919: Metric Mondays: Cancellation/No-Show Percentage – Miranda Beeson

Cancellations will always happen — but there's a way to reduce and prevent them from happening! In this episode, Kirk Behrendt brings back Miranda Beeson, ACT’s director of education, to break down cancellation and no-show percentage and what you can do if you have high levels of broken appointments. Stop making it too easy to cancel! To learn the secret to getting patients to show up, listen to Episode 919 of The Best Practices Show!

Learn More About Miranda:

• Send Miranda an email: miranda@actdental.com 
• Follow Miranda on ACT’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/actdental
• Send Courtney an email to learn more about ACT: courtney@actdental.com 

More Helpful Links for a Better Practice & a Better Life:

• Subscribe to The Best Practices Show: https://the-best-practices-show.captivate.fm/listen
• Join The Best Practices Association: https://www.actdental.com/bpa
• Download ACT’s BPA app on the Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/best-practices-association/id6738960360
• Download ACT’s BPA app on the Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.actdental.join&hl=en_US
• Join ACT’s To The Top Study Club: https://www.actdental.com/ttt
• Get The Best Practices Magazine for free: https://www.actdental.com/magazine
• Please leave us a review on the podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-best-practices-show-with-kirk-behrendt/id1223838218

Episode Resources:

• Watch the video version of Episode 919: https://www.youtube.com/@actdental/videos
• Register for ACT’s To The Top Study Club (July 25, 2025): https://www.eventbrite.com/e/climb-with-us-register-for-july-25-2025-ttt-study-club-tickets-1205497959849

Main Takeaways:

• Your ideal cancellation/no-show percentage is under 10%.
• Proactively reach out to patients with unconfirmed appointments.
• Put a system in place for releasing or keeping unconfirmed appointments.
• Have a reminder system that utilizes both automated and personal outreach.
• Be intentional with your language. Don't call to confirm appointments — remind them.
• Communicate the value of appointments to patients and policies around missed visits.

Snippets:

0:00 Introduction.

3:15 Cancellation and no-show percentage, explained.

5:16 How this percentage impacts the practice.

7:59 What it looks like when it’s going well.

9:47 What it looks like when it’s not going well.

11:13 Learn how to track and cancel appointments in your software.

13:00 Ways to impact this metric.

19:58 Final thoughts.

Miranda Beeson, MS, BSDH Bio:

Miranda Beeson has over 25 years of clinical dental hygiene, front office, practice administration, and speaking experience. She is enthusiastic about communication and loves helping others find the power that words can bring to their patient interactions and practice dynamics. As a Lead Practice Coach, she is driven to create opportunities to find value in experiences and cultivate new approaches.

Miranda graduated from Old Dominion University, and enjoys spending time with her husband, Chuck, and her children, Trent, Mallory, and Cassidy. Family time is the best time, and is often spent on a golf course, a volleyball court, or spending the day boating at the beach.