Appointment Policy - Focussed Psychological Strategies (FPS)

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

• Payment in full is required at the time of consultation.
• If an account remains unpaid, no further medical services will be provided.
• Payment of a non-attendance fee is an obligation to be a patient at this practice.
• If payment isn't received within 28 days of the consult, further actions will be taken. All legal costs, commission and other associated costs in debt recovery will be added to the amount due.

APPOINTMENT TIMES

Often patients will have multiple issues to discuss. If the practitioner cannot cover every aspect in a single consultation, the patient may be asked to come back for a subsequent visit. This is done to ensure the best quality care possible.

The practitioner's do their best to run to time – however, we endeavour to and do run to time in most instances, emergencies and unforeseen circumstances may occasionally result in delays beyond our control. We trust that affected patients will be understanding in the rare event that this may occur, and we always aim to contact patients if this occurs to ensure you are not kept waiting.

CANCELLATIONS

When you book your appointment, you are holding a space that is no longer available to other patients. These appointments are an hour long therefore on day cancellations and non-attendance fees will apply. We politely ask that you please respect that the practitioner often has limited appointment times, and that you provide us with 24 hours notice should you need to reschedule or cancel your appointment.

To help you keep your appointment, reception staff send reminders 2 business day prior which ask that you reply to by SMS or return phone call. Please remember that if for some reason you do not receive your reminder, your appointment remains your responsibility to attend, reschedule or cancel.

If you need to cancel your appointment after receiving your SMS reminder, we are of course understanding of this and will cancel or reschedule your appointment. If you cancel your appointment with less than 24 hours notice prior to your appointment, you will incur a $100.00 cancellation fee. We also understand emergencies can pop up from time to time, please ensure you notify reception staff of your reason for cancelling. In the event of recurrent cancelled appointments, this will result in a charge of a full consult fee. The Bubble also reserves the right to charge a non-refundable deposit before making another appointment.

If you need to cancel your appointment, please:

• Call us - 6244 3033
• Respond 'cancel' to the SMS reminder
• Email us - admin@thebubblehobart.com.au
• Use our contact us page

Emails and contact us page submissions are monitored on a regular basis by reception staff.

MISSED APPOINTMENTS

Missed appointments represent a cost to both the practice, and to other patients who could have been seen in the time set aside for you. These appointments are an hour long therefore on the day cancellations and non-attendance fees will apply. Please advise us as soon as possible if you cannot attend an appointment. This allows us to offer your appointment to someone else who may need urgent treatment.

New Patients
In the event where you do not attend for your initial appointment, it will result in a non-attendance fee of $100.00. If payment isn't received within 28 days, further actions will be taken. The Bubble also reserves the right to charge a non-refundable deposit before making another appointment.

Existing patients
Since we turn away other patients to hold your appointment, 1 missed appointment will result in a non-attendance fee of $100.00. A second missed appointment will result in a charge of a full consult fee of $280.00. If payment isn't received with 28 days of the account, further actions will be taken. The Bubble reserves the right to charge a non-refundable deposit before making another appointment.

TELEHEALTH

Although face to face appointments are preferred, the practitioner can offer a telehealth service (video consult) to patients. This is an option if you are unable to attend in the clinic (ie COVID-19). Please advise reception staff if you wish for your appointment to be changed to a video consult.

The same as in clinic, payment is still required at the time of consultation. Reception staff will contact you shortly after your consult to discuss payment options.

LATE ARRIVALS

In order to provide a fair and timely service to all patients, we require that patients who have made a booking arrive promptly for their appointment. If you are attending the clinic for the first time we ask that you arrive at least 10 minutes prior to your allocated time, to allow timely completion of your new patient paperwork if this hasn’t been completed online prior.

Arriving late deprives you of precious minutes, as each session will be finished on time as a courtesy to our next patient.

We fully understand that sometimes being late is outside of your control, and we will always do our best to accommodate late arrivals. We ask that you contact us if you are concerned you may be late.

Unfortunately, arriving too late to your consult may results in rescheduling.