It happens every week. A patient books a 45-minute appointment, doesn't show up, and you eat the cost. No call, no cancellation, just a empty treatment room and lost revenue.
For many physiotherapy clinics in Adelaide—especially solo or small practices—this adds up to a shocking amount. Let's look at the real numbers.
The True Cost of No-Shows
Dr Sarah runs a small physio practice in Unley. She has three treatment rooms, two part-time physios, and a steady flow of patients. But every month, she was losing about $3,000 to no-shows.
Here's how that breaks down:
- 15 no-shows per month (conservative estimate—many clinics see 20+)
- $200 average value per appointment (initial consultations are higher, follow-ups lower)
- $3,000/month = $36,000/year
That's a full-time employee's salary going straight into the bin. Not because the treatment wasn't good, but because patients forgot, got busy, or simply didn't bother calling to cancel.
The SMS Reminder Solution
We set up a simple two-step SMS reminder system for Sarah's clinic:
48-Hour Reminder
Two days before the appointment, patients receive an SMS: "Hi [name], this is a reminder about your appointment with [therapist] at [time] on [date]. Reply C to confirm or R to reschedule."
Morning-of Reminder
The morning of the appointment, another SMS: "Hi [name], looking forward to seeing you at [time] today. Reply if you need to cancel or reschedule."
The magic wasn't just the reminders—it was the two-way interaction. When patients could confirm or reschedule with a single text reply, they actually did it.
Online Rbooking Integration
The second piece was even simpler: when patients needed to reschedule, they could do it instantly online rather than playing phone tag with the front desk.
We added a simple link to the SMS that opened a calendar showing available slots. If they couldn't make their original time, they could book a new one in under 60 seconds—on their phone, while standing in the shower, or during their lunch break.
The Results: 60% Reduction in No-Shows
After three months of running the automated system, Sarah's clinic saw:
- No-shows dropped from 15/month to 6/month—a 60% reduction
- Revenue recovered: $1,800/month
- Annual savings: $21,600
But the benefits went beyond just filling empty chairs. Because patients could reschedule easily (instead of just not showing up), the clinic's booking utilisation improved dramatically. More chairs filled, more revenue per square metre, happier therapists with fuller days.
The Setup Cost
Total setup time for the entire system? About 45 minutes. Monthly cost? About $35 for the SMS service (which includes unlimited automated messages).
The ROI? The first month paid for the next 18 months of service.
What This Means for Your Clinic
If you're running a physio clinic in Adelaide and losing money to no-shows, the problem isn't your patients. It's your system.
People are busy, life gets in the way, and sometimes appointments slip mind. That's not rudeness—it's human nature. Your job isn't to yell at patients to show up. Your job is to make it easy for them to remember, confirm, or reschedule.
The tools to do this are cheap, fast to set up, and they pay for themselves in weeks. If your clinic is losing $3,000 a month to no-shows, that's $36,000 a year you're leaving on the table.
How would you spend $36,000?