Psychology Appointment Policy

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 late cancellation and non-attendance fees are 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

Typically, your psychology appointment will be 50 minutes in duration. Initial sessions may run slightly longer than this at Amy’s discretion. Couples session are booked at 80 minutes for initial sessions and 50 minutes for subsequent sessions.

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 and any additonal paperwork if this hasn’t been completed online prior. If the relevant paperwork has not been completed prior to your consult, arriving late or on time deprives you of precious minutes, as each session will be finished on time as a courtesy to our next patient.

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

LATE ARRIVALS, MISSED APPOINTMENTS AND CANCELLATIONS

We value our clients’ and our team member’s time. Whilst we understand unexpected things and emergencies sometimes happen, late notice cancellations or not arriving at your appointment impacts your progress, our ability to provide you a service, and other clients who may be waiting to attend an appointment.

To help you keep your appointment, we will send an SMS reminder 1 week prior and again 2 business days prior asking that you reply 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 or reschedule your appointment after receiving your SMS reminder, we are of course understanding of this and will cancel or reschedule your appointment. Therefore, if you have an appointment scheduled for 9:30am Tuesday you will be required to cancel or reschedule your appointment by 9:30am Friday to avoid late cancellation fees.

If you have not arrived within 10 minutes of your appointment start time, your appointment may need to be shortened (if appropriate) or cancelled, and fees will apply as below. In the event your appointment is shortened but you still attend, you will still be responsible for the full appointment amount, but your rebate (if you are eligible for one) may be a lower amount.

In order to provide the best possible care, if you cancel/fail to attend 3 appointments in a row, you may be discharged back to your GP, unless prior agreement has been made with your clinician. We also reserve the right to charge a non-refundable deposit before making another appointment. Please understand that we consider this a last resort, with the real motivating factor being our concern for the quality of service we are able to provide to you and to other valued patients.

In the event where you do not attend your appointment, this will result in a ‘non-attendance’ fee. Thereafter subsequent appointments will require a non-refundable deposit before making future appointments.

The following fees apply:

• Non-attendance – full fee applies
• 1 business day (0-24 hours) cancellation notice – full fee applies
• 1-2 business days (24-48 hours) cancellation notice – 50% of full fee applies
• 2+ business days (48+ hours) cancellation notice – no fee

Please note that any fees displayed are subject to change.

Medicare or Private Health Insurance rebates do not apply to cancellation and non-attendance fees.

If you have a Third Party provider, your cancellation or non-attendance fee may not be covered by their funding, therefore, you will be required to pay the full fee out of pocket.

If you need to cancel your appointment, please:

• Call us - Launceston: 03 6724 3063 Hobart: 03 6244 3033
• Respond 'cancel' to the SMS reminder
• Email us - admin@thebubblelaunceston.com.au or admin@thebubblehobart.com.au
• Use our contact us page

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

TELEHEALTH

Although face to face appointments are preferred, the practitioner can offer a telehealth service (video consult) or phone consult if required. This is an option if you are unable to attend in the clinic. 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 a the time of consultation. Reception staff will contact you shortly after your consult to discuss payment options.