Appointments and Cancellations

Please remember to cancel or reschedule 24 hours in advance. You will be responsible for the entire fee if cancellation is less than 24 hours.

The standard meeting time for SPEECH THERAPY SERVICES is 45 minutes. Requests to change the 45-minute session need to be discussed with the healthcare provider in order for time to be scheduled in advance.

A $10 service charge will be charged for any checks returned for any reason for special handling.

Cancellations and re-scheduled sessions will be subject to a full charge if NOT RECEIVED AT LEAST 24 HOURS IN ADVANCE. This is necessary because a time commitment is made to you and is held exclusively for you. If you are late for a session, you may lose some of that session time.

Telephone Accessibility

If you need to contact your therapist between sessions, please leave a message on their voicemail. If they are not immediately available, they will attempt to return your call within 24 hours. Please note that face-to-face sessions are highly preferable to phone sessions. However, in the event that you are out of town, sick, or need additional support, phone sessions are available. If a true emergency situation arises, please call 911 or any local emergency room.

Social Medial and Telecommunication

Due to the importance of your confidentiality and the importance of minimizing dual relationships, we do not accept friend or contact requests from current or former clients on any social networking site (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc). We believe that adding clients as friends or contacts on these sites can compromise your confidentiality and our respective privacy. It may also blur the boundaries of our therapeutic relationship. If you have questions about this, please bring them up when you meet with your therapist.

Electronic Communication

We cannot ensure the confidentiality of any form of communication through electronic media, including text messages. If you prefer to communicate via email or text messaging for issues regarding scheduling or cancellations, we will do so. While we may try to return messages in a timely manner, we cannot guarantee immediate response and request that you do not use these methods of communication to discuss therapeutic content and/or request assistance for emergencies. Services by electronic means, including but not limited to telephone communication, the Internet, facsimile machines, and e-mail, is considered telemedicine by the State of California. Under the California Telemedicine Act of 1996, telemedicine is broadly defined as the use of information technology to deliver medical services and information from one location to another. If you and your therapist choose to use information technology for some or all of your treatment, you need to understand that:

1. You retain the option to withhold or withdraw consent at any time without affecting the right to future care or treatment or risking the loss or withdrawal of any program benefits to which you would otherwise be entitled.

2. All existing confidentiality protections are equally applicable.

3. Your access to all medical information transmitted during a telemedicine consultation is guaranteed, and copies of this information are available for a reasonable fee.

4. Dissemination of any of your identifiable images or information from the telemedicine interaction with researchers or other entities shall not occur without your consent.

5. There are potential risks, consequences, and benefits of telemedicine. Potential benefits include but are not limited to improved communication capabilities, convenient access to up-to-date information, consultations, and support, reduced costs, improved quality, change in the conditions of practice, improved access to treatment, better continuity of care, and reduction of lost work time and travel costs. Effective treatment is often facilitated when the healthcare provider gathers, within a session or a series of sessions, a multitude of observations, information, and experiences about the client. The provider may make assessments, diagnoses, and interventions based not only on direct verbal or auditory communications, written reports, and third-person consultations but also on direct visual and olfactory observations, information, and experiences. When using information technology in services, potential risks include but are not limited to the provider’s inability to make visual and olfactory observations of clinically or therapeutically potentially relevant issues such as your physical condition including deformities, apparent height and weight, body type, attractiveness relative to social and cultural norms or standards, gait and motor coordination, posture, work speed, any noteworthy mannerism or gestures, physical or medical conditions including bruises or injuries, basic grooming, and hygiene including appropriateness of dress, eye contact (including any changes in the previously listed issues), sex, chronological and apparent age, ethnicity, facial and body language, and congruence of language and facial or bodily expression. Potential consequences thus include the provider not being aware of what they would consider important information that you may not recognize as significant to present verbally to the provider.

Minors

If you are a minor, your parents may be legally entitled to some information about your treatment. We will discuss with you and your parents what information is appropriate for them to receive and which issues are more appropriately kept confidential.

Termination

Ending relationships can be difficult. Therefore, it is important to have a termination process in order to achieve some closure. The appropriate length of the termination depends on the length and intensity of the treatment. We may terminate treatment after appropriate discussion with you and a termination process if we determine that the treatment is not being effectively used or if you are in default on payment. We will not terminate the therapeutic relationship without first discussing and exploring the reasons and purpose of terminating. If treatment is terminated for any reason or you request another provider, we will provide you with a list of qualified Speech-Language Pathologist to treat you. You may also choose someone on your own or from another referral source. Should you fail to schedule an appointment for three consecutive weeks, unless other arrangements have been made in advance, for legal and ethical reasons, we must consider the professional relationship discontinued.