Cancellation Policy

AIM OF POLICY

The purpose of this policy is to set a standard approach for managing cancellations to ensure fairness and transparency. In detail, this policy aims to:

·         Make sure that other clients do not miss out on the opportunity to access therapy.

·         Reduce the number of cancellations, late reschedules and missed appointments and therefore encourage therapeutic engagement.

·    Reduce disruptions to the clinician’s booking calendar and loss of clinician’s preparation time due to cancellations, late reschedules and missed appointments.

·         Reduce income loss as a direct result of cancellations, late reschedules and missed appointments.

DEFINITIONS

Cancellation = An appointment that is cancelled when notice of cancellation is given more than 24 hours (1 business day) prior to the appointment.

Late Cancellation = An appointment cancelled when notice of cancellation is given within 24 hours (one business day) of the scheduled appointment.

No-Show  = An appointment that has not been cancelled and the client did not show up to the appointment.

STEPS TAKEN TO MINIMISE LATE CANCELLATIONS/NO SHOWS

The Cortex Collective will endeavour to prompt you regarding your appointments through SMS or email reminders. If you provide a mobile number or email address, you will receive a reminder message 3 business days prior to your appointment.  This is a courtesy reminder only. If for any reason you did not receive a reminder message and missed your appointment you will still need to pay the late missed appointment fee.  

Existing clients can access The Client Portal 24 hours a day to review and manage all scheduled appointments.

PROCEDURE FOR CANCELLATIONS

Please provide a minimum of 24 business hours’ notice, otherwise you will incur a fee. You can notify via the Client Portal, phone, SMS or email.  

Examples of 24 business hour cancellations:

·         If your appointment is Wednesday @ 10.00am, you must cancel before 10.00am on the Tuesday prior.

·         If your appointment is Monday @ 10.00am, you must cancel before 10.00am on the Thursday prior.

If you had already paid for the appointment, a refund will be issued if cancelled with more than 24 hours notice.

LATE ARRIVAL TO AN APPOINTMENT PROCEDURE

Please contact us if you are likely to be more than 10 minutes late to your session. The Cortex Collective understands that sometimes travel time can be affected by unforeseen circumstances out of our control.

Without notification of late arrival, the clinician will attempt a welfare check at the 10 minute mark if you have not arrived.

If you are late for an appointment your session may be less than 60 minutes in duration. Please note you will need to pay the full fee in these circumstances.

If you are more than 20 minutes late without notice, the clinician may choose not to proceed with the session and issue a fee (see Table 1).

FEES FOR LATE CANCELLATIONS

For appointments cancelled within 24 business hours, the following fees apply:

Table 1

All fees associated with late cancellations will automatically be processed via Stripe using your stored credit card details or an invoice will be issued if you are a NDIS plan managed client. This is in agreeance with the Cancellation Policy consent provided by clients.

It is important to note that Third Party funders do not pay late cancellation or missed appointment fees.  This becomes your responsibility even if your treatment is normally funded by a Third Party.

PLEASE NOTE:  NO FUTURE APPOINTMENTS CAN PROCEED IF YOU HAVE AN OUTSTANDING ACCOUNT (private clients only).

FEES FOR NO SHOWS

If you do not show up for your appointment, The Cortex Collective will contact you to check on your welfare. Depending on the outcome of this communication, you may be advised of a no show fee. It is at the clinician’s discretion to determine whether a late cancellation fee will be charged. See Table 1 for fee charges.

If no contact can be made with you within a reasonable timeframe, a cancellation fee will automatically be processed via Stripe using stored credit card details or an invoice will be issued if you are a NDIS plan managed client.  This is in agreeance with the Cancellation Policy consent provided by clients.

EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES

The Cortex Collective is a compassionate service that understands sometimes life gets in the way of therapy. There may be times when you cannot make your appointment due to issues outside of your control.  If you believe this is the case, you must contact The Cortex Collective as soon as possible to discuss these circumstances. Once again, it is at the clinician’s discretion to determine whether a late cancellation fee will be charged. 

We trust you will agree that this is a fair and reasonable policy and we thank you for your understanding.