Not long ago, I had to visit an Orthopedist for a shoulder problem that I had - the doctor fixed me up with a steroid shot, scheduled me for a follow-up appointment one month later, and sent me on my way.
I totally forgot about the follow-up appointment and missed it entirely. About three weeks later, I received an invoice for $145.00 for the missed appointment.
I’ve never had this happen before, but then again, I rarely go to the doctor. Is being charged for a missed appointment typical?
I saw red when I saw the bill, but on reflection, I would have no problem paying this bill, just to be done with it. The fact that I did miss the appointment was entirely my fault, but I would like to get your opinion on this before shelling out the bucks.
Anybody have any experience with missed medical appointments?
My doctor’s policy is to charge for a missed appointment. The first time I missed one she waived it but the second time I got nailed. I thought it was fair enough though. I think the policy was stated on the appointment card. I knew about it ahead of time, at any rate.
When I saw the bill, I wanted to Pit, but Silenus has a point. I did block the time and this may be common practice. My biggest worry is screwing up my credit for something that really is my own fault…
In principle, it’s completely fair to charge for a missed appointment, as the doctor has set aside time that could have been used by another patient.
Of course, there’s also the other side of the coin, where you arrive at 9.55 for a 10 o’clock appointment, and then have to wait an hour because the doctor’s schedule has more patients than s/he can see in the allotted time.
Practitioners seem to have no trouble constantly overbooking themselves and costing people time (and money) by forcing them to wait much longer than necessary. I like to think a reasonable practitioner would think about this a little bit when deciding whether (or how much) to charge for a missed appointment.
The oral surgeon who extracted my wisdom teeth had a sign right on his desk that said he’d charge a fee (not the whole price of the procedure, I don’t think) for any appointments not cancelled with at least 24 hours notice. It’s fine with me. I made my appointment, he made some money. Everyone was happy, except the chick who offered to drive me home and help me change my gauze, poor girl.
I don’t recall anything like that on the appointment card, but the legalese may have been in the stack of forms that I had to fill out and sign before the first appt.
Whoa, I didn’t notice it said $145. That seems like a lot. I had to pay $50 Canadian, which is much less than what she would have billed OHIP for the hour. I think the policy is more to force people to cancel if they are going to miss an appointment, not to recoup the total amount that the doctor would have billed.
Call the doc and see if they will dicker a bit if you make another follow-up appointment and keep it. Sometimes they are flexible if they know they are going to keep you as a patient. If they won’t dicker, then pay it and chalk it up to “Life Lessons Learned.”
It’s common practice. All of the doctors, dentists, orthodontists, etc. I 've gone to have charged for missed appointments. Or, at least, that is their policy.
My son missed a couple of dentist appointments last year (I would schedule them so he could walk over to the office directly from the high school and he’d forget) and they never actually charged me, though they did remind me after his second missed appointment that it was their policy. I apologized and thanked them, but I would have paid it. Their time is their money.
If I were you I’d call the office and see if you can work somehting out. Maybe with the holidays coming up they might give you a break, or they might be willing to take half of the amount, or schedule payments. It couldn’t hurt to try. Otherwise, I’d say just pay it know next time around.
As mentioned, missed appointment fees are fairly standard these days. I don’t think it’s an unreasonable practice, but $145 is a LOT more than I would have expected.
While it may seem like a lot of money it’s probably what the doc would have collected between your copay and the insurance. But if you don’t like the doc and don’t really want to go back your in somewhat of a good position. Call up and argue it with them. Tell them that if they waive the fee you’ll make another appointment (that you won’t argure if you miss), but if they don’t waive the fee you won’t be returning to that office. Also, if they don’t waive the fee here’s something to remember, I don’t know if this works with docs but with hospitals you don’t have to pay in full. Generally as long as you give them a couple of dollars each month, they’ll stay off your back. For a $145 appointment, just start sending them $10 or $20 a month.
May be, but the doc didn’t have to provide expertise, procedures, or materials. And there’s a reasonable chance that he ended up using that time to take care of someone else who was waiting. But even if he was twiddling his thumbs waiting for the next patient, I don’t think his time doing nothing is worth as much, nor should be charged as much, as the time and skills used in providing a service.
Did they spell it out as a charge for a “missed appointment”? If not, I would call and clarify it before you pay. It would be very easy to mis-bill you for an appointment that they think you were at, even though you know you missed it.
Please forgive me if this has already been covered, but what would you have been charged if you had shown up for the appointment?
If it’s less than $145, I’d ring them and tell them that’s all you’re willing to pay.
I can honestly say there has never been a time when my doctor has seen me at the booked time. That really pisses me off considering they don’t seem to take into account the time/money it costs the patients they keep waiting.
