Appointment Cancellation Emails
Appointment cancellation emails notify clients and designated contacts when a session is canceled. This guide explains how to enable cancellation emails, choose how they are sent, and customize the message template.
ℹ️ A client’s name combined with their appointment date and time may qualify as Protected Health Information (PHI). Sessions Health sends cancellation emails in a manner consistent with HIPAA privacy and security requirements.
In this article:
- Enabling Appointment Cancellation Emails
- Choosing How Emails Are Sent
- Customizing the Cancellation Email
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Related Resources
Enabling Appointment Cancellation Emails
ℹ️ Setting up this feature requires administrator permissions.
To enable appointment cancellation emails:
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Go to Account Settings.
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Click Client Notifications.
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Scroll to Appointment Cancellations.
- Toggle on Enable appointment cancellation emails.
💡Once this setting is enabled, you can choose how emails are sent.
Choosing How Emails Are Sent
Under Cancellation Email Behavior, select one option:
- Send automatically: Applicable contacts receive a cancellation email immediately when a session is cancelled.
- Ask to send: You are prompted to choose whether to send the email each time you cancel a session.
ℹ️ Cancellation emails are sent when a practitioner cancels a session. If a client cancels through the Client Portal, no cancellation email is sent.
Customizing the Cancellation Email
You may customize your message to match your practice’s tone and cancellation policies.
The template supports dynamic tokens, which automatically insert appointment details when the email is sent. Available tokens include:
- Appointment Location
- Appointment Time
- Client First Name
- Client Full Name
- Practice Name
- Practice Phone Number
- Practitioner Name
To edit the message:
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Click inside the Message Template field.
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Edit the text as needed.
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Click Insert Token to add dynamic fields.
- Select Preview to see how the email will appear to a client.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why didn’t my client receive a cancellation email?
Cancellation emails are sent to contacts who have a valid email address and are configured as "OK to email". Cancellation emails do not depend on appointment reminder settings. To review contact preferences, go to: Clients > [Client Name] > Details > Contact Preferences.
Why didn’t a contact receive a cancellation email?
Cancellation emails for contacts require three things:
- A valid email address.
- “OK to email” is enabled in the contact's preferences.
- “Receive appointment reminders” is checked on the contact record.
To review these settings, go to: Clients > [Client Name] > Contacts > Edit Contact.
Who receives appointment cancellation emails when there are multiple contacts?
Cancellation emails are sent to all applicable contacts with valid email addresses and configured to receive email communications. For example:
If a minor has a parent contact configured with a valid email address and set to "OK to email", the parent will receive the cancellation email.
For conjoint sessions, all participants with valid email addresses and enabled email communications will receive the email.
Can cancellation notifications be sent by text message?
No. Cancellation notifications are sent by email only.
How are cancellation emails logged?
When a cancellation email is sent, it is recorded in the client’s Recent Activity section. The log includes the appointment date and the recipient's email address. You can view this by going to Clients > [Client Name] > Recent Activity.
Related Resources
For more information on client contact preferences and cancellations, see our other articles: