It is the goal of Beittel-Becker Pediatric Associates to provide our patients with health care services of the highest quality. For us to assure convenience and accessibility to all our patients, it is important that our patients arrive to their previously scheduled appointment or cancel/reschedule the appointment 24 hours in advance. This policy allows us to most efficiently use our available appointment slots for patients in need of medical care.
Cancellation of An Appointment:
You may cancel your scheduled appointment by calling the office during regular business hours. This courtesy allows our staff to schedule another patient who might be seeking immediate medical care.
Broken Appointment Policy:
A “broken appointment” is an occurrence where a patient does not show up for an appointment and does not cancel or reschedule the appointment 24 hours in advance. If you do not show for your appointment and you do not cancel or reschedule the appointment 24 hours in advance, we will record this in the medical record as a “broken appointment.” Every time you break an appointment, we will notify you by phone or by a letter in the mail.
In situations where a patient needs to cancel within 24 hours of the scheduled appointment, we require a phone call prior to the scheduled appointment, but we will use discretion by recording this as a “late-cancelled” visit in the medical record. We do not treat a “late-cancelled” visit as a broken appointment. However, if consistent cancellations within 24 hours of the scheduled appointment becomes a frequent occurrence, we reserve the right to begin marking them as a “broken appointment.”
Fees and Termination for Broken Appointments:
Failure to show up for a visit without calling to cancel or reschedule within 24 hours of the scheduled appointment will result in a fee for a broken appointment. This fee will not be submitted to the patient’s insurance; it will be charged to the patient. We understand that flexibility is important, so we will waive the fee for the first broken appointment. The missed appointment fee structure is $25.00 for all types of appointments. A “late-cancelled” visit will not be charged a $25.00 fee, unless it becomes a consistent occurrence.
If a patient has 5 broken appointments within a calendar year, we will exercise the right to terminate the patient/provider relationship by demanding that the responsible party transfers the medical records of their child or children to another provider.