Holiday Closures & Cancellation Policy
Clinic Closures
We are closed on the following dates, most of which coincide with holidays:
2024
November 28th and 29th (Thursday and Friday, Thanksigiving)
December 25th- January 1st (Wed-Wed, re-opening Thurs Jan 2, 2025)
2025:
We increased the number of closures on holidays this year based on the number of last-minute cancellations and no-shows on holidays in 2024.
January 1st (returning Thurs Jan 2nd)
January 20th (Martin Luther King Jr Day)
February 17th (President's Day)
March 17th-21st (Spring Break)
May 26th, (Memorial Day)
July 4th (Independence Day)
September 1st (Labor Day)
October 6th-13th (Fall Break and Indigenous Peoples' Day)
Tuesday, November 11th (Veteran's Day)
November 27th-28th (Thursday and Friday of Thanksgiving)
December 25th-January 2nd (Christmas- New Years, re-opening Mon, Jan 5th)
*If you have therapy regularly scheduled on one of these days and would like to see if you can switch (such as being seen the 22nd of November if you're usually seen the 24th) please ask. We are happy to accommodate changes when we have openings.
Cancellation Policy:
We are often asked "Why do you have this attendance policy?" The reason is multi-fold, but here are the top three reasons:
1) Speech therapy is most effective when it is consistent. Did you know that most research studies for treatment methods are done in 3x per week or 5x per week therapy sessions? While that frequency isn't always realistic or necessary, being seen consistently is very necessary for the best and fastest progress.
2) We do not get paid if you do not show up. Speech therapy is reimbursed by insurance only if a minimum of 15 minutes of therapy is completed. So, when you cancel a session, we bring in less money on that day for things like paying therapists, paying office rent, and paying for parking (which is something we do as a courtesy). If we do not maintain 70% attendance for our schedule, we will be faced with taking away parking validation, and eventually, like so many other small clinics in Hawai'i, closing our doors.
3) We have, at all times, at least 30 families that are waiting to start care for their child. It's unfair for us to continue to hold a spot for a patient that cancels regularly when there are parents desperate for their child to even have a chance at services.
In confirmed cases of COVID or Influenza we ask that you stay home until there is either a negative COVID test or 2 full weeks from initial positive test/onset of symptoms from either virus. This will count as a single missed visit regardless of is you miss 1 visit or 4 during this time period.
Cancellations with less than 48 hours notice will be subject to a charge of $25.00 the first late cancellation (less than 48 hours, unless COVID symptom or exposure related, patient running a fever, or vomiting - these cancellations will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis and if frequent will require doctor’s notes), $35.00 for any further late-cancellations, and potential discharge from services on the third late-cancellation within a 6 month period (COVID-exposure or symptom related cancellations will be exempt from this discharge policy with doctor or school note).
Cancellations with less than 30 minute notice will be considered a no-call no-show for attendance purposes.
No-call No-show appointments will result in a $50.00 charge for the session - please take a moment to text us before your missed appointment, even if it’s only a few hours before you’re scheduled to avoid this $50.00 fee. A second no-call no-show within a six month time period is grounds for discharge from services. This is necessary because a time commitment is made to you and is held exclusively for you.
If you are late for a session, you may lose some of that session time. If you are more than 15 minutes late, you will not be seen, and may be charged a late cancellation fee if this happens more than twice in a month.
If you have a time conflict during your regular appointment time occasionally, please let us know. We will attempt to reschedule appointments whenever possible, but please be aware that our ability to do so is limited, as most days we are booked from open to close barring pre-arranged cancellations (which is why the 48 hour notices is so important)
All cancellation and no-call, no-show fees are entirely the responsibility of the patient or patient’s legal guardian. These fees will never be billed to an insurance provider.
We do require a 70% or better attendance record across a 3-month period to keep your spot (this excludes planned vacations, which will count as only a single cancellation even if it is across 2 missed sessions, but does include illnesses - if your family has had a lot of illnesses in a short period, we encourage you to reach out to Cass to discuss options). If you miss (or are going to miss) greater than 3 sessions in a row, please discuss this with your therapist as soon as you are aware. We may need to move you back to the top of the waitlist and offer that weekly spot to the next child waiting for care.
If you are going to miss 4 weeks (or 30 days) in a row of therapy, we will need to complete a new assessment on your return. If you are a Kasier patient that means we will need a new referral.