HSHC is committed to providing quality care and services to all of our clients. However, when a client cancels without giving notice, they prevent other clients from being seen.
Please call us at (902) 455-9656 on the day prior to your scheduled appointment to notify us of any changes or cancellations. To cancel a Monday appointment, please call our office by 5:00pm on Friday.
Cancellations and No Shows
If you need to reschedule your appointment, please call our office. We require 24-hours notice if you are unable to keep a scheduled appointment. It is our policy that after two (2) missed appointments we reserve the right to discharge you from our practice.
Unplanned clinic closures due to inclement weather or power outages
In the case of an unplanned clinic closure due to inclement weather or a power outage, attempts will be made to contact clients with scheduled appointments via telephone or text message. If you have not received a clinic closure message and wish to verify if we are open, call us at (902) 455-9656 prior to coming to your appointment. Please make every effort to arrive on time for your appointment if the clinic is open during inclement weather. For patient safety, late-arriving patients will be accommodated as best as possible. If the clinic is closed, appointments will be automatically cancelled and clients will be contacted to reschedule their appointments as soon as the clinic re-opens.
If you will be unable to make an appointment due to inclement weather, please call us at (902) 455-9656 to cancel and re-book your appointment.
Late Arrivals
Any patient arriving later than their actual scheduled appointment time will be considered late. For any late arrivals, HSHC has the sole authority to determine if the client will be seen. If the physician is unable to see the client close to their scheduled time, the following options will be offered:
- If possible, late-arriving clients will be offered the option to be seen as time permits and will be given an approximate wait time to be seen by the end of the business day. HSHC staff will make every effort to see clients that are late for a morning appointment prior to lunch and clients that are late for an afternoon appointment prior to the end of the business day.
- If same-day accommodation is not possible, late-arriving clients will be offered the option to reschedule the appointment for another date out of courtesy to other patients.
Appointment Reminders
In order to serve you better, we will aim to provide our clients with an appointment reminder 24-48 hours in advance of each visit.
Telephone reminders: Clients who have indicated their preference for telephone reminders will receive a telephone call prior to their visit. To protect client privacy, the phone call or voice message will only detail the date and time of the scheduled appointment (no information will be provided to indicate the reason for the visit) and we will not leave messages with friends or family members.
Text Message Reminders at HSHC
In addition to our telephone reminder option, we will also offer text message reminders to clients who subscribe to our service.
Opt-in to Subscribe: Clients will be required to opt-in to subscribe to our text message reminder service. Please contact one of our medical office administrators at 902-455-9656 to learn more and to ensure that your preferred mobile device is documented in our system.
Usage: Please note that it is against HSHC policy for staff to communicate with clients via text message for reasons other than:
a) To offer appointment-reminders, and
b) To issue alerts to notify clients of unexpected clinic closures (such as closures due to inclement weather or power outages).
If you have a question about your appointment, please call the clinic directly.
Privacy: To protect your privacy, our appointment-related messaging will not include your name, any personal health information, or our clinic name. The message will only include the date and time of your visit along with a prompt to cancel or make changes to your existing appointment.
Example: “We will see you Tuesday @ 10:15am for your appointment. To cancel, reply RSVP NO. To make changes, please call us directly.”
Opt-out to unsubscribe: Subscribers to HSHC’s text message reminder option may opt-out at any time.