CANCELLATION POLICY
The aim of the policy is:
To minimise the number of late cancellations, and no show appointments and to reduce disruptions to the psychologists’ diaries and loss of psychologists’ time in preparation.
To ensure that other clients are given a fair opportunity to access treatment when an appointment spot becomes available.
Reduce the income loss as a direct result of client cancellations, late rescheduled and missed appointments. We are a private practice, therefore if a client cancels or reschedules late or does not arrive for their scheduled appointment the psychologist loses income.
Policy Rationale
Sometimes there are good reasons for cancelling or rescheduling appointments. However, unlike brief medical appointments, it is impracticable to fill a psychology appointment that runs for 60 minutes (including Clinician note-taking time) at short notice. If several clients are late in cancelling, or reschedule or miss their appointments in one day, then the psychologist loses a large amount of their income. Imagine if a salaried employee was told they would only receive half of their salary for that day?
If you consider the situation in these terms, as well as the overhead costs associated with private practice, then you can understand why we must charge a cancellation fee for late cancellations and late rescheduled appointments and missed appointments.
Please note that Medicare or health insurance rebates are not applicable to cancellation fees.
Work-cover/Motor Vehicle Accident claimants: not all insurers cover the fee of a cancelled appointment, therefore you may be charged a cancellation or non-arrival fee where your insurer does not cover cancelled appointments.
In some cases where they do cover the appointment fee you may lose that session.
Our cancellation policy is based on the same rationale as many other industries, one example being the airline industry, where you pay for your seat whether you arrive at the airport or not. Given that the time has been set aside for you, if you do not use it, then it is unlikely at short notice it can be used by anyone else.
We trust you will agree that this is a fair and reasonable policy and we thank you for your understanding.
A late cancellation, late rescheduled appointment or failure to attend your appointment is a loss to three people:
The client who is delaying their therapy progress.
Another client who has been sitting on the waiting list to see the psychologist urgently.
The psychologist who spent time preparing for the session, set aside the time in their calendar and lost income.
Definitions:
No Show to appointments - i.e. no cancellation was made with 48 hours (2 days) notice of the scheduled appointment time.
Late cancellations - i.e. cancellations made within 24 hours of the scheduled appointment time.
Late cancellations - i.e. cancellations made within 24 to 48 hours of the scheduled appointment time.
Notice Given - sufficient notice given greater than 48 hours of the scheduled appointment time.
Fees: Psychology fee payable at the time of consultation. This fee will change from time to time and is provided at the time of booking. For Assessments, it is the price that had been quoted for that appointment.
Cancellation Fees:
As of 1st March 2023, a cancellation fee will now apply, at the discretion of the treating psychologist. Noted below is the applicable fee charged by CALMA Health Psychology and is in accordance with the Australian Psychological Society’s (APS) recommendations.
Process:
Clients are informed of the cancellation policy at the time of booking and acknowledge the need to pay a late cancellation fee if they fail to give sufficient notice for any cancellations. When signing the consent form, you are declaring that you have understood and agree to the terms of the cancellation policy. If you have any questions regarding this, please ask your psychologist ahead of your appointment.
At CALMA Health Psychology Pty Ltd, clients are required to give at least 48-hours (i.e. 2 days) notice of any intention to cancel or reschedule their appointment. You can do this via SMS, email, or phone call.
As a courtesy, clients are sent an SMS reminder approximately 2 days prior to their scheduled appointment. Please note that it is ultimately the clients responsibility to remember We provide a variety of assessments designed to help individuals gain a deeper understanding of their support needs. These assessments can assist with planning to achieve personal goals, support access requests for the NDIS, or prepare for NDIS plan reviews appointment time and they are expected to promptly notify CALMA Health Psychology Pty Ltd of any changes.
Cancellation fees are payable on the phone at the time of cancellation or will be directly charged to the credit/debit card account details previously provided and stored, or invoiced.
Outstanding accounts (maximum terms = 7 days) will be referred for debt collection and will incur an 18% + GST debt collection fee.
PLEASE NOTE: ** NO FUTURE APPOINTMENTS CAN BE BOOKED IF YOU HAVE AN OUTSTANDING ACCOUNT **
