32 Physical Therapy Scheduling & Booking Statistics (2026)
Physical-therapy treatment plans and appointment frequency vary by condition and care setting. The studies below cover attendance, scheduling and telehealth across different clinic populations and periods. Findings about no-shows or clinician opinions do not establish patient dropout rates or prove that booking software improves treatment outcomes.
Collection updated: October 2026
32 Physical Therapy Scheduling & Booking Statistics (2026) reveal key trends in scheduling and appointment management. This collection contains 32 data points. Check each source's population, reporting period and methodology before applying a figure to your business; forecasts and vendor case studies are not general industry results.
Table of Contents
Treatment Scheduling & Session Frequency
Prescribed frequency in the standardized supervised exercise program studied for low back pain at five San Diego outpatient clinics, November 2015-June 2017. This describes that specific protocol, not the average frequency prescribed for all physical-therapy conditions.
Shahidi et al., PLOS ONE, 2022; five San Diego outpatient clinics, 2015-2017 cohort
Recommended visit count in the low-back-pain exercise program studied at five San Diego outpatient clinics, November 2015-June 2017. A prescribed protocol count, not a median across physical-therapy treatment plans.
Shahidi et al., PLOS ONE, 2022; five San Diego outpatient clinics, 2015-2017 cohort
Planned duration of the study's 20-visit, two-visits-per-week low-back-pain exercise program at five San Diego outpatient clinics, November 2015-June 2017. Not a typical duration or treatment recommendation for all physical-therapy patients.
Shahidi et al., PLOS ONE, 2022; five San Diego outpatient clinics, 2015-2017 cohort
Saudi outpatient/homecare PT respondents who said their evaluation determines the number of patient appointments: 286 of 434, surveyed February-May 2024. Multiple answers allowed. Clinician-reported series planning, not patient need for identical appointment times each week.
Alhammad et al., original Saudi appointment-planning survey (2025)
Saudi outpatient/homecare PT respondents reporting workplace-set fixed appointment counts regardless of evaluation or diagnosis: 102 of 434, surveyed February-May 2024. Multiple answers allowed; paper rounds to 24%. Administrative planning constraint, not recurring scheduling ranked as the biggest burden.
Alhammad et al., original Saudi appointment-planning survey (2025)
Phone back-and-forth to choose an appointment described by Marketplace PT's COO in Penciled's customer report. Customer estimate, not timed research or mean scheduling time per patient. Organization: 43 providers, five locations; observation dates and transaction count undisclosed.
Penciled original Marketplace Physical Therapy customer report; undated
Appointment Adherence & Dropout Rates
Calculated share (1,285/2,243) classified as non-adherent in a 2015-2017 retrospective low-back-pain exercise cohort at five San Diego clinics, published in 2022. The study used a visit-completion/formal-discharge criterion; early improvement and medical discharge also contributed to noncompletion. Not a national PT dropout rate or a scheduling effect.
Shahidi et al., PLOS ONE, 2022; five San Diego outpatient clinics, 2015-2017 cohort
Mean clinic-reported no-show rate among 634 rate-reporting respondents in a U.S. outpatient physical-therapist survey published as a 2015 UNLV dissertation. Historical self-reported clinic benchmark, not a current national appointment-weighted average.
Bokinskie, Johnson and Mahoney, UNLV national outpatient PT survey, 2015
Mean completed visits among participants classified as non-adherent in a 2015-2017 low-back-pain exercise cohort at five San Diego clinics, published in 2022. The analyzed cohort had 2,243 patients, including 1,285 non-adherent. Visit count, not elapsed weeks or the share stopping within three weeks. Retrospective study; reported classification and exclusion arithmetic have inconsistencies, and some noncompletion followed improvement or medical discharge.
Shahidi et al., PLOS ONE, 2022; original Results and Table 1
Share of the full 2,243-patient low-back-pain cohort discontinuing the studied exercise program for logistical/access reasons: personal issues, insufficient insurance authorization or geographic access. Five San Diego outpatient clinics, 2015-2017. This combines several barriers and does not isolate scheduling difficulties or measure a national rate.
Shahidi et al., PLOS ONE, 2022; five San Diego outpatient clinics, 2015-2017 cohort
Average visits per case reported by Marketplace PT from September to December during Penciled rollout. Vendor-reported 27.5% increase; not treatment-plan completion or a controlled software effect. Case counts, aggregation and controls undisclosed; first clinic fully deployed by December 2025.
Penciled original Marketplace Physical Therapy customer report; undated
In a 2012 randomized trial of 679 patients at two Australian hospital physical-therapy outpatient departments, nonattendance without cancellation was 16% without an SMS reminder versus 11% with one. This specific trial is not a universal 34% reduction benchmark.
Taylor et al., Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 2012 randomized trial
Patients with at least one cancelled or pending/noncompleted appointment during a PT care episode in one US provider registry, 2016-2017: 323,502 of 444,995. The study combines cancellations and unexplained nonattendance. Patient-level episode measure, not appointment no-show rate, permanent dropout or nonreturn after two consecutive missed visits.
Bhavsar et al., original US PT registry study (2021); Table 2 and outcome definition
Telehealth Physical Therapy Trends
Telehealth share of completed PT visits at Duke Sports Sciences Institute fell from 6.9% in 2020 to 0.9% in 2021, according to a 2022 retrospective study. Video and phone visits combined; cancellations and no-shows excluded. One sports rehabilitation center during pandemic restrictions, not current national session share.
Kim et al., original single-center PT utilization study (2022); March 2020-December 2021 records
Telehealth sessions among 4,548 completed physical-therapy visits at three UCSF outpatient faculty-practice clinics, March 22-May 16, 2020: 3,883/4,548, approximately 85%. Pandemic implementation cohort, not a current national fully remote session share; patient access and case mix changed versus 2019.
Miller et al., Physical Therapy, 2021; original UCSF implementation study, Table 1
Of physical-therapist respondents in APTA's July-August 2022 member survey reported providing telehealth, compared with 4% before the pandemic in its May 2023 summary. Historical clinician-use figures, not current practice availability or session share.
APTA 2023 public-health-emergency report summary, July-August 2022 survey
Norwegian primary-care physiotherapist respondents selecting reduced nonattendance as an advantage of digital health technology (71/338), March 20-April 3, 2023. Provider opinion, not a measured attendance improvement or a hybrid-care comparison. Technology includes telephone/video consultations and apps; convenience survey, approximately 6.8% response rate.
Martinsen et al., JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies, 2024; original survey, Table 4
Respondents willing to participate in another telehealth physical-therapy session in UCSF's March-May 2020 implementation study; 305 answered this yes/no question. Self-reported willingness among survey respondents, not actual repeat attendance or easier treatment scheduling. Of 1,153 survey invitations, 307 were returned; selection and response bias limit generalization.
Miller et al., Physical Therapy, 2021; original UCSF implementation study, Maintenance
Odds of choosing a virtual rather than face-to-face rehabilitation consultation for a hypothetical 6pm appointment versus noon in a UK choice experiment. Analyzed: 122 orthopaedic PT/OT patients, January-March 2020. Not a probability multiplier, actual booking behavior, or percentage of PT telehealth appointments booked after hours.
Norwegian primary-care physiotherapist respondents selecting flexibility in how care is delivered as an advantage of digital health technology (278/338), March 20-April 3, 2023. Provider perception, not a 2.4-fold scheduling improvement. Technology includes telephone/video consultations and apps; convenience sample with approximately 6.8% response rate, not a US practice benchmark.
Martinsen et al., JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies, 2024; original survey, Table 4
Online Booking & Patient Experience
Visits booked online at Achieve Physical Therapy, a five-location Massachusetts practice with 17 providers, after adopting Prompt in mid-2022. Vendor-reported customer result; reporting window, visit count and audit undisclosed. Not national practice-adoption prevalence or patient preference.
Prompt Health original Achieve Physical Therapy customer report; undated
UK first-contact physiotherapist respondents reporting a digital system as an appointment-access route: 127 of 193, surveyed June 19-July 19, 2023. Includes staff-triaged forms. Clinician-reported digital access, not patient online-management preference, instant self-booking prevalence or a national PT-practice estimate.
Lamb et al., original UK first-contact physiotherapy access survey (2023)
Call-volume drop reported at Marketplace PT's first fully deployed clinic after Penciled's scheduling, confirmations and waitlist rollout. Vendor customer result; baseline, call counts and exact observation window undisclosed. Not a national PT benchmark or an isolated online-booking effect.
Penciled original Marketplace Physical Therapy customer report; undated
Overall visit-volume increase reported for Achieve Physical Therapy after adopting Prompt's scheduling, waitlist, automation and other tools. One vendor customer report; baseline, window, visit counts and controls undisclosed. Not new-patient growth versus phone-only practices or an isolated online-booking effect.
Prompt Health original Achieve Physical Therapy customer report; undated
Mean satisfaction with ability to schedule an initial appointment for telehealth versus in-person physical therapy at Hospital for Special Surgery in a 2020 retrospective survey study. Evaluation groups: 133 telehealth and 600 in-person survey responses; item-specific counts undisclosed. Collection: April 21-May 8 versus January 1-May 8, 2020. Pandemic case mix and response bias limit comparisons; clinical significance unclear. Not self-service scheduling satisfaction or a software effect.
Eannucci et al., HSS Journal, 2020; original methods, Results and Figure 1
Australian musculoskeletal physiotherapy patient respondents who used a mobile phone to go online: 96 of 103, surveyed September 2019-March 2020. Self-selected online-survey sample, mainly private-clinic patients. General mobile internet use, not preference for booking, rescheduling or cancelling appointments by phone.
Merolli et al., original Australian digital-health survey (2022); patient Appendix 4
Insurance Authorization & Scheduling Impact
Respondents in APTA's mid-2025 member survey reporting an average wait of one to two weeks for a prior authorization decision. The survey had 856 completions across practice settings; this is a respondent-reported approval-wait category, not mean patient treatment-start delay.
Respondents strongly agreeing that prior authorization requirements negatively affected patient clinical outcomes in APTA's mid-2025 member survey. The report had 856 completions from 18,888 invitations across practice settings; item-level sample size and weighting undisclosed. Clinician opinion about care impact, not a measured patient-outcome effect or the share of practices reporting scheduling disruption.
Of respondents to APTA's mid-2025 member administrative-burden survey agreed or strongly agreed that prior authorization caused patients seeking care to abandon treatment. The survey had 856 completions; this measures respondent agreement, not the percentage of patients abandoning care.
Mean rating of whether insurers approve enough PT visits for orthopedic diagnoses reported in a 2024 paper surveying 251 Alabama therapists. Scale: 1 (not at all) to 5 (absolutely). Survey dates undisclosed. Provider perception of visit-coverage adequacy, not average authorized visits or a national approval count.
Pyrz et al., original Alabama insurance-coverage survey (2024)
Respondents in APTA's mid-2025 member survey reporting 11-30 minutes of front-desk/administrative staff time per initial Medicare Advantage prior authorization request. The survey had 856 completions; item-level sample size is not stated. This is not the share of all administrative time spent coordinating schedules.
Manual-workload reduction reported by Infinx for an unnamed PT group after standardizing eligibility/prior authorization workflows with Raintree integration, automation and human agents. Vendor case study; measurement method, baseline workload, case denominator and observation dates undisclosed. Not scheduling-delay reduction, a controlled software-only effect or a national benchmark.
Infinx original PT eligibility/prior authorization customer case study; undated
What the Data Tells Us
In one 2,243-patient San Diego low-back-pain exercise cohort from 2015-2017, 57.3% were classified as non-adherent and 31.7% of all participants discontinued for combined logistical/access reasons. These condition-specific figures are not national dropout rates or evidence of a scheduling-software effect.
In a 2016-2017 registry from one US PT provider, 73% of patients had at least one cancelled or pending/noncompleted visit during a care episode. This broad measure does not establish permanent dropout or nonreturn after two consecutive missed visits.
Penciled reports Marketplace's average visits per case rose from 4.0 to 5.1 during rollout; this is not a treatment-completion measure. A separate 2012 Australian trial of 679 patients found nonattendance without cancellation of 16% without an SMS reminder versus 11% with one.
APTA reported that 33% of surveyed PT members provided telehealth in July-August 2022, versus 4% before the pandemic. Separately, 21% of 338 Norwegian primary-care physiotherapists surveyed in March-April 2023 selected reduced nonattendance as an advantage of digital health technology. This provider opinion does not establish a measured hybrid-care adherence increase.
Prompt reports over 40% of visits booked online at Achieve Physical Therapy after its mid-2022 implementation; this is one practice's usage, not national practice adoption. A UK survey separately found 66% of first-contact physiotherapist respondents reported digital appointment access, including staff-triaged forms; this is not patient preference or instant self-booking.
APTA's 2025 member survey found 30.2% of respondents reported one-to-two-week prior authorization approval waits. Nearly 83% agreed that prior authorization caused patients to abandon care; these respondent reports do not establish patient-level waiting-time or dropout averages.
Prompt reports 10% overall visit growth at Achieve after multiple tools changed; this does not establish new-patient growth or an online-booking-only effect. Penciled separately reports a 27% call-volume drop at Marketplace's first deployed clinic; this one-customer result is not a national benchmark.
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