Learn how to use ALOHA® to automatically follow up with patients who miss their appointments, helping you re-engage them without extra manual work.
✨ When You Need This Guide
This guide is your go-to resource when you want to reduce your no-show rate by automatically messaging patients who didn't make it to their scheduled visit. Use this if you are asking:
"Can I automatically follow up with no-show patients?"
"How do I send a text message immediately after a patient skips an appointment?"
"I want to improve my office efficiency by automating retention workflows."
What This Covers (And What It Doesn't)
✅ Creating a campaign specifically for missed appointments.
✅ Adding the automated text or email steps to the campaign.
❌ How to mark an appointment as Attended in your EHR.
You'll Need:
Access to the Campaigns tab.
A pre-written message template ready to go (e.g., "We missed you today!").
✅ Step 1: Build the Missed Appointment Campaign
✅ Step 1: Build the Missed Appointment Campaign
Use this process to build a Missed Appointment Campaign from scratch rather than using the Default Missed Appointment Campaign
Go to Campaigns: Navigate to Campaigns > Show Campaigns.
Add New: Click the +Add button in the top-right corner.
Select Type: Under the "Type" dropdown, select Missed Appointment.
Choose Appointment Types: Select which appointments trigger this campaign (e.g., "Adjustment" or "Any Appointment") when that appointment is missed.
Create: Click Add Campaign.
✅ Step 2: Add Your Follow-Up Message
✅ Step 2: Add Your Follow-Up Message
Now that the campaign exists, you need to tell it what to say and when to say it.
Add a Step: Inside your new campaign, click +Add Step.
Name the Step: Give it a clear name (e.g., "Missed Appt Text 1").
Choose Action: Select Text Message (or Email) as your action.
Select Template: Choose your pre-made "We missed you" template from the dropdown menu.
Pro Tip: A friendly message works best, such as: "We missed you at your appointment today! Need to reschedule? Use this link to find a new time.
Set Timing: Choose how long the system should wait after the appointment time before sending the message (e.g., 30 minutes or 1 hour).
Important: Give yourself a buffer (e.g., 30 minutes) to complete check-ins. If the delay is too short, the system may incorrectly flag a patient as a no-show.
Save: Click Add Campaign Step.
✅ Step 3: Activate the Campaign
✅ Step 3: Activate the Campaign
For this to work automatically, you must ensure the trigger settings are correct.
Check Autostart: In the campaign settings, ensure the Autostart toggle is set to ON.
If this is OFF, the campaign will only trigger if you change the patient appointment to 'Missed' in your EHR.
If this is ON, ALOHA automatically identifies appointments that meet both criteria:
The scheduled time is in the past.
The status is not marked as 'Attended'.
Enable the Campaign: Once you are satisfied with your settings, ensure the Enabled toggle is ON (Blue Checkmark) and click Save Campaign. Your campaign will be active immediately!
💡 Common Questions
💡 Common Questions
What You Might Notice | Why It's Happening | What to Do |
Patients are receiving "Missed Appointment" texts even though they showed up. | The appointment likely wasn't marked as "Attended" or "Checked In" in your scheduling system before the campaign trigger time passed. | Ensure your front desk marks patients as arrived/attended promptly. You may also want to increase the delay time (e.g., wait 2 hours after the appointment) to give staff time to update the status. |
The campaign isn't sending messages to appointments not marked as Attended automatically. | The "Autostart" toggle might be turned off. | Go to Campaigns > Show Campaigns, select your missed appointment campaign, and ensure Autostart is toggled to ON. |
I want to change the message wording. | The text is pulled from the Template, not the Campaign step itself. | Go to the specific step in the campaign, click Edit Template, make your changes, and click Save. |
🎉 You'll Know It's Working When
🎉 You'll Know It's Working When
You see active contacts appearing in the Campaigns list under your new campaign.
Messages are being sent automatically after an appointment time passes without a check-in.
Patients begin replying to the texts or using your link to reschedule their visits.
💬 Need Help? We're Here!
💬 Need Help? We're Here!
If you need help fine-tuning your no-show logic or setting up your templates, our support team is ready to help.
Phone: 800-563-0469
Email: support@getaloha.com