Can Doctors Legally Charge For No Shows?

[momm2four]

(I posted the following on the Budget Board since it was financially themed, but I thought you guys might also know the answer.)

My son broke his arm a while back and he saw a pediatric orthopedic doctor for treatment. I took my son for two x-ray visits and then for the cast removal. At the doctor's request, I made another appointment for a last check several weeks later.

I forgot about the appointment and we don't have a machine, so I must have missed the reminder call, so I didn't make the appointment. I now see that his office has charged me a $25 no show fee.

Can he legally make me pay this? (I don't remember ever seeing anything on my previous vists about charging a no show fee.)

I realize that patients not showing up takes up appointments from others who need them, so please, if you work in a doctor's office, realize that I acknowledge that fact (although I won't get into how many times I've spent in doctors' offices waiting over an hour because the receptionist scheduled two other people for my same appointment time).

Thanks!
Lori P.

 

[Honu]

Yep, he can. The AMA billing rules allow doctors to charge for no shows and appointments canceled with less than 24 hours notice. Sorry. It's your choice to pay it, but you chance going into collection.

 

[shortbun]

I agree that a doctor should be allowed to charge BUT if I spend more than an hour waiting, my visit should be free.

 

[Sleepy]

I agree that a doctor should be allowed to charge BUT if I spend more than an hour waiting, my visit should be free.

My visit should be free or I should be able to subtract their no show fee from my visit. I would not even give them an hour. They would not allow me to walk in that late.

 

[hentob]

I agree that a doctor should be allowed to charge BUT if I spend more than an hour waiting, my visit should be free.

 

[AnnaS]

I agree that a doctor should be allowed to charge BUT if I spend more than an hour waiting, my visit should be free.

I agree with you. What do we get when we spend 2 hours waiting past our appointment time.

I know there are always emergencies, etc. How about a courtesy call and tells us they are running late. Sorry, but our time is just as valuable. Many, many times I don't even go for certains things right away because I don't feel like waiting or have the time (like running at the beginning of certain symptoms )

I have also switched dentist and/or a doctor here and there since their wait is just unbearable.

I think some of them are indifferent (is this the right term?) to us.

I also agree that they should charge - they can perhaps squeeze someone else in. If I know I am not going to make it I will call them (which does not happen to often). They should just be considerate and let it work both ways.

 

[Kimberle]

If you refuse to pay, they might stop seeing your son as a patient. Is it really worth the hassle of finding a new doctor for your son?

I'd call the office, apoligize, and maybe, if it's a first offense, they'll let you off with a warning.

 

[auntpolly]

DH always does something that infuriates some receptionists - although doctors don't seem to mind - he calls from his office and asks if they are running on schedule before he leaves for an appointment.

Hi, this is Mr. Auntpolly, I have a 10:00 appointment. Will I see the dr. at 10:00 or is he running late?

Oh, I'm sorry he's running a little late.

Well, OK, I'm not coming at 10:00 then - I'll call back in hour and see how he's doing.

Then usually the receptionist makes an angry response that doesn't phase DH a bit, and DH gets his way.

I don't have the nerve to do half the stuff DH does and gets away with!

 

[gris gris]

In our office we do charge for no shows/late cancellations within 24 hours of the appointment. However when a new patient comes in, they sign paperwork acknowledging the fee and that they will be charged. Patients that stop treatment and blow off the charge end up in collections.

If you didn't know about the charge and didn't sign anything acknowledging it, I would call them up and explain that. Then I'd ask for the paperwork that shows you the fee schedule.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Yes they can. If you don't pay, it goes to collections which is so not worth it.
Just pay it and be done.

 

[allison443]

Do you still need to reschedule the final check-up visit for your son? Maybe you can talk to them about it in person when you go in.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Our new dentist does this. I told the receptionist I thought it was a terrible idea, she said they had to institute it because too many people were cancelling. I told her the previous dentist who owned the practice never did this. Well needless to say I havent been back because I didnt make any appointments for the cold weather and knowing my kids would be sick etc. I will call now and see if the guy is still in business. I would say if you will be seeing the dr. again try apologizing and ask if they will let it slide and if that does not work pay it and say, lesson learned. Good luck.

 

[Towncrier]

Amazing, simply amazing. Up until yesterday, I had never heard of a doctor charging a patient for missing an appointment. I guess I live in a very sheltered world. I had some bloodwork done yesterday for a physical and, while I was at the doctor's office, my wife got a phonecall from their receptionist. The call informed her that I had an appointment scheduled for Wednesday afternoon and that they had blocked out 45 minutes for me. And if I was a no-show, they would charge me $45.

I only wish that I could charge the doctor $1 a minute for the time that I sat in their waiting room yesterday.

I wonder how long I will have to wait this afternoon.

And, for the record, I can understand why doctors and other healthcare providers cover themselves by charging a no-show fee.

 

[lovetoscrap]

Most of my Doctor's offices have this policy but also have common sense. I have called the day of an appointment to say that a child or myself is sick and they are completely understanding and certainly prefer I not bring our puking germs in for a routine dental cleaning. Another time I called to cancel a scheduled appointment from the ER as my other child was getting stitches. The office automatically tried to bill me for it but I just took in the ER paper work that showed my time in and time out and they happily removed the charge.

As long as you dont' abuse the cancelations and have a good reason for the cancelation they are usually pretty understanding.

I agree that you would think the occasional forgotten appt would really just help to keep them on schedule since they are always so over booked. My last scheduled appointment I waited in the office and hour and a half past my scheduled time, left and picked up my kids from school, came back and waited another 2 HOURS to be seen. If I hadn't been desperate to be seen I would have left but I had already waited 2 weeks to get in and really like my doctor and had to get some migraine meds.

 

[Christine]

Most of my Doctor's offices have this policy but also have common sense. I have called the day of an appointment to say that a child or myself is sick and they are completely understanding and certainly prefer I not bring our puking germs in for a routine dental cleaning. Another time I called to cancel a scheduled appointment from the ER as my other child was getting stitches. The office automatically tried to bill me for it but I just took in the ER paper work that showed my time in and time out and they happily removed the charge.

My doctor's offices are the exact same way. If I call that morning because someone is sick, then they have no problem. If I didn't even call--they would charge me.

 

[yeartolate]

They should charge!!!!!

And I disagree that patients waiting should charge the MD a fee. If you were the person who needed the extra time with the MD you would agree. Now if the doctot is late because of a social issue and fluff reasons, you need to complain.

 

[lovetoscrap]

They should charge!!!!!

And I disagree that patients waiting should charge the MD a fee. If you were the person who needed the extra time with the MD you would agree. Now if the doctot is late because of a social issue and fluff reasons, you need to complain.

But most of the offices I go to have a sign in sheet where you write your name and appt time and when I see that 3 or 4 people are writing the same dr and the same time and all the other times are 15 mins. apart you know exactly why everything is an hour or more late! That is what ticks me off.

 

[tiggersmom2]

They should charge!!!!!

And I disagree that patients waiting should charge the MD a fee. If you were the person who needed the extra time with the MD you would agree. Now if the doctot is late because of a social issue and fluff reasons, you need to complain.

I agree. As a hygienist we have this problem frequently and it is quite frustrating for everyone in the office. If the office posts that it charges for no-show appointments that are not cancelled within 24 hours of the appointment time, they can and should charge no-show patients.

By not appearing for an appointment, it causes the office to lose revenue for your alloted time, and it is too late to schedule another patient. If several patients a day do not show up, this can seriously impact a medical office's income.

For everyone complaining about the wait time....do you REALLY think the Doctor is in the back yapping on the phone or doing something frivilous? I can assure you that is NOT the case. We strive to see all of our patients on time but sometimes emergencies do occur.

 

[mking624]

They should charge!!!!!

And I disagree that patients waiting should charge the MD a fee. If you were the person who needed the extra time with the MD you would agree. Now if the doctot is late because of a social issue and fluff reasons, you need to complain.

While I understand what you're saying, the problem is that this is so incredibly common with doctor's offices. Literally every single time I come in for an appointment I am waiting for an hour or more. When I'm finally taken in, I wait even longer for the doctor to come into the exam room. I remember very clearly one time they had me put on one of those gowns and said the doctor would give me about 5 minutes so I could change...yeah, he took 45 minutes. That was after waiting over an hour in the waiting room just to be taken to the exam room. I've also had problems where my appointment was 2.5 hours before the office closed...and I waited and waited only to be told I needed to be rescheduled because of the fact they ran out of time. That's just absurd. If doctors are having this many problems, there are solutions to fix this:
1. Space out appointments better...there's no reason to have them only 10-15 minutes apart when they know it will take longer
2. Don't take as many patients during the day. They obviously can't take the number they schedule now.
3. Don't charge a no-show fee if you can't even keep your own appointments, or at least offer some sort of compensation to those who were there but waited some extreme amount of time.

As far as the reasons behind their tardiness...well we can only guess what what their reasonings might be. If it's for fluff reasons, it's not like they're going to admit it. All they have to do is keep repeating "sorry, I was with another patient".

 

[mking624]

For everyone complaining about the wait time....do you REALLY think the Doctor is in the back yapping on the phone or doing something frivilous? I can assure you that is NOT the case. We strive to see all of our patients on time but sometimes emergencies do occur.

Sometimes would be one thing. Every single time is quite another. And being that this is an incredbly common situation, there's clearly a problem with the ability of managing time if a doctor is consistently making patients wait for an extreme amount of time. There needs to be a better system.

By the way, I have witnessed a former doctor of mine yapping away on the phone while I was waiting in the exam room...because my room was directly across from his office, which had his door wide open.