OFFICE POLICIES

Appointment Confirmation Policy

We require all new patient appointments, surgical appointments, and cosmetic appointments to be confirmed 24 hours prior to your appointment time. We will send you text and email appointment reminders, and you can confirm your appointment via text. If you do not confirm your appointment via text, we will call you to confirm your appointment. If your appointment has not been confirmed 24 hours prior to your appointment, your appointment will be marked as a “no show” subject to our no-show policy and your time slot will be released to patients on our wait list. We apologize in advance for this strict rule.

Arrival Time

If you are an established patient, please arrive 5 minutes before your scheduled appointment time so our front office staff may update your chart and collect applicable copays. If you have new insurance, please bring your new card in with you and let our staff know.
If you are a new patient and you have used the patient portal or online check in to complete your medical history, then you are fine to arrive only 5 minutes before your scheduled appointment time. Please bring copies of your insurance card and ID.
If you are a new patient and have not been able to pre-fill your medical history on the patient portal, please arrive 15 minutes prior to your scheduled appointment time. Please be sure to bring a full list of any known allergies, current and past medical conditions, and the medications you are taking (or have tried for the condition you are being seen for). If it is easier for you, you can bring your medications in with you, or take a picture of them.

Late Arrivals

We will always do our best to accommodate late arrivals whenever possible. We do not have a hard fast rule to turn away late patients. Various factors are considered when determining if we can fit you in past your scheduled appointment time. We will look to see if there are openings in the provider’s schedule, the scheduled scope of your visit, if your medical history has been completed, etc. Please understand we never want to reschedule a late patient, but are also doing our best to be considerate of all the other patients coming in after you. We work very hard to stay on schedule and late arrivals impact every subsequent patient for the day, not just the next patient.

No Shows

Each time a patient misses an appointment without providing proper notice, another patient is prevented from receiving care. Therefore, patients who do not show up for their appointment without a call to cancel at least 24 hours before the appointment time will be considered a “no show.” From time to time we understand a call the day before may not be possible, however if it happens repeatedly we may choose to charge a “no show fee.” Commencing with the third missed appointment and continuing thereafter, Key Dermatology may charge a fee of $50.00 for all missed appointments (“no shows”). This fee is not covered by insurance and must be paid in full prior to your next appointment. Alternatively, we may refuse to allow the patient to schedule additional appointments at our clinic.

Standalone Visits (Rashes, Acne, Hair Loss)

Rashes, Acne and Hair Loss, and Skin Cancer Screenings are standalone appointments. Due to the nature of these conditions, the level of history that is taken and evaluated, testing or biopsies that may be necessary and thorough discussion of medication options, risks and benefits, these types of visits cannot be combined with other visits like a skin cancer screening.

Can I “add on” or change the scope of my visit?

When we schedule appointments, we allocate only enough time to address the issue/s that were discussed at the time of scheduling. For example, if you schedule an annual skin cancer screening, there would not be time to also add on a rash to the same encounter. If you need to make changes to your visit, please understand we may have to reschedule you to another date or time that has sufficient time to cover the other concern.

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Minors

A legal guardian must accompany children under the age of 18 to their initial appointment so that appropriate consents may be signed and background medical information may be authenticated. Children without a legal guardian at their initial visit will be rescheduled. For follow-up visits, minors may come to visits without a parent/guardian only if we have a signed Consent to Treat Minor form on file with our office. We can email this to you upon request.

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Copayments or cosmetic service fees (such as chemical peels) will be due at the time of service, whether you are present or not. You may choose to put a “card on file” for these visits.

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​The office will not call you after the encounter to review what was discussed. We are not able to call you during the encounter, although your minor is welcome to have you on the speakerphone of their own cell phone if you would like. You may request progress notes after the provider has signed off on the chart note, and all counseling provided (such as for medication regimens) will be available on the patient portal.

Guests

Please limit guests to one per patient.​

Can I wear makeup?

Please try not to wear makeup to your appointments. It can interfere with our ability to evaluate your skin.​

Can I ask about my spouse’s bill? About their treatment? Can I ask about my adult child’s bill? About their treatment?

HIPAA prevents us from disclosing a patient’s information to anyone who the patient has not authorized us to speak with. We know that spouses often schedule one anothers visits, or receive and pay bills for one another. Parents often schedule for adult children still living at home, and may even be the primary insured on the adult child’s insurance card.​

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Each time the patient comes in, we will ask the patient if we can add anyone as a HIPAA contact… and explain that this will allow us to discuss upcoming scheduled appointments, answer billing questions or discuss other matters pertaining to patient care with someone other than the patient. If we do not have permission from the patient, please understand we cannot speak with anyone but the patient about their visits, bills or care.

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If you would like the patient to add you as an approved contact, please ask them to add you to their chart. Please note this is a general rule and there are some exceptions to this rule under the law.