Cancellation Policy

Policy Statement

Clients are required to cancel or reschedule their appointments at least 24 hours before the appointment. Any request received within 24 hours is considered a late cancellation and the client will be charged for the session, even if the client does not attend. Frequent late cancellations will result in a 7-day cancellation/reschedule notice requirement.

Clients can cancel or reschedule from their appointment confirmation and reminder emails up to 24 hours before the appointment. They may also contact reception at 855-593-4357 or receptionist@mycounselor.online to request changes or to late cancel. Changes to any appointment must be made by the client, or the client’s parent in the case of a minor.

The only time that counselors should schedule, cancel or reschedule sessions is at the end of a session, while the client is on the zoom.

Procedures

1. Clients cancelling/rescheduling through the counselor.

If the clients contact their counselor to reschedule or cancel, the counselor should direct them to do so through the appointment confirmation email or by contacting reception at 855-593-4357 or receptionist@mycounselor.online. If the request to reschedule or cancel is received within 24 hours of the appointment, this is considered a late cancellation and the client will still be charged for the session.

2. Late cancellations.

Clinicians and receptionists are not to mention credits or refunds to clients under any circumstances. The cancelation policy is strictly enforced. Each client household or couple is allowed a one time emergency cancellation to be used, but the counselor is not to mention this, as accounting has a specific system to track them.    Counselor should send an email to accounting with the client cc’d, and let them know they cancelled late.  Accounting will approve on a case by case basis,  and records the use of these.  If a counselor wants to know if the client has used it, they can ask accounting. Counselors and receptionists are not to offer or discuss refunds with clients.

FOR RECEPTIONISTS/ACCOUNTING:

When a client calls or emails to cancel within 24 hours of the appointment, remind the client of the cancellation policy to see if the client wants to keep the session since they will be charged for it. Clients can reschedule an appointment for the same day without penalty, but rescheduling to another day counts as a late cancelation.

• If the client still wishes to cancel or change the appointment, cancel the appointment in Acuity.
• If the request was to reschedule the appointment, schedule it as a new appointment in Acuity so that there is record of the late cancellation.

Notify the following of the cancellation:

• Accounting@mycounselor.online
• Receptionist@mycounselor.online
• The clinician

Be sure to include the following information:

• Client name
• Client contact information
• Date of cancelled session
• Reason for cancellation

The counselor does not make the decision to credit/refund, but can weigh in regarding the client’s specific situation or behavior patterns. Accounting will communicate a decision to all parties involved. All parties ( Accounting, Reception, and the clinician) should be included on email responses so that everyone is aware of request status.

3. Late appear / No show clients.

If a client does not appear at the beginning of a session, the clinician should do the following:

• Wait on the Zoom link for the duration of the appointment
• After 5 minutes: Resend the appointment confirmation in Acuity
• After 10 minutes: Call the client from RingCentral

If the client appears late, welcome them and let them know that you are glad to provide them with the time remaining on their appointment.

If the client does not appear for any of the session, the clinician should then do the following:

1. Cancel the appointment in Acuity and “Mark as no show” when confirming the cancelation
2. Email the client and appointment information to the following:
   • Accounting@mycounselor.online
   • Receptionist@mycounselor.online

Reception is not responsible for contacting a no-show client on behalf of the clinician. If reception receives communication from the client, they will forward that information to the clinician. Should the client make contact after the session is missed, follow the late cancellation procedure. Clinicians and receptionists are not to mention credits or refunds to clients under any circumstances.

4. Scheduling errors.

Any scheduling errors made by an employee of MCO that result in clients being charged incorrectly should be emailed to Accounting@MyCounselor.Online and Receptionist@MyCounselor.Online.

5. Clinician emergency rescheduling.

Clinician emergency rescheduling is defined as a clinician requesting to reschedule previously scheduled clients to a different date or time due to an urgent, unforeseen situation. This rescheduling can occur within or outside of MCO’s cancelation window.

To honor the time of the client, clinicians cannot request to reschedule clients outside of the cancelation policy window (within 24 hours of the appointment) if the situation is not an emergency.

Clinician emergencies are defined as urgent situations which due to their level of disruption do not allow the counselor to perform sessions as planned. Such situations include, but are not limited to, serious medical issues, automobile accidents, major natural disasters, or death of a family member (this list excludes labor and delivery, which are addressed in the MCO Maternity | Paternity Leave Policy).

The clinician should taketh following steps:

1. Block your calendar for the day/ time when an out of office.  If you skip this step, another client will be able to schedule at this time once you cancel the sessions.

• holly.goff@mycounselor.online
• Accounting@mycounselor.online
• Receptionist@mycounselor.online
• Your Supervisor or Guide

If you are unable to do the above steps, the clinician can text or call:

• Holly Goff 210-784-6801

If the clinician is unable to make this contact, a spouse or designated individual may communicate on their behalf.

You may choose to make up missed sessions instead of using sick time. Plans for this must be discussed and approved by Holly Goff.