Psychological service
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As part of providing a psychological service to you, Blue Flame Wellness needs to collect and record personal information from you that is relevant to your situation, such as your name, contact information, medical history and other relevant information that would be relevant to the provision of psychological services to you.
This collection of personal information will be a necessary part of the psychological assessment and treatment that is conducted.
Purpose of collecting and holding information
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Your personal information is gathered as part of your assessment and treatment, is kept securely and, in the interests of your privacy, used only by your psychologist and the authorised personnel of the practice (as necessary). Your personal information is retained in order to document what happens during sessions and enables the psychologist to provide a relevant and informed psychological service to you. A more detailed description is provided in the practice’s Privacy Policy for management of personal information, which can be obtained on the Blue Flame Wellness website. The Privacy Policy contains information about how to access and seek correction of your personal information, and how to lodge a complaint about our management of your personal information.
Consequence of not providing personal information
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If you do not wish for your personal information to be collected in a way anticipated by this contract or the Privacy Policy, your psychologist may not be in a position to provide the psychological service to you. You may request to be anonymous or to use a pseudonym, unless it is impractical for your psychologist / Blue Flame Wellness to deal with you or if your psychologist / Blue Flame Wellness is required or authorised by law to deal with identified individuals. In most cases it will not be possible for you to be anonymous or to use a pseudonym.
Access to client information
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At any stage you are entitled to access your personal information kept on file, subject to exceptions in the relevant legislation. The psychologist may discuss with you different possible forms of access.
Disclosure of personal information
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All personal information gathered by the psychologist during the provision of the psychological service will remain confidential except when:
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1. it is subpoenaed by a court, or disclosure is otherwise required or authorised by law; or
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2. failure to disclose the information would in the reasonable belief of the psychologist place you or another person at serious risk to life, health or safety; or
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3. your prior approval has been obtained to
a) provide a written report to another professional or agency. e.g., a GP or a lawyer; or
b) discuss the material with another person, eg. a parent, employer, health provider or third party funder; or
c) disclose the information in another way; or
d) disclose to another professional or agency (e.g. your GP) and disclosure of your personal information to that third party is for a purpose which is directly related to the primary purpose for which your personal information was collected.
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Your personal information is not disclosed to overseas recipients, unless you consent, or such disclosure is otherwise required by law. Your personal information will not be used, sold, rented or disclosed for any other purpose.
In the event that unauthorised access, disclosure or loss of a client’s personal information occurs, Blue Flame Wellness will activate its data breach plan and use all reasonable endeavours to minimise any risk of consequential serious harm.
Fees
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The cost of a consultation (usually around 55 minutes) is $210, which is payable at the start of the session by card/cash. For your consultation, you will be contacted by the reception team to collect a phone payment 24 hours prior to the session to secure the appointment.
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Our consultation fees remains well below the APS recommended fee (https://www.psychology.org.au/for-the-public/about-psychology/what-it-costs) (place this in a hyperlink for APS Recommended fees).
Since Blue Flame Wellness is a private healthcare practice, we do not Bulk Bill.
Cancellation / DNA Policy Update
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Before cancelling an appointment, consider if a Telehealth appointment is an option for the client.
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We ask that our clients give us at least 48 hours’ notice of the business week.
Policy Rationale:
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A late cancellation, late rescheduling or failure to attend is a loss to 3 people:
1. The client who is delaying their therapy progress
2. Another client who has been on the waiting list for an extended period of time.
3. The psychologist who spent time preparing for the session, set aside the time in their calendar and lost income.
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- Our Cancellation / DNA Policy follows the laws, regulations & guidelines as set out by the Australian Psychology Society (APS) and the Office of Fair-Trading.
- The Office of Fair-Trading states that a business is within its rights to charge a cancellation or “no-show” fee for appointments, so long as this has been communicated to a new patient or customer before making the appointment.
- Psychology services all over Australia are under immense pressure as the need for therapy is much greater than the number of psychologists and the therapy hours available. Due to this great need, session availability is highly valued, and we want to avoid wasted opportunity for someone to receive help.
- A good timeframe allows us to fill the appointment with another client on our waitlist however clients often need time to discuss and make plans with work or home to be able to say yes to an appointment.
- Another good point to think on is the task of filling a late cancellation. This requires significant time & resources from our administrative staff.
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Cancellation Fee Structure:
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- Less than 48 hours in a business week: incurs a 50% fee of the current session price.
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- Less than 24 hours in a business week: incurs a 100% fee of the current session price.
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- Not arriving for your session incurs a 100% fee of the current session price.
With each late cancellation or DNA there is an income loss as a direct result. We are a private practice, therefore if a client cancels or reschedules late / DNA for their appointment the psychologist loses income.
(A Business Week is Monday-Friday and does not include the weekends or Public Holidays.)
As an example: if you would like to cancel your appointment on a Monday at 1pm without incurring a charge, you will need to make the cancellation on the previous Thursday before 1pm. This is considered to be 48hrs of a business week.
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Blue Flame Wellness policy further states:
- Our clients are responsible for managing their own bookings / appointment schedule. Blue Flame Wellness does try to remind clients regularly to book sessions if needed but in the end cannot be held responsible for monitoring regular bookings on behalf of clients. The onus is on the client to make and keep up regular bookings according to their needs.
- Clients receive multiple reminders of upcoming sessions, i.e.: a confirmation email, a reminder email and a reminder SMS from Blue Flame Wellness for each appointment. This is a courtesy and not a requirement or right.
- Clients are welcome to ask us to email their appointment schedule at any time.
- Emergencies: We understand that the unexpected happens to us all. If a client is experiencing an emergency, please contact our rooms immediately to discuss it with us or leave a message and we will be able to make the relevant changes. It will be to the discretion of management if a fee will be charged.
Please note that an emergency is considered to be extenuating circumstances outside of your control, which gave you no choice but to cancel your session with us. Should the client be aware of an illness / emergency more than 48 hrs (of the business week) before the session time and fail to cancel the appointment within the requested time frame, fees will still be incurred.
- All outstanding fees need to be fully paid no less than 48 hrs (of the business week) before the next appointment or the result will be the cancellation of the upcoming appointment.
- Should a client develop a pattern of cancellations or have recurring late cancellations, moving forwards a sick note may be required and/or payment 48 hrs (of the business week) before sessions may be required.
- Should a client have 3 consecutive late cancellations or "did not arrive" sessions, all future sessions will be cancelled and the clients file archived.
- This policy will be regularly reviewed and updated each year and available on our website and other correspondence.
- Blue Flame Wellness will consider any bookings made or kept after the changes / updates to act as an acceptance of an updated policy.
- Due to legislation, under no circumstances can we submit a cancellation / DNA fee to Medicare or a Private Health Fund.
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We appreciate and encourage good communication so should you have any questions, please reach out to us at our office via a phone call or email. You can also visit our website for more details:
https://www.blueflamewellness.com/cancellation-policy
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“ I hereby agree to honour the above policy guidelines and stipulations.”
Please note: If, after reading this form you are at all unclear about any of the information provided, please contact us prior to your appointment.
I, have read and understood this consent form. I agree to the above conditions for the psychological services provided by my psychologist indicated below. By clicking the “Submit” button I understand that I am entering into a legal agreement between myself and the practice.
