Recording patient non-attendance (Did Not Arrive) at an Appointment

Article author
Dan Jordan
  • Updated

What's the context?


If a patient does not arrive for an appointment (i.e. was a 'DNA'), you may want to record the event and have the opportunity to apply pre-configured charges for non-attendance.

What is the purpose of the article?


This article outlines:

Before you start...


It's important to note that:

  • Rules about charges for patient non-attendance are set up in Billing Rules as a particular type of a Cancellation Charges rule
  • An appointment cannot be marked as a 'Did Not Arrive' if
    • The appointment has already been cancelled
    • Patient arrival for the appointment has already been recorded

Steps to record that a patient 'Did not arrive' for an appointment


To record that a patient did not arrive for an appointment:

1. Navigate to the appointment

1.1 Either via the Side by Side Schedules (via clicking on the Meddbase logo and choosing Schedule from the menu)

1.2 Or through Start > Find Patient > Patient record > Appointments section         

1_-_Selecting_appointments_from_patient_actions_panel

2. Select the appointment to be marked as 'Did not arrive'

3. In the Appointment Home page, click the Patient did not arrive option within the Actions pane

Click_on_Patient_did_not_arrive_action_in_Actions_panel_for_appointment

You are presented with an Are you sure? pop-up dialog.

are_you_sure_dialog_without_page_context

This enables you to take different actions. These screen features and options are explained in the table below.

Option / Feature Explanation
DNA fee

The fee that can potentially be charged to this appointment as a result of non-attendance. 

This amount is dependent on the setup of the Cancellation Charge Rule.

Payer The person or organisation who will be the debtor for any DNA fee created.
DNA and create charge By selecting this option, you record that the patient did not arrive and create a charge as per the DNA fee shown in red.
DNA with no charge By selecting this option, you record that the patient did not arrive but do not create a charge.
No action

By selecting this option you do not record that the patient did not arrive.

The options to cancel, arrive or equally record a DNA will still consequently be available.

In this example, we are going to 'DNA' the appointment and create a charge.

4. Select the DNA and create charge button at the bottom of the pop-up dialog

Are_you_sure_dialog_for_DNAing_an_appointment_-_with_annotation_to_select_DNA_and_create_charge

The process of recording that the patient did not arrive is complete.

What is the effect of recording that a patient did not arrive for an appointment?


There are a few effects that are noted below:

  • Once the appointment has been marked as 'Patient did not arrive' the only remaining option available in the Actions pane of the appointment page is to access Patient documents.
  • If you recorded a charge as part of the 'Patient did not arrive' process, an invoice is visible from the appointment and can be selected

appointment_after_marking_that_patient_did_not_arrive_-_noting_availablility_of_invoice

  • The appointment appears in the Appointment History for the patient with a status of Did not arrive

Appointment_showing_with_status_of_did_not_arrive_on_appointment_history

  • The appointment appears in the clinician's diary marked with a specific background colour

Did_not_arrive_appointment_appearance_in_diary_of_clinician

You may also be interested in...


As well as marking that a patient 'Did Not Arrive', you may be interested in the following articles

Review date


This article was last updated on 5th December 2024