Posted by Solstice on April 12, 2011, at 18:19:50
Hi Everybody -
I know I've been absent for a while - I went through a difficult time and had to re-group.
But something came up this week that has me appalled. My son has been seeing a therapist for about six months. The therapist is one of several in a clinic that is owned by a psychiatrist. The therapist seems to be good - and my son has finally developed a good enough relationship with him. I've not personally spoke to the T because my son just reached legal age and I really wanted this to be his own thing.
Anyway - I've been troubled by my son having these random appointments. Never the same day of the week, and never at the same time - and some weeks he tells me they didn't have a spot for him. I've asked him to tell them he wants a standing appointment, but I've thought he just didn't know how to ask for it because he's so young and isn't one to speak up for himself.
A few weeks ago I had to take him to his appointment because his car was in the shop. While he was in his apt, I asked the front desk people about a standing appointment. They told me that they could not schedule more than four apts ahead. ??? So when they looked at the calendar, it was going to be two weeks before he could have another apt! And then for the next four apts, they were these random times... and none of them were times that worked with his school schedule. I asked if I could talk to the therapist about it. He didn't call, because first my son needed to fill out a release.
My son finally had an apt this past Friday. He came home and said that he has an apt. for this coming Friday, but they wanted him to pay for it in advance, and it would be cancelled if he didn't pay for it. I was shocked! So I called and talked to the office manager, and she said that they have a 'new policy' - where they will only schedule four apts at a time, and all four appointments have to be paid for ahead of time! I was just floored! I told them I had never heard of having to pay for medical services not yet rendered. The whole thing just seems so profoundly counter-therapeutic, especially the random therapy appointment times. Making a client pay for appointments that are scheduled in the future just seems wrong. (They take insurance, so it's the $25 copay they are charging him for ahead of time.)
Does anybody know whether it's ethical to do such a thing?
Solstice
poster:Solstice
thread:982589
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20110324/msgs/982589.html