Therapy contract

Assessment

Therapy will start with an assessment which includes the below to take place on pre-agreed dates:

1. 
   Intake Parent meeting: It is preferable that both Parents attend this meeting. It will take approximately 20-30 minutes.
   


2. 
   Assessment of your child: A range of age appropriate standardised and play-based assessments are used. The duration of the assessment depends on multiple factors such as age, response to assessment tasks and the assessments that need to be completed. It will take approximately 30 minutes to 2 hours which may be broken up into multiple sessions.
   


3. 
   Teacher consultation: If your child is attending school or a playgroup, this is necessary to understand how your child functions in different environments (telephonic or face-to-face).
   


4. 
   Feedback parent meeting: It is preferable that both Parents attend this meeting. The results of the assessment are discussed in detail and recommendations are made based on the assessment findings.
   


5. Assessment Report valid for 1 year.

The assessment invoice will be emailed to the Parents within 5 business days after the assessment of the child has been completed in full and prior to the feedback parent meeting. Payment is due and payable after five business days (in South Africa) after the assessment invoice delivery date. The assessment report will not be emailed and consequent therapy, if required, cannot commence until payment is made in full.

About Therapy

Therapy consists of a carefully planned and graded treatment of your child. Please remember that:

1. The duration of therapy cannot be determined beforehand. Speed of progress is dependent on each individual child, the severity of the identified concerns, and the consistency of sessions.


2. Generally, the time a child spends in therapy can be greatly reduced by the completion of activities at home (as recommended by the Therapist).


3. Please dress your child comfortably (tracksuit or shorts) as the sessions are active and sensory based.


4. A screening will be done 6 months after therapy and reassessment after one year of therapy if therapy has not been terminated before then. The screening and assessment tasks will be completed over regular treatment sessions and the Therapist will give you feedback for which you will be charged the regular session charge.


5. The Therapist reserves the right to terminate therapy due to irregular attendance.

Reports

1. Progress reports will be issued on request after a six-month therapeutic period upon request free of charge.


2. A final report will always be issued when therapy is terminated. Reports will be charged for as set out in the Schedule of Fees (Annexure A).

Fees

1. The Practice is NOT contracted into any Medical Aids.


2. You are therefore responsible for settling your account directly with the Practice before claiming from your medical aid.


3. The Practice may charge more than your medical aid will reimburse.


4. The Practice fees are subject to an annual increase, effective from 1 January.


5. Professional fees are principally time based and are charged in respect of all time spent on each individual client. This includes therapy sessions and reports only. No fees are charged for record keeping of sessions/consultations, preparation for therapy sessions and consultations, feedback and telephone calls with parents, teachers or any other professional involved with the case.


6. Please refer to Annexure A for the Schedule of Fees. NOTE: Although a session rate is fixed, different billing codes are used to make up the rate. For example, “Individual Therapy 45 minutes”: this rate is made up of multiple billing codes such as an individual treatment code (45-minute session) and a recommendations code; or, individual treatment code (45-minute session), observations and screening, and parent communication code. The separate billing codes align with the time spent with the child for the provision of comprehensive therapy services charged for.


7. Services provided by the Practice will be reflected on an invoice rendered on/about the 30th of every month and emailed and/or WhatsApp’ed to the Parents as provided on the “Invoice Delivery Date”


8. Payment is due and payable after five business days (in South Africa) after the therapy invoice delivery date. The bank details are reflected on the invoice.


9. If payment is not received 5 business days after the delivery date of the month, reminder notifications will be sent out. If payment is not received by the end of the month, therapy will be discontinued and will only resume once your account is paid in full.


10. The Practice reserves the right to terminate therapy due to non-payment without notice.


11. The Practice reserves the right to charge interest on overdue accounts. The interest charged will be at a rate determined in accordance with Section 1 (2) of the Prescribed Rate of Interest Act, 1975. If accounts are paid within the same month as issued, interest will ordinarily not be applied.


12. If you neglect to settle your account, a third party will be contracted to recover outstanding monies. Any administrative or legal costs involved in the collection of monies owed will be for your account. Any and all legal costs will be recoverable on an attorney and own client scale.

Involvement and Communication

1. As the Parent, you are entitled and encouraged to maintain regular contact with the Practice in order to keep up to date with your child’s treatment and progress. You are encouraged to attend therapy sessions to gain a better understanding of the therapeutic process; please arrange this with your Therapist.


2. A WhatsApp group / chat will be created with both Parents (where possible) which will be used for updates and sharing of information pertaining to your child’s therapy. Kindly note that WhatsApp has embedded end-to-end encryption which ensures only the persons you’re communicating with can read or listen to what is sent, and nobody in between, not even WhatsApp.


3. The success of therapy depends on your cooperation and being honest. Please inform your Therapist of any significant events/changes that affect your child. If you are uncertain about anything, please make an appointment with or email your Therapist to discuss.

Confidentiality and Express Consent

1. Every person that receives therapy in the Practice has the right to confidentiality (this means to have your personal information kept private, even from family members and other significant individuals; e.g. educators, the school). The Practice takes the protection of personal information seriously as required in terms of the Protection of Personal Information Act No. 4 of 2014 (“POPIA”, as may be amended or substituted from time to time), as well as in terms of our role as a health care provider. Your and our rights and obligations are set out in the Privacy Notice which you acknowledge, understand and accept (as attached).

Nothing that you share with your Therapist will be passed on to anyone, unless:

• You agree that your information can be shared (e.g. with a school teacher of any other person/entity involved with assisting your child). Signed consent will be obtained for this.


• The law on medical aids forces the Practice to provide certain information to the medical aid. Your invoice will therefore include personal information, specific treatment codes and diagnostic codes.


• When we receive an order from a court to disclose your information, we have no choice but to provide it. Or when a specific law (legislation/regulation) makes it compulsory to report things such as TB, cancer or child abuse/neglect.


• Communication with other relevant health professionals, insofar as it is necessary and in the interests of your child. Signed consent will be obtained for this.

Indemnity, Release and Waiver of Liability

We recognise that therapy includes active physical exercise which can lead to injuries. We acknowledge that our child will participate at his/her own risk and by signing this document, we indemnify Mrs Kerchia Mvunyiswa and her/their respective employees and representatives working within the Practice from any and all loss, costs, claims, injury, damage or liability sustained or incurred by my child resulting from his/her participation and/or resulting from any act or omission of any agent, employee or representative of the Practice.

Cancellations

1. If your child attends therapy during school hours, please inform your Therapist by 08h00 should your child be absent on their regular therapy day. To accommodate absenteeism or school outings, your Therapist may change the scheduled day of therapy so your child receives their recommended session/s per week. This shall be communicated with you.


2. If you bring your child to therapy, please inform your Therapist of cancellation at least 1 hour prior to the scheduled time.

• Late arrivals will be charged for in full and your child will receive therapy for the remaining duration of the scheduled session.


• Late pick up times over 10 minutes will be charged for in full according to the amount of time added to the original therapy session (if the Therapist spends an additional 12 minutes with your child after their 30 minute session, you will be charged for a 31 – 45 minute session).

Domicilium Citandi et Executandi and Jurisdiction

The respective parties choose as their domicilium citandi et executandi for the purposes of legal proceedings and for the purposes of giving or sending any notice provided for or necessary in terms hereof, the addresses as set out within their details provided above on page 1.

1. Any notices, formal communication and/or process (whether legal or otherwise) may be sent to the Email addresses provided herein (or updated from time to time in writing) and where sent, shall be deemed to have been received and read by the recipient twenty-four hours after the Email was sent.


2. The parties consent to the jurisdiction of the Magistrates Court (or Small Claims Court where applicable) in Randburg for all legal proceedings.

Undertaking

1. We understand that part of the assessment or treatment may require the use of video recording and we give the Practice permission to use video recording for the purpose of assessment, clinical observation, training, and record keeping. This will be managed in terms of the Privacy Notice.


2. We also understand that each child will respond differently to therapy intervention and no timeframe or results can be guaranteed.