How much do missed calls actually cost my clinic?
Multiply three numbers you can actually get: missed calls per week (your phone system logs this), the share that wanted to book (listen to a week of voicemails and count), and your average appointment value (your practice system knows). A clinic missing 20 calls a week where half wanted bookings at $90 a visit is looking at roughly $900 a week of at-risk revenue before lifetime value. Run it with your own numbers; ours are only the worked example.
Get the three numbers
Missed calls: every modern phone system reports unanswered and voicemail counts; export a fortnight. Booking intent: sample the voicemails and after-hours calls, count how many were trying to book or reschedule. Appointment value: average billed value per visit from your practice system. Resist rounding any of them optimistically; the point is a number you believe.
The multiplier people forget
A first appointment is rarely one appointment. A new patient who books a course of care is worth the course, and a patient who could not reach you may book with whoever answered. That is why the honest range is wide: the per-call cost sits somewhere between one visit and a full course of care.
Then compare against the fix
Whatever your weekly number is, compare it to the cost of answering: reception coverage, an answering service, or an AI receptionist. For most clinics the maths clears if the fix recovers one booking a week. Robyn's version of the fix also works the rebooking report, which is usually the bigger number hiding behind this one.
Quick answers
How do I find my missed call count?
Your phone system or carrier portal reports unanswered calls and voicemails. If you truly cannot get it, divert to a number with logging for two weeks and count.
Do missed calls really book elsewhere?
Some reschedule, some give up, some call the next clinic on the list. Rather than trust anyone's benchmark, call back a week of missed numbers once and see what happened. Your own data will convince you either way.
Written by Daniel Welsh, founder of Routiq. General information, not legal or clinical advice. Updated 8 August 2026.
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Keep reading: How do I reduce no-shows at my clinic? · How much does an AI receptionist cost in Australia? · How much do no-shows cost my clinic each year?