were marked No Show. Keep late cancellations separate. A smaller no-show count in a quieter week does not establish that the change worked.
Choose the change that addresses the issue you actually found. At the next review, check whether it happened: if you changed waitlist handling, whether openings led to bookings; if you changed follow-up, whether each item has an outcome. A booking, an attended visit and a payment are separate results.
For the next money review, use the weekly Jane checklist. If you are considering asking patients to save a card when booking, read Jane's online booking payment guide before changing that rule.
Sources
Jane guides checked on October 1, 2026:
Rob SaricCo-founder & CEO at Caretrics