It is one of the ironies of this age of constant communication that professionals are being strained by the problem of no-shows for appointments.

We send out an email a week in advance, and automated call to your home phone number 48 hours in advance and a text to your cell 24 hours in advance of appointments in an attempt to make sure you don’t forget the appointment. But people change their phone numbers, don’t check their emails and still do not show up for scheduled appointments.

We’re very busy, and we keep up with our work so you can be seen the next day or next week, not four months down the road. We don’t double-book like the airlines do. If you are a no-show, somebody else would have been glad to take your spot. Therefore, no-shows are going to have to share the pain. I’ll still lose money, but you will, too.

We’re going to keep trying to help you to remember your appointments. But if you forget, here’s the deal: If you do not call the office to cancel your appointment at least one business day beforehand, we will charge a no show fee of $150 for a visit that was scheduled as a physical (A group of children counts like a physical). This charge will NOT be paid by your insurance -- they are insuring your health, not your organizational abilities.

No-shows for non-physical appointments will be given one “oops”. After that, the charge will be $75. This charge will also apply if you leave without being seen less than one hour after your appointment time. Because we’re dealing with humans, and they are unpredictable, sometimes we may run that far behind.