What's the context?
If an appointment is cancelled you may want to record the event and have the opportunity to apply pre-configured Billing rules for cancellation charges.
What is the purpose of the article?
This article outlines:
- Key dependencies that impact on the cancellation process
- The steps to cancel an appointment
- The effects of an appointment cancellation
Before you start...
It's important to note that:
- Rules about charges for cancellation are set up in Billing Rules as a particular type of a Cancellation Charges rule
- An appointment cannot be marked as 'cancelled' if patient arrival for the appointment has already been recorded
Steps to cancel an appointment
To cancel an appointment:
1. Navigate to the appointment
1.1 Either via the Side-by-side schedule (via clicking on the Meddbase logo and choosing Schedule from the menu)
1.2 Or through Start > Find Patient > Patient record > Appointments section
2. Select the appointment to be cancelled
3. Click the Cancel Appointment option within the Actions pane
You are presented with an Are you sure? pop-up dialog.
This enables you to select different values and take different actions. The features and options in the dialog are explained in the table below.
| Option / Feature | Explanation |
| Cancellation fee |
The cancellation fee that is available to be charged to this appointment. This amount is dependent on the setup of the Cancellation Charge Rule. |
| Payer | The person or organisation who will be the debtor for any cancellation fee created. |
| Responsible party | A drop-down value you can select to identify who is responsible for the cancellation. This list includes the patient, the clinical attendee(s) or the billing company. |
| Reason |
A drop-down value you can select to set the reason for the appointment cancellation. This list is configured in Appointment Amendment Reasons which are set via Admin > Common Catalogues. |
| Cancel and create charge | By selecting this option, you record the appointment cancellation and create a charge as per the DNA fee shown in red in the dialog. |
| Cancel with no charge | By selecting this option, you record the appointment cancellation but do not create a charge. |
| No action |
By selecting this option, cancellation is not recorded. The options to cancel, arrive or equally record a DNA will still consequently be available. |
| Additional options (not displayed in the screenshot above) | |
| Cancel |
This button is displayed when there is no cancellation fee available to apply. By selecting this option, you cancel the appointment. |
In this example, we are going to 'cancel' the appointment but not create a charge.
4. Select the Cancel with no charge button at the bottom of the pop-up window
The appointment is cancelled.
What is the effect of an appointment cancellation?
When an appointment has been cancelled, there are a few effects that are noted below:
- Once the appointment has been cancelled the only remaining option available in the Actions pane of the appointment page is to add a document
- The cancellation may raise an invoice, depending on whether
- You have set up cancellation charges
- You choose to apply a charge when cancelling the appointment
- The cancelled appointment will no longer appear on the side-by-side schedule and as such this slot will become available once more
You may also be interested in...
As well as marking that a patient 'Did Not Arrive', you may be interested in the following articles:
- Changing an appointment (rescheduling or amending attendees)
- Recording patient non-attendance (DNA) at an appointment
Review date
This article was last updated on 18 November 2021 in the context of Meddbase version 1.246.0.35926.