Managing Cancellations, Deletions, and Missed Appointments in the Rula Provider Portal

This article explains how providers can cancel or delete appointments, manage missed appointments, and handle appointments that were created in error within the Rula provider portal. It includes:

• How to determine whether to cancel, delete, or complete a Missed Appointment Note for an appointment
• How to cancel or delete an appointment
• How to view a canceled appointment
• How to complete a Missed Appointment Note
• What’s required to ensure proper billing and therapist payment
• The key differences between cancellations, deletions, and missed sessions

Understanding Appointment Outcomes

Important: Clients have access to their own Rula patient portal and can cancel sessions directly. If they cancel within 24 hours using the portal, Rula Support will complete the Missed Appointment Note for you, and the client will be charged. However, if a client contacts the provider directly to cancel within 24 hours and does not cancel through the portal, you must both cancel the appointment and complete the Missed Appointment Note.

Canceling or Deleting Appointments

Cancel a Single Appointment

1. Go to the Schedule tab.
2. Click on the appointment you want to cancel.
3. Click the three-dot icon (⋯).
4. Select Cancel appointment.
   
5. Choose the correct reason from the dropdown.
6. Confirm the cancellation.

Cancel a Recurring Appointment Series

If the appointment is part of a recurring series, when canceling, the system will prompt:

• This appointment only
• This and future appointments

Choose the option that matches your intended action. If you would like to cancel future sessions for a client ending care, use "This and future appointments."

Important notes regarding canceling an appointment:

• If you cancel an appointment without submitting a Missed Appointment Note during the process, you'll not be able to submit one after the fact; if you are completing a Missed Appointment Note, it must be done during the appointment cancellation process. See below for how to complete a Missed Appointment Note.
• When you cancel an appointment in the portal, your client will automatically get an email confirming the cancellation.
• When canceling an initial appointment, you’ll see the cancellation reason "I’m not accepting new clients." If you select this, Rula will automatically stop adding new clients to your schedule. Only choose this if you want to pause new clients.
• You can cancel both telehealth and in-person appointments in the Rula provider portal.
• Need to reschedule an appointment instead of canceling it? See our article here for details: Rescheduling appointments in the Rula provider portal

Delete/Remove Appointments Scheduled in Error

To delete/remove the appointment from your calendar:

1. Go to the Schedule tab.
2. Click on the appointment you’d like to delete.
3. Click the three-dot icon (⋯).
4. Select Cancel appointment or Appointment did not happen (depends on timing)
5. Choose the appropriate cancellation reason from the dropdown.
   • For example, if you accidentally scheduled an appointment for the wrong client, select “Something else” from the reason list, and fill out the reason (see image below for example)
6. Confirm the cancellation by selecting Yes.
   • The appointment will be deleted, the client will receive an email notification confirming the cancellation, and the client will not be charged.

Delete/Remove an Appointment if a Therapist Misses the Appointment

If you are unable to attend a scheduled appointment and miss the session, DO NOT complete a Missed Appointment Note for that session. Instead, delete the appointment from your calendar by doing the following:

1. Go to the Schedule tab.
2. Click on the appointment you’d like to delete.
3. Click the three-dot icon (⋯).
4. Select Appointment did not happen.
5. Choose the cancellation reason: I did not attend appointment
6. Confirm the cancellation by selecting Yes.
   • The appointment will be deleted, the client will receive an email notification confirming the cancellation, and the client will not be charged.
7. Once the appointment is deleted, send a message to the patient to explain your absence, ask if they would like to reschedule, and coordinate rescheduling of future visits, if needed.

Viewing a Canceled Appointment

To view canceled appointments, select the checkbox labeled Cancellations, located on the left side of the Schedule page in the Rula provider portal.

Once selected, your canceled appointments will appear on your schedule with a strikethrough.

Completing a Missed Appointment Note

A Missed Appointment Note is required whenever a patient misses a session due to a late cancellation or a no-show. This documentation is necessary in order to charge the client and receive payment for your time.

Required in the following scenarios:

• Late Cancellation

  • The patient reaches out to cancel a session with less than 24 hours’ notice, OR

  • The patient arrives more than 15 minutes late to the scheduled appointment

• No-Show

  • The patient does not attend the appointment, AND

  • The patient does not contact their therapist or Rula Support in advance

Not required if:

• The patient cancels >24 hours in advance
• The patient cancels <24 hours through their portal (Rula handles documentation)
• The appointment is deleted due to an error

For details on when a note is required, see: No-Shows & Late Cancellations: Policy Overview and Required Actions

Timing of Appointment Options in the Provider Portal

The actions you see in the three-dot icon (⋯) appointment menu depend on when you try to edit the appointment relative to its scheduled start time.

• Before the appointment starts and up to 15 minutes after the start time
  → You will see the option “Cancel appointment.”
  Use this if the session is being canceled in advance or within the first few minutes.

• 15 minutes after the scheduled start time (and beyond)
  → The option changes to “Appointment did not happen.”
  This reflects that enough time has passed for the appointment to be considered a no-show or missed session.

Quick Reference

Creating a Missed Appointment Note

Step 1: Open the Appointment

1. Go to the Schedule tab.
2. Find the appointment that was a late cancellation or no-show.
3. Click the three-dot icon (⋯) next to the session.

Step 2: Choose the Correct Option Based on Timing

If it is before the appointment start time OR within 15 minutes after start

1. Select Cancel appointment.
2. In the cancellation menu, choose Client is not available at this time.
3. Click Yes, create note.

Important: Only the “Client is not available at this time” option will create a Missed Appointment Note. Choosing any other cancellation reason will simply cancel the appointment and remove it from your calendar - the client will not be charged a fee, and you will not be paid.

If it is 15 minutes or more after the appointment start time

1. Select Appointment did not happen.
2. In the confirmation screen, choose Client did not attend appointment.
3. Click Yes, create note.

Important: Only the “Client did not attend appointment” option will create a Missed Appointment Note. Choosing any other cancellation reason will simply cancel the appointment and remove it from your calendar - the client will not be charged a fee, and you will not be paid. 

Step 3: Complete the Missed Appointment Note

Once you’ve created the note, you’ll be guided through the template. The first step is to select the Missed appointment category.

Option A: Late Cancellation (<24 hours)

Select this if the client canceled less than 24 hours before the appointment.

You’ll need to complete:

1. Describe communication with the client
   • Include details of attempted outreach or how/when the client canceled.
   • Be specific — Rula may refer to this if the client contacts Support.
2. Charge client?
   • Yes → The client is charged, and you will be paid.
   • No → The client is not charged, and you will not be paid.
     • If you choose No, you must provide a reason.

Option B: No-Show

Select this if the client did not attend and gave no prior notification.

You’ll need to complete:

1. Verify outreach by answering three quick questions:
   • After 3 minutes: I re-sent the appointment link to the client or parent.
   • After 5 minutes: I called the client or parent.
   • For 15 minutes: I remained actively available in the appointment.
2. Describe communication with the client
    
   • Note all attempted outreach (e.g., resent link, phone call, voicemail).
   • Be specific — Rula may refer to this if the client contacts Support.
3. Charge client?
    
   • Yes → The client is charged, and you will be paid.
   • No → The client is not charged, and you will not be paid.
     • If you choose No, you must provide a reason.

Step 4: Finalize the Note

1. Review the information entered.
2. Click Sign note.
3. Confirm your electronic signature.
4. Click Sign and submit note.

You’re done! The appointment is now documented, and billing/payment will be processed based on your selections.

Please note:

• Once the note is submitted, it cannot be edited. The signed note will generate a charge and be billed to your client. No further action is needed. 
• You can confirm that a charge was generated correctly by returning to the client's chart and looking for the Missed Appointment Note. Confirmation of a charge will be indicated by a $ icon on the note card.

Missed Appointment Note Compensation & Documentation Summary

Timely documentation ensures accurate payment. Missed notes result in no compensation for the session.

Common Cancellation/No-Show Scenarios & Summary

A note on imported calendars

If you have imported a calendar to your Rula calendar, all events from that calendar will appear as blocks. If you need to edit one of these events, you need to go back to the external calendar (Google, Outlook, Apple, etc). 

You can delete these blocks from your Rula calendar; however, they will only be removed from your Rula calendar, not from your external calendar.

Related Articles

• No-Shows & Late Cancellations Policy Overview
• Rescheduling appointments in the Rula provider portal
• Documentation Requirements for Payment

Updated May 21, 2026 16:00