We believe that your success begins with consistency of treatment. That’s why we are committed to supporting you on a consistent basis. Likewise, we hope you will commit to consistently attending all scheduled appointment times, or to cancel appointments if needed with at least 24 hours’ notice.
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How to Cancel an Appointment
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Available appointments are in high demand, and your cancellation will give someone else the possibility to access timely care. If you need to cancel your appointment, we ask that you give us 48 hours’ notice by responding to the appointment reminder, or by emailing care@medenshealth.com. If you need to cancel a Monday appointment over the weekend, please contact your provider directly.
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Service fees for Cancellation and Late Arrivals to Appointments
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Please note that the following fees apply for cancellations and late arrivals to appointments:
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• If you contact us to cancel a scheduled appointment with less than 24 hours’ notice, you will be charged a $50 service fee.

• If you fail to show up for a scheduled appointment and do not contact us prior to that appointment to cancel, you will be charged a $100 service fee. Three consecutive no-shows may result in automatic removal from the regular schedule.

• If you arrive more than 10 minutes late for your appointment, your session may be canceled. Note that if you arrive late to your appointment, we will still end the session at the scheduled time to allow your provider to transition to their next appointment.
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These charges cannot be billed to your insurance, and we will charge the cancellation fee to the credit card on file for your account. Our team will provide you the option to reschedule your appointment as schedules allow.

The use of email, text, and social media has become so second nature to many of us that we often turn to it naturally anytime we wish to get in touch with someone, whether that contact is personal or professional. However, due to the sensitive nature of our work and the laws of our governing boards, Medens Health must take great care in the use of electronic communication with our clients. This is to protect both you and your provider.
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We have prepared the following policy regarding our use of electronic methods of communication during your treatment. This policy is in place to ensure security and confidentiality for you and to make sure that we follow all ethical and legal standards. Please read it to understand how we conduct ourselves on the Internet as mental health professionals and how you can expect your provider to respond to various interactions that may occur between you on the Internet.
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As new technology develops, there may be times when we need to update this policy. If we do so, we will notify you in writing of any changes and make sure you have a copy of the updated policy.
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If you have any questions about this policy, please feel free to discuss this with your provider.
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Email

‍When emailing clients, we only discuss administrative details, such as making or rescheduling appointments, billing, and other similar matters. Your privacy is very important to us, and no email is completely secure or confidential. Therefore, please do not email anyone at Medens Health content related to your treatment. Instead, feel free to call us to discuss anything that cannot wait until your next scheduled appointment.
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If you choose to communicate with us by email, be aware that all emails are stored in the logs of both of our Internet service providers. While it is unlikely that someone will be looking at these logs, they are, in theory, available to be read by the system administrator(s) of the Internet service provider. Additionally, any emails we receive from you and any responses that we send to you become a part of your legal record with Medens Health.
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Text Messaging

‍Text messaging, including iMessage, is a very insecure and impersonal mode of communication. In order to protect both you and Medens Health, our providers do not text message or respond to text messages unless you have provided consent to receive secure communications. If you have opted in to receive appointment reminders via text message, be aware these messages are automatically generated, and responses are not monitored.
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Social Media
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Personal use of social media:
‍The providers at Medens Health may have personal profiles on one or more social networks Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, SnapChat, TikTok, Twitter, etc. As a mental health professional, they are prohibited from having what is called a “dual relationship” with their patients. This means that they cannot be your provider and also be your friend on social media. Because of this, they will not respond to or accept any connection requests to their personal social media accounts. You are welcome to like, follow, or view the business page of Medens Health or of our providers on any social media network, but we have no expectation that you will do this.
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If one of our providers discovers that they have accidentally established an online relationship with you, they will have no choice but to cancel that relationship. They do this because it can compromise your confidentiality, creating significant security risks for you. It may also blur the boundaries of your professional relationship with that provider, which can lessen their ability to help you. Please do not try to contact them in this way. They will not respond and will be forced to terminate any online contact, no matter how accidental. If you have questions about this, please call the office or bring them up when you meet with your provider.
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The providers at Medens Health may participate in various social networks in professional capacities. If you have an online presence, there is a possibility that you may encounter them on these networks by accident. If that occurs, please discuss it with them during your time together. We believe that any communication with clients online has a high potential to compromise the professional relationship, and that relationship is very important to us.
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Professional use of social media:
‍Medens Health and its providers may maintain a business page or profile for their professional practices on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, or other social media networks. This is to allow us to share my blog posts, information about our practice, and any updates with other users of these networks.
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You are welcome to view and/or follow our business page(s) on these social networks, read or share articles posted there, and react to or comment on their posts. We have no expectation that you will do so.
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If you do choose to view our business page(s) on social media, please be aware that:
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• The posts are not a replacement for therapy.
• The information contained in the posts is general information for educational purposes only.
• The information on the feeds is not, nor is it intended to be, therapy or psychological advice.
Nothing we post should be considered professional advice.
We are not able to answer questions regarding your specific situation.
If you are a current or former patient, your comments or likes may jeopardize your confidentiality.
The information provided does not constitute the formation of a provider patient relationship.
Please consult your physician or mental health provider regarding advice or support for your health and wellbeing.
If you are in crisis, please call your local 24-hour hotline or 911.
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Maintaining patient confidentiality on social media:

‍Mental health professionals cannot publicly identify you as a client. The fact that you are a client is confidential. This confidentiality is protected by the laws of our governing boards. If you choose to comment on a post on one of our business pages in such a way that makes it apparent that you are a client, we cannot respond and we may delete the comment to protect all parties. If this happens, your provider will discuss it with you in your next session.Examples of appropriate vs. inappropriate comments:
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Inappropriate:“I had a great time with you in my session today!” (We cannot reply to this, as any reply we made would confirm that you are a client. We may delete this comment.)
Appropriate:“Thanks for sharing this article!” (This does not identify you as a client. We will most likely reply with something impersonal such as “I’m glad you liked it!”)
It is important for you to consider the implications for your own privacy when viewing, connecting to, or interacting with our business pages on social media networks. If you react to, share/retweet, or comment on one of our posts, other users will be able to see that you did this. Additionally, on some social networks, others can view your profile and see which pages you have liked and/or are following. If they do this, they may make the assumption that you are a client with Medens Health. We assume no responsibility if anyone uses your connection to our social media page(s) to determine that you are a client with us.
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Our primary concern is your privacy. If you share this concern, there are more private ways to follow us on social networks (such as using an RSS feed or a locked Twitter list), which would eliminate your having a public link to our content. You are welcome to use your own discretion in choosing whether to follow us.
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Note that Medens Health and its providers will not follow you back. We only follow other health professionals on social media and we do not follow current or former clients on blogs. This is because we believe that casual viewing of clients’ online content outside of the therapy hour can create confusion in regard to whether it’s being done as a part of your treatment or to satisfy our personal curiosity. In addition, viewing your online activities without your consent and without explicit arrangement towards a specific purpose could have a negative influence on your working relationship with your provider. If there are things from your online life that you wish to share with your provider, please bring them in to your sessions where you can explore them together.
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Information shared by us on social media:

‍Mental health professionals cannot share details about you and your treatment, even if we omit your name. You will never see a social media post from Medens Health or any of its providers about our work together. Even if you are making astounding progress and your provider thoroughly enjoys working with you, they cannot post about it on social media, even in general terms. If you believe that Medens Health or one of its providers is alluding to you in anything we post on social media, it is likely to be coincidental. If you feel this isn’t the case, please call the office or bring it up with your provider the next time you meet.
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Interactions with us on our social media business pages:

‍Because social media is a very public space, Medens Health and its providers maintain a professional tone in social media channels. It is very different from how we will communicate with you in the office or during sessions. Please do not be offended if you perceive us as cold, distant, or unresponsive on social media. We cannot reply to your comments in any way that would allow others to guess that you are a client.
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Communication via direct/private messages on social media:

‍Private or direct messages on social media platforms are not HIPAA compliant means of communication. Social media accounts are hacked all the time and any information you share with me over these messaging services may become public. We CANNOT communicate with you that way. If you need to tell us something outside of your sessions, you should call the office.
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Professional advice over social media:

‍Aside from posting and sharing general advice for everyone, mental health professionals cannot give specific advice to individuals over social media, whether they are our clients or not. If you or someone else comments on one of our posts or sends us a private message over social media seeking advice for a specific situation, we will advise you to contact the office.
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Websites

‍Medens Health has a website that you are free to access. Each of our providers may also have their own professional websites. We use these websites for professional reasons to provide information to others about ourselves and our practices. You are welcome to review the information that we have on our websites and, if you have questions about it, you should call the office or discuss it with your provider during your therapy sessions.
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Use of Search Engines

‍It is NOT a regular part of our providers’ practice to search for clients on Google, Facebook, or other search engines. We feel that this is a violation of your privacy. If there is anything your provider wants to know about you, they will ask you and let you decide if you wish to tell them.
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We understand that you might choose to gather information about our providers in this way. If you encounter any information about a provider through web searches (or other means) that you find concerning, please discuss this with our office or your provider so that we can deal with it and its potential impact on your treatment.
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Extremely rare exceptions may be made during times of crisis. If we have a reason to suspect that you are in danger and you have not been in touch with us via our usual means (coming to appointments, speaking on the phone, or communication through email), we may resort to using a search engine to ensure your safety. We might do this to find you, find someone close to you, or to check on your recent status updates. These are unusual situations and if we ever resort to such means, we will fully document them and discuss them with you when we next meet.
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Business Review Sites

‍You may find Medens Health or the practices of our providers on sites such as Google Maps, Yelp, Healthgrades, or other places that list businesses. Some of these sites allow clients to review their health care providers. Many of these sites automatically add listings regardless of whether the business has added itself to the site.
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If you should find our listing or the listing of any of our providers on any of these sites, please know that these listings are NOT a request for a testimonial, rating, or endorsement from you as a client. The American Psychological Association’s Ethics Code prohibits mental health professionals from soliciting testimonials from clients.
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Of course, you have a right to express yourself on any site you wish. But due to confidentiality, we cannot respond to any review on any of these sites whether it is positive or negative. We urge you to take your own privacy as seriously as we take our commitment of confidentiality to you. You should also be aware that if you are using these sites indirectly to communicate your feelings about our work to us, there is a good possibility that we may never see it.
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If you are working with one of our providers, we hope that you will bring your feelings about and reactions to the work directly into the therapy process. This can be an important part of therapy, even if you decide that the provider is not a good fit for you. We want you to be with the provider who is best for you, and we will allow you to change to another provider in Medens Health or refer you to someone outside of Medens Health with no hard feelings.
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If you do choose to write something on a business review site, we hope you will keep in mind that you may be sharing personally revealing information in a public forum. We urge you to create a pseudonym that is not linked to your regular email address or social networks for your own privacy and protection. Also, please be aware that rating your work with your provider on any of these websites while you are in treatment with that person has a significant potential to damage your ability to work together.
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If you encounter reviews of Medens Health or any professional with whom you are working that concern you, please share them with us or with your provider so we can discuss it and its potential impact on your therapy.
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Location-Based Services
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‍If you use location-based services (LBS) on your mobile phone, you may wish to be aware of the privacy issues related to using these services. We do not place Medens Health as a check-in location on various sites, such as Foursquare. However, if you have GPS tracking enabled on your device, it is possible that others may guess that you are a therapy client due to regular check-ins at our office on a weekly basis. Please be aware of this risk if you are intentionally “checking in,” from our office or if you have a passive LBS app enabled on your phone that automatically checks in to locations without action from you.
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Conclusion

‍Thank you for taking the time to review our policies. If you have questions or concerns about any of these policies and procedures or regarding our potential interactions on the Internet, please bring them to your provider’s attention so that we can discuss them.
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Lastly, if you feel we have done something harmful or unethical and you do not feel comfortable discussing it with our staff or your provider, you can always contact the Board of Psychology, which oversees licensing, and they will review the services we have provided. Their contact information is:
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If you are in California:

‍State of California Board of Psychology
1625 North Market Boulevard, Suite N-215
Sacramento, CA 95834
Phone: 866-503-3221
Email: bopmail@dca.ca.gov

If you are in Nevada:

‍State of Nevada Board of Psychology
4600 Kietzke Lane, Bldg B-116
Reno, NV 89502
Phone: 775-688-1268
Email: nbop@govmail.state.nv.us