THERAPY SESSIONS

Our therapy sessions are 30 minutes for all clients. We do not offer longer sessions. One adult may accompany the client into the therapy room. Parents may not “split” observation time in a session as it causes confusion and unnecessary breaks. Children may not be able to be redirected back to the therapy activity if we allow a break. If you must bring siblings to the session, please discuss this with your Speech Pathologist.

If a parent or responsible party chooses to wait in the waiting room during session, they will be called in to speak with the therapist about the child’s progress and homework during the last 5-7 minutes of the session. If the person bringing a child to therapy is not the parent (nanny, grandparent, etc.), we will update them regarding the child’s session only if we have a release of information signed for that party.

Occasionally, parents are unable to attend sessions and their child attends with a nanny, relative, etc. In this situation, we are unable to make calls on a weekly basis to parents to provide updates. If a parent would like an update they have some options. They may attend sessions from time to time, they may call us for a debriefing of 10 minutes or less, without a charge or they may schedule and pay for a 30-minute meeting or longer telephone debriefing with the treating Speech Pathologist.

We will not become involved in or discuss domestic disputes regarding custody of a child, responsibility for bringing the child to therapy and payment of the child’s account. Please let us know if your child’s behavior is being affected by any family event or situation.

Progress Reports & Treatment Plans are updated on a 4-month cycle. You will be given a copy once it is generated and processed. If you request additional reports, etc. a report writing fee will be charged as your therapist will have to take extra time to do this work.

We must conclude promptly at the end of our scheduled time in order to maintain the timeliness of our appointments. If you have extra questions on any day, please let the therapist know at the start of the session so enough time for answers can be saved at the end of the session. If you do not notify us that you are requesting additional time for questions we will have to address your questions at our next scheduled session. Kindly do not ask our staff to extend your session.

You may be asked to purchase equipment for your program (i.e. oral motor tools, feeding devices).

**An adult must remain ON SITE for the duration of a child’s session in case of emergency, toileting issues, etc. Our staff will not toilet a child. Let our staff know if you will need to leave the office to go outside so we can easily find you if any issues arise. Please do not leave to run errands.

If you are unhappy with your therapy services at any time, kindly speak with our Director.

SCHEDULING

Sessions are scheduled for each client on the same day and time each week. If you will be unable to attend your scheduled session on a weekly basis, we ask that you do not accept the appointment time and place yourself on our waiting list for a more convenient time. We do not offer every-other-week appointments.

From time to time, you may request a re-schedule appointment but this cannot be done on an ongoing basis. If you routinely ask to be rescheduled we will request that you exit your appointment slot and be placed on our waiting list for a time that best fits your schedule.

We have a waiting list at this time for our “high demand” therapy times. Preference is given to our current clients who desire to change or add an appointment time. As always, we cannot guarantee when an appoint time may become available. Our office staff can assist you with your scheduling requests.

Our greatest demand is for after-school and after-work appointments however, there are a limited number of appointments during that time. Sessions during these times are 100% filled and we must wait for clients to exit therapy before we can offer an appointment during that time to other clients. We cannot guarantee how long it will take to have an appointment available for you. We ask that you not become angry with us if we are not able to accommodate you as quickly as you would like. Scheduling is completed by our front office staff and is pending the approval of our Director.

CANCELLATIONS, LATE ARRIVALS & CANCELLATION FEES

Cancellations must be made with 24 hours notice or a “cancellation fee” will be charged. Insurance cannot be billed for this fee. Advance notice allows us to offer the appointment to another client who may need to make up an appointment and notifies the Speech Pathologist not to prepare for your session.

Cancellations for a client’s illness must be made by 9 am the day of their appointment. Any call outs for illness made after 9 am will be charged a cancellation fee. Cancellation for the illness of a parent, spouse, child or sibling will also incur a cancellation fee.

Cancellations for any reason (traffic, illness, family emergencies, car breaking down, home emergencies, summer vacation, holiday parties, school events, sports, missing holidays that we are open, etc.) will count toward our attendance requirements.

Clients are offered one attempt to make up a cancelled appointment, within a 2-week period, to reverse the cancellation fee. We make every attempt to re-schedule appointments, however we cannot guarantee a make-up appointment will be available that fits your scheduling needs. We try to re-schedule appointments if a therapist misses work for any reason.

If you re-schedule a cancelled appointment and do not attend it, you will be charged a cancellation fee for both missed appointments. If your therapist must re-schedule your appointment and you do not attend it, you will be billed a cancellation fee. Cancellation fees must be paid at your next scheduled appointment.

If you are late to an appointment, we will need to conclude the session at the usual time. We are unable to bill insurance for a session if you are late by 15 minutes or more and a cancellation fee will be charged. If your therapist is running late for any reason, you will be given your full session time. We regret any resulting inconvenience to your personal schedule.

WAITING ROOM & TREATMENT ROOM ETIQUETTE

If your child soils their diaper or pull-up, we will ask that you change it quickly. We are unable to open most windows in our office to ventilate the rooms. Odors make for an unpleasant environment for our clients and staff. If you do not have a change of diaper or pull-up we will ask that you clean them up as best you can in the rest room. If the odor persists, we will need to terminate the session. 

Cell phone use is not allowed in the waiting room or the treatment rooms. If you must answer or make a call, kindly use your phone in the hallway, foyer of the building or outdoors.

Food or drink is not allowed in the waiting room. We have no housekeeping services to clean up messes during the day and spills leave stains and odor. If you need to eat or drink please do so before session or in your vehicle.

We have staff & patients with significant allergies and allergy-triggered asthma. With this in mind, if you wear perfume or cologne that triggers the asthma or smell of smoke, which triggers the asthma, you will be asked to not sit in the therapy room. Kindly understand that this is a serious medical condition that debilitates certain staff & patients and is NOT a personal criticism.

We do not allow behaviors in our waiting room that may injure your child or others nor do we allow behaviors that might disturb the work of our staff and our neighbors in the building. Kindly do not allow your child to climb or jump on chairs, throw toys, slam doors, do tumblesaults, scream, fight, bite or bang their feet on the floor in a manner that is disruptive. Our staff may provide gentle reminders from time to time if the little ones forget.

Adults may not yell at, curse at, threaten, belittle or speak abusively to our staff or therapists if they are displeased with our policies, fees, their child’s progress, scheduling, insurance denials, etc. in our waiting room or on the telephone. This creates an unpleasant and uncomfortable situation for all involved. It frightens and upsets our staff and clients. If you do this in the office, you will be asked to leave the premises. If you do this by telephone, our staff has been instructed to terminate the call. You may call back when you can speak calmly with us.

ATTENDANCE POLICY

You are asked to maintain attendance that keeps you in good standing with our Attendance Policy. This allows us to maintain a consistent and quality therapy program. To maintain your or your child’s skill level and to avoid regression of skills, we ask that you maintain consistent attendance.

Clients attending 2 sessions weekly may miss a maximum of 4 visits within any 3 month period.

Clients attending 1 session weekly may miss a maximum of 3 visits within any 3 month period.

EXTENDED ABSENCES: If you are going to be absent for two or more weeks, you will be asked to vacate your therapy appointment slot and it will be given to someone else. You may call us when you return to be placed on our waiting list. Extended absences include absences to travel abroad, vacation, etc.

HOLDING AN APPOINTMENT SLOT: Families have asked in the past if they can pay to “hold” their slot during extended absences and we will make that accommodation for you if you do not want to exit your therapy appointment. You may pay our usual fee for each session not attended that you want us to hold for you until you return. Insurance cannot be billed to hold a session.

Clients may not use their allowable cancellations consecutively in order to “hold” their appointment slot during an extended absence. For example, this means (for clients attending one session per week) that you may not use three consecutive misses to hold your appointment while you go on vacation.

Finally, families who miss 2 consecutive sessions, without calling us and do not return our calls regarding the absences, will be removed from our schedule. We will assume that if you are terminating your relationship with our facility. You will, however, be charged the full amount of your final two sessions.

SPECIAL MEETINGS

If you request a special meeting for any reason (i.e. to discuss progress, treatment planning) there is a charge for that session at our usual rate. We are unable to bill insurance for a meeting.

If you schedule a meeting, it will be held during your Speech Pathologist’s office time. You may not use your child’s scheduled therapy session to hold a meeting. The week of the meeting, your child will need to attend his or her regularly scheduled appointment in addition to you attending the meeting.

If you schedule a meeting and do not attend you will be billed for a cancellation fee as the therapist has prepared for this appointment and has scheduled time to see you. Additionally, if your child misses his or her scheduled appointment that week, a cancellation fee will be applied.

We do not attend IEP meetings or develop IEP goals for families. We will speak with your child’s school-based Speech Pathologist on the phone. There is no charge for calls of 10 minutes or less. A fee will incur for calls over 10 minutes in length. If you ask us to write in a communication book with a school-based Speech Pathologist, we will do so during your child’s appointment.

In the past our Speech Pathologists have been subpoenaed in lawsuits that families file against doctors, medical institutions, etc. If your lawsuit requires us to attend a deposition or trial appearance you will be billed for the following:

• Our hourly rate for time spent preparing for the deposition or court appearance.
• Our hourly rate for travel to and from the site.
• Our hourly rate for the time spent talking with lawyers, going to court, etc.
• Our hourly rate for our waiting time.
• Our legal costs, if applicable.

HOLIDAY CLOSURES

Our office will be closed for the observation of the following holidays:

• Presidents Day
• Memorial Day
• Fourth of July
• Labor Day
• Thanksgiving and the Friday following
• The week of Christmas Eve through New Years Day

Please do not assume we are closed on days you may have off from work or school. We are open during many of the typical school holidays. If you are unsure if we will be open or closed on any particular holiday, kindly call us to inquire.

CANCELLATIONS BY YOUR SPEECH PATHOLOGIST

If your therapist is away for any reason other than illness, you will be notified in advance. We will attempt reschedule your appointment.

When a therapist is on vacation or jury duty, it is impossible for us to reschedule the entire caseload.

In emergency, medical situations such as migraine, vomiting, pain, long-term treatment or examination for a medical condition such as diabetes, pregnancy-related illness and medical visits or dental emergencies we ask your understanding and patience regarding illness related cancellations. We will attempt to re-schedule your appointment.

INSURANCE BENEFITS & DISPUTES

All clients using insurance benefits are asked to contact their carrier directly regarding their benefits. Our staff cannot be responsible for attempting to interpret your benefits. We are responsible for collecting your deductible amounts, co-payments, co-insurance payments or the cost of denied claims.

Our Speech Pathologists diagnose each client’s disorder. They cannot and will NOT change a diagnosis to one that is incorrect upon your request. Many insurance representatives blame the carrier’s denial of payment on the Speech Pathologist “not using the right code”. To change a diagnosis code is unethical and fraudulent. Your Speech Pathologist could lose her license and certification and pay large fines for doing this.

Progressive Speech Corp. and its employees are not responsible for the determination of payment or denial by your insurance carrier. We recommend you contact your carrier directly with questions regarding their determination. We cannot be actively involved in patient disputes with insurance carriers or provide additional letters for the dispute.

TERMINATION OF THERAPY

The following reasons may be cause to terminate our relationship with a client.

• Behavior of a client (tantrums, physical aggression, refusing to follow directions or recommendations, verbal abuse, fleeing the therapy room, hiding, falling onto the floor). An occasional “bad day” is anticipated for all clients however, if the behavior is ongoing and cannot be changed, we will recommend changing therapists within the facility. If this is not successful in improving the behaviors, you will be referred to another facility.
• Behavior of a parent.
• Non-compliance with our Attendance Policy.
• Abuse of our re-schedule policy.
• Repeatedly not paying an account.
• Engaging in behavior that breaches trust such as withholding information about the case history or asking us to alter our data or diagnosis.

If you terminate therapy, for any reason, must give 2 sessions written notice in order for the therapist to wrap up therapy and complete final counseling with you.  You will be billed for the cost of the last 2 sessions if you choose to not give notice or choose not to attend those 2 sessions.

We have a termination notice for your convenience. If you give your notice at the time of your child’s or your session, the next two sessions you attend will become your final two sessions.

INVOICES

You are invoiced at the start of the month for services rendered the month prior. Responsible parties must pick up the invoice in person at our front office and sign a form that they have received it. We will hang a notice in our waiting room when invoices are ready. Should there be any delay in the availability of invoices a sign will also be posted.

Invoices must be paid by the last day of the month. A late fee will be charged if the invoice is not paid. We do not mail our invoices to current clients. This helps to keep costs lower and reduces the possibility of it being lost in the mail.

We are unable to waive a late fee if you forget to pick up your invoice or pay your bill. This includes if you are out of town or simply forget. We cannot make exceptions for new clients who did not read the Therapy Policies before signing them.

We ask that you settle your account on the day of your final visit. If we must mail you your final invoice, you will be responsible for payment by the due date or a late fee will be applied to your account. In the unlikely event that a client refuses to pay their account in full, we will use the services of a collection agency and apply a collection fee to the account.

FEES/POLICIES

Our fees and policies are applied consistently for all clients. Our office staff and Speech Pathologists do not make our policies or set our fees and they are unable to waive or change them. Please do not ask them to make exceptions for your family. Our Director will discuss your concerns with you, if you request but consistently applies the policies and fees as well. We regret any inconvenience. Please see our Fee Schedule for details. Our fees are subject to change without notice. Any client may leave services if at any time, with notice, if they do not wish to comply with these policies.