POLICY & PROCEDURES UPDATE

Chart Forms

You will be asked to fill out and return various updated chart forms which we must have on file prior to follow up appointments, such as Consent for Treatment, updated Information Sheet, updated CC authorization form, Progress Summary, etc. When these are sent to you, please return them promptly so there will not be any delay in processing refill requests.

Cancellation Policies

Cancellations for follow-up appointments require one work week notice IN ADVANCE (that is 5 business days) in order to avoid a fee. If you do not give us this notice, the full appointment fee will be charged.

Because of the large block of time reserved for you, cancellations or rescheduling for New Patient appointments require a minimum of two work weeks notice IN ADVANCE (that is 10 business days) in order to avoid a fee.

 If unable to keep an appointment time, most people are considerate of both my time and making time available for other people who need appointments. But we continue to encounter some who cancel at the last minute and then are upset to be told that there is a cancellation fee. Most of the time, those who cancel at the last minute have known for some time they are not going to keep an appointment, and simply have not called us. I have made every effort to be clear on this and “up front” on all our forms and fee policies so there should be no misunderstanding. Please keep in mind, we are not like other doctors offices that book four or five people in each appointment slot. Each appointment time in my office is reserved for just ONE person.

You do not need to cancel your appointment because you did not have time to get your lab work done ahead of time. We can still have the appointment and evaluate your clinical progress, as most doctors do, then decide what labs we still need to have done in order to address any remaining issues.

 We certainly understand that situations arise and people need to change appointments. We are happy to work with you to reschedule appointments. All we ask is that you give us enough notice that you are not going to keep your appointment so that we can then offer the time to others who are waiting. When someone calls the day of the appointment, or fails to call at all, it means we have no time to reach others who wanted appointments but could not be given one because the schedule was full. This is not fair to those who need an appointment, and it is not respectful of our efforts to do the work needed to prepare for patients’ appointments. Since we have a significant amount of preparation work prior to your appointment, and we must have adequate notice time to offer cancellations to others.