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What do missed visits cost you, and what would a written policy keep?

In fee-for-service work a no-show is a session you prepared for, held the time for, and were not paid for. Set your week and an honest miss rate, pick the policy you would actually enforce, and see what it keeps. Then take the written version below to your next evaluation.

No signup. Nothing gated. Every default comes from what practicing SLPs report.

Sessions a week20 sessions

a few10 a day

Everything on the calendar, including the ones that will not happen.

Your rate$95/session

$30$250

Weeks you work44 weeks

school yearyear-round

Late cancels and no-shows15%

0%35%

SLPs report 10 to 20 percent of scheduled visits, and closer to 30 in illness season. The shaded band is that range.

Missed-visit fee

$25, $40, and $75 all show up in practice, and $75 often gets called the private-practice standard. Half the rate and the full rate are common too.

Fee$40

$5$250

Fees you actually collect60%

noneevery one

Be honest with yourself here. A fee that is written down but quietly skipped is the policy everyone says fails. A card on file moves this toward the right.

What missed visits cost you this year

$12,540

132 visits at $95, 15% of 20 a week over 44 weeks.

What this policy would bring back

$2,689

$40 on 112 chargeable misses, collected 60% of the time.

What still walks out the door

$9,851

Lost revenue after the policy. The rest of the year has to carry it.

The middle number assumes you collect 60% of the fees you are owed, which is the slider you set, not a promise. It does not assume the policy changes anyone’s behaviour. It only counts what a written, evenly applied fee brings back from the misses that still happen. If part of your caseload is Medicaid or state-funded, the number is high by that share, because those families cannot be charged.

Time you prepared and kept open

99 hrs a year

We count each missed visit as 45 minutes, the length of a common private session, and nothing more: no planning time, no note you started, no family you could have booked. It is a floor, and it is still about 12.4 full working days.

Every SLP who has made this work says the same three things: put it in writing, go over it together at the evaluation and both sign it, and apply it to every family the same way. The fee matters less than the consistency. Unwritten policies and quietly skipped fees are the ones that fail.

Your written policy

The same settings, written the way a family reads it. Add your names, choose the parts you want, and print it. Read it aloud at the evaluation and both of you sign the bottom.

Practice name

Your name

Notice window

24 hours is the most common window. 48 gives you a real chance to fill the slot.

After repeated misses

Replace the highlighted contact line with yours before you print.

Cancellation and missed-visit policy

Your practice

Why we have this policy

Your session time is held for you. When a visit is missed without enough notice, the time cannot be offered to another family, and the work that went into preparing for it is lost. This policy explains how our practice handles missed visits so that everyone is treated the same way.

Late cancellations and no-shows

A late cancellation is any cancellation with less than 24 hours of notice before the scheduled start time.

A no-show is a scheduled session that is not attended and was not cancelled ahead of time. Arriving more than 15 minutes late may be treated as a no-show, because the remaining time is often too short for the session to be useful.

Cancelling with 24 hours or more of notice is always free, and we will do our best to offer a make-up time.

The missed-visit fee

Late cancellations and no-shows are charged a missed-visit fee of $40. The fee is charged to the card on file, or added to your next invoice if there is no card on file. Insurance does not cover missed-visit fees, so the fee is your responsibility.

Everyone has an off day. Your first late cancellation or no-show is waived with no fee. After that, the fee applies to each one.

Funded services

If your sessions are paid for by Medicaid or by a state or provincial program, we are not permitted to charge a missed-visit fee, and we will not. The attendance steps in this policy still apply, because the schedule and the progress depend on showing up.

Repeated missed visits

Three late cancellations or no-shows within 90 days will prompt a conversation and a written reminder of this policy.

If the misses continue, your standing weekly time is released and you move to a floating schedule: you call or message each week to book from the open times we have. A standing time can be earned back with steady attendance.

If attendance still does not improve, we will talk about whether now is the right time for therapy, and we may pause services and offer referrals.

How to cancel or reschedule

Reach us at [your phone number, email, or booking link]. A cancellation counts from the time we receive it, so a message sent the night before is fine and a message sent an hour before is late.

Agreement

Reviewed and signed at the evaluation. I have read this policy, had the chance to ask questions, and agree to it.

Family name: ______________________________ Date: ______________

Signature: ______________________________

Therapist: ______________________________ Date: ______________

Not legal advice. Have a lawyer in your state or province look at it before you use it.

In Vochella the family agrees to your policy when they book, keeps a card on file if you ask for it, and reminders go out on their own. See booking and no-shows