Clinic Policies
Missed Appointment Policy
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Our goal is to provide quality individualized care in a timely manner. No-shows, late shows and cancellations inconvenience those individuals who need access to veterinary care. We would like to remind you of our policy regarding missed appointments.
A missed appointment is when you fail to show up for an appointment without a phone call, or cancel without at least 24-hour notice.
A veterinary/client relationship is built on mutual trust and respect. As such, we strive to be on time for your scheduled appointments, and ask that you give us the courtesy of a call when you are unable to keep your appointment. As a courtesy, we provide reminder texts the day before and morning of your appointment. However, you are responsible to remember your appointment regardless. Below, our missed appointment policies are outlined.
Cancellation of an Appointment: In order to be respectful of the medical needs of other patients, please be courteous and call our office promptly if you are unable to show up for an appointment. This time will be reallocated to someone who is in need of treatment. If it is necessary to cancel your scheduled appointment, we require that you call at least 24 hours in advance. Appointments are in high demand, and your early cancellation will allow another patient access to timely veterinary care.
How to Cancel Your Appointment: To cancel your appointment, please call 574-355-3444. If you do not reach the receptionist, you may leave a detailed message on our voice mail. If you would like to reschedule your appointment, please leave your name and phone number. We will return your call promptly.
Late Cancellations: A cancellation is considered to be late when the appointment is cancelled without a 24 hour advance notice.
Appointment No Show Policy: A “no call/no show” is a client who misses an appointment without cancelling it. A failure to be present at the time of a scheduled appointment will be recorded in the patient’s chart as a “no call/no show”. This includes arriving 15 minutes after your scheduled appointment.
The first time there is a “no call/no show” or late cancellation there will be no charge to the client. A 2nd occurrence will result in the client being charged the cost of $15 per scheduled patient and the client being required to prepay for all future appointments. The 3rd occurrence may result in the client being discharged from the practice.
Thank you for your understanding.
* Please note-this policy does not apply to prepaid appointments. If you have prepaid for your appointment due to prepaid Rabies, a multiple pet appointment, and/or prepayment account status and no call/no show, that prepayment will be applied to cover the cost of the missed appointment.
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Our updated response to prescription requests via a third party
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We understand that there are many reasons that our clients may want to purchase medications from online retailers or outside pharmacies instead of directly from us. To assist you in making the most informed decision for your pet, we want to be very clear that we recommend that you purchase products only from a properly accredited and certified veterinary pharmacy. However, if you choose to procure medications from another source we want to give you that option.
PREVENTATIVE PET HEALTH OF MICHIANA WILL NOT PROCESS ORDERS FOR MEDICATIONS OR PREVENTATIVES SENT DIRECTLY TO US (VIA PHONE OR FAX) FROM ONLINE SUPPLIERS (WITH THE EXCEPTION OF COMPOUNDING PHARMACIES FOR A SPECIFIC MEDICATION FORMULATION AND LOCAL PHARMACIES).
We absolutely support our client’s choice to choose where they obtain their pet’s medications and are happy to accommodate a request to do so. Clients who opt to obtain their pet’s medication through these avenues will simply need to request a written prescription from our clinic during normal business hours.
Why did we institute this policy? We did so for a few reasons listed below:
First, we are choosing to spend our time focusing on taking care of our patients and clients instead of answering faxes and calling pharmacies.
Second, managing outside prescriptions is costly in terms of staff time and effort and as we do not recoup these costs. We have decided that if clients would rather do business with an outside or online pharmacy, we can’t give away our time and energy for convenience sake. It takes a significant amount of time to review medical records, ensure proper documentation of the medication request, and call/fax in the prescription. We could raise our fees or charge a fee for the time it takes to manage outside prescription requests, but instead have chosen to streamline this process on our end to make better sense in regards to our workflow and staff resources.
Third, we feel it is better medicine with written documentation of a prescription that is filled outside of our clinic. There are concerns with the possibility of prescription errors when relaying information over the phone. Again, we would be happy to provide you with a written prescription if you wish to use an outside pharmacy or online retailer. Just let us know!
Finally, we understand that cost is a big reason that our clients purchase from outside pharmacies and online retailers. We do our very best to make our medications and preventatives affordable and we routinely compare prices to online providers to make sure that our prices are competitive. Most importantly, by purchasing directly from our hospital and from our online store, you are supporting our local business. Rather than send your dollars off to a large corporation, we would hope that you would choose to support our small business and shop locally.
We would like to encourage our clients to order medications and preventatives directly from us through direct purchase at our clinic or from our own online store through Covetrus (http://preventativepet.vetsfirstchoice.com/). Because our online store is part of our clinic infrastructure you will not need a written prescription if you order this way. Our clinic and online store's supply chain is 100% secure. From the time the medication you order is manufactured, all the way to when you are going to give it to your pet, it has been handled, stored and packaged in compliance with manufacturer guidelines. The product you receive is guaranteed to be the name-brand medication in the proper dosage and packaging. Medications purchased directly from us and our online store are guaranteed by the product's manufacturer and most importantly by us, your pet's veterinarian.
If you have any further questions about our policy, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Thank you for trusting us with your pet's medical care!
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