If you need a specialist doctor, you have to be prepared for long waiting times as a patient with public health insurance. Missing an appointment can be expensive. More and more medical practices warn those affected with horrendous fees. FOCUS online says what you need to know.
Christina R.* has her teeth cleaned professionally by her dentist every year. This time, too, she made an appointment for the beginning of June. She was unable to attend the appointment for family reasons. She had forgotten the treatment from sheer stress.
When she took care of a new appointment in mid-September, not only did she quickly confirm, but also an invoice. R. should pay 180 euros for her treatment.
“Failure fee” writes the practice in the letter. If R. does not pay the invoice within the next ten days, “dunning fees could be due”. Even a collection agency is threatened.
“Failure fees for missed or canceled doctor’s appointments are only permissible in exceptional cases,” emphasizes the Federal Consumer Association. There is no valid legal basis for such “downtime fees”.
A medical practice can charge such a fee if the examination requires a certain amount of preparation, is very time-consuming and at the same time no other patient was able to attend the appointment that became available at short notice. Affected patients should therefore cancel or postpone appointments in good time. If the practice cannot pass on the appointment, there is a loss of earnings that it can pass on.
However, these are the only exceptions.
Have you ever had to pay a cancellation fee at the doctor’s? Describe your case to us, ideally send the invoice by e-mail. Write us an email to k.mitsis(at)focus.de. In the subject line write “doctor’s appointment”.
If medical practices stipulate a cancellation fee in their general terms and conditions, such clauses are usually ineffective. Judges at the Berlin Regional Court saw this critically in a 2005 judgment. Nevertheless, patients should pay attention to such clauses. Cancellation fees are “assessed differently by the courts depending on the situation,” according to the Federal Association of Consumer Organizations.
If you are unable to attend a doctor’s appointment, you should cancel it in good time. The best thing to do is call the practice and explain the situation. Because medical practices have long waiting lists, other patients get the chance to get an appointment faster. You can make an alternative appointment by telephone at the same time.
Refrain from emails. Many receptionists check these only very irregularly. At the same time, writing back and forth wastes unnecessary time.
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