Allied health and clinics · Cliniko · No-shows

What should a physio appointment reminder text say to reduce no-shows?

By BREME · Updated 19 October 2026

Who this is for: Owners and practice managers of physio and other allied health clinics who use Cliniko and want fewer empty appointment slots without sounding pushy.

Do reminders actually reduce physio no-shows?

There is Australian evidence that they help. A randomised controlled trial led from La Trobe University in Melbourne, published in 2012, sent an SMS reminder to some patients of two public hospital physiotherapy outpatient departments and not to others. Of 679 patients, non-attendance was 16% without a reminder and 11% with one.

The same trial found no difference in cancellation rates between the groups, and found higher non-attendance among younger patients, first appointments, and appointments on Mondays and Fridays. That is useful when you decide where to put extra effort, such as a phone call before a new patient's first visit.

A reminder won't fix every empty slot. What it does well is catch the patient who simply forgot, and give the patient who can't come an easy way to tell you in time.

What the reminder needs to say

A good reminder answers the questions a patient has in the ten seconds they spend reading it. Include these, and very little else.

• Their first name, so it reads as a message to them, not a broadcast.
• The practitioner's first name, which makes the appointment feel like a commitment to a person.
• The day, date and time. Writing the day of the week as well as the date leaves no room for confusion.
• The clinic name and address, or the location if you have more than one.
• One clear way to change or cancel, usually a phone number.
• A short, polite line about notice for cancelling.

Keep clinical details out of the text

A text can be read by anyone who picks up the phone, and lock screens show previews. Avant, the medical defence organisation, recommends avoiding sensitive health information in text messages and only sending clinical information by text where the patient has specifically consented.

In practice, that means the reminder says 'your appointment', not 'your post-surgery knee review' or 'your pelvic health session'. If your appointment types have revealing names, check that none of them flow into the message through a placeholder.

Avant also points out that having a patient's mobile number does not automatically mean they agree to receive texts for every kind of communication. Ask at registration how they would like to be reminded, record the answer, and update it when it changes. Cliniko won't send SMS reminders to patients whose communication preferences opt them out.

The OAIC says reminders to attend a scheduled appointment are generally covered by implied consent, and that implied consent is easier to rely on when the patient has attended regularly or recently. A plain reminder for care that is already booked fits that. Messages that promote other services are a different matter, covered below.

How the timing works in Cliniko

Cliniko's help docs describe reminders as templates you create under Settings, then link to each appointment type. If an appointment type has no reminder template linked, nothing is sent. Reminders also need to be switched on for each business location under Settings, Business information.

Each template has a reminder period, which Cliniko says can be anywhere from 1 to 9 days before the appointment, a time of day to send it, and an option to skip weekends. You can link one or several reminder templates to the same appointment type, and SMS and email can run on different timings.

SMS reminders use purchased credits. A standard reminder costs 1 credit, and going over 160 characters costs an additional credit, so keep texts short. The editor shows the estimated credits for each reminder.

Cliniko's documented reminder periods are counted in days, and we couldn't find a same-day or hours-before setting in its help docs. If you want a morning-of message, check with Cliniko support or send it from the front desk for the appointments that matter most, such as first visits.

1. Create an email reminder template set to 2 days before, sent mid-morning. Decide whether to tick skip weekends based on the days you open.
2. Create an SMS template set to 1 day before, or use the morning-of wording below if you send same-day texts another way.
3. Insert the patient and appointment details from the placeholder menu at the top of the editor, then press View sample to check how it reads.
4. Link both templates to every appointment type under Settings, Appointment types.
5. Book a test appointment for yourself and check what arrives, and when.

The cancellation line: firm, not threatening

Patients respond better to a reason than a rule. 'Please give us notice so we can offer your spot to someone on our waitlist' explains why notice matters. If you charge a late cancellation fee, state it in your policy at booking and link to it from the email, rather than putting the amount in every text.

Make cancelling easy. A patient who can't come and can't work out how to tell you becomes a no-show. The ACMA notes that texts sent with an alphanumeric sender name, such as your clinic name, generally can't receive replies, so include a phone number rather than asking people to reply.

Hi [first name], a reminder of your appointment with [practitioner] at [clinic] on [day] [date] at [time]. Need to change it? Call [phone].

Subject: Your appointment on [day] at [time]

Hi [first name],

This is a reminder that you're booked in with [practitioner] on [day] [date] at [time].

Where: [clinic address]. [Parking or entry tip].

If you can't make it, please call us on [phone] by [time] the day before. That gives us time to offer your spot to someone who is waiting, and you can choose a new time that suits you. Our cancellation policy is here: [policy link].

See you soon,
[Clinic] team

Morning [first name], see you today at [time] with [practitioner] at [clinic]. Running late or unwell? Call [phone] and we'll sort it out.

Can't make it? Letting us know by [time] the day before means we can offer your spot to someone waiting. Thank you.