Why We Track Cancellations This Way
We document cancellations using standardized root cause categories to separate why a visit was canceled from when it was canceled. This allows us to distinguish patient-driven barriers (schedule, illness, financial), care-path changes, and internal practice factors (provider availability, scheduling errors) so we can accurately measure retention, access friction, operational performance, and revenue cycle impact.
By tracking timing (≥24 hours vs <24 hours) separately from root cause, we preserve clean data for late-cancel policy analysis while maintaining meaningful operational insight. This structure ensures our reporting reflects true patterns rather than mixed or ambiguous documentation.
| # | Category | Use This When… (Examples / Sub-Descriptions) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | PT Schedule Conflict | Work conflict, school conflict, sports/band/testing, another appointment (PCP/dentist/therapy), travel/vacation/out of town, transportation issue/no ride/car trouble, weather (clinic open), forgot/wrong date, mistake booking, “something came up,” needs different time |
| 2 | PT Illness or Family Emergency | Patient sick (flu, COVID, GI, etc.), child sick, hospitalized/inpatient (Laureate/Parkside/etc.), surgery, death in family, medical emergency |
| 3 | Financial or Insurance | Insurance inactive/termed, OON, Medicaid lapsed, waiting on new insurance, cannot afford/self-pay too high, copay issue, lost job, balance due, card declined, deposit not paid, failure to make payment arrangements, prior auth pending/denied |
| 4 | Incomplete Intake | New patient paperwork not completed, portal not activated, missing consent forms, missing insurance information, required records not received, Vanderbilt/forms pending, testing required before treatment start |
| 5 | Care Path Change | Symptoms improved, medication stable/no changes needed, PCP managing meds, switching to therapy only, testing only, spacing visits out, holding off on treatment, not ready to proceed |
| 6 | Transfer of Care (External) | Found another provider, following departing provider to another clinic, relocating out of city/state, transferring to VA/Indian Health/Muscogee Nation, referred to higher level of care, formally transferring records out |
| 7 | Internal Provider Reassignment | Patient switching providers within TF PW (fit preference, scheduling access, insurance panel issue, moved from NP to MD, provider leaving but staying within practice) |
| 8 | Scheduling Error (Practice) | Duplicate appointment created, wrong provider scheduled, wrong visit type, wrong date/time entered, double booked, staff scheduling mistake, system scheduling error |
| 9 | Provider Unavailable | Provider illness/emergency/funeral, provider out of office, schedule template change, provider leaving practice, clinic closed/holiday |
| 10 | System / Automated | Cancelled via SMS reminder (pressed 2/3), portal self-cancel, automated booking assistant cancellation without documented reason |
| 11 | PT Dismissed | Dismissed due to attendance policy, formal non-payment dismissal, behavioral dismissal, termination letter sent |