Front desk and scheduling
Broken appointment
Also called missed appointment, failed appointment
An appointment a patient cancels at the last minute or misses, leaving the time unused.
A broken appointment is a booked visit that the patient misses or cancels so late that the office cannot refill the time. It costs the practice scheduled production, since the chair and staff are ready but idle. Offices usually have a policy on notice and may charge a fee. Staff should record each broken appointment in the chart, follow up kindly, and reschedule, because repeated misses can signal a problem.
Example at the front desk
He broke Tuesday's appointment, so I left a message and offered Thursday morning.