Cancellation & Refund Policy

Purpose:

Virtual Doctors NZ prides itself in providing accessible and affordable healthcare to its patients. All services rendered to the patients attract a fee payable at the time of the consultation. Consultation fees for Virtual Consultations become payable Online at the time of booking an Appointment. The dynamics surrounding the fees payable, payments made, cancellations and refunds need to be clarified to enable transparency for the patients as well as ease of operations for the Staff members.

Scope:

This policy is applicable to Virtual Doctors NZ providing Virtual Consults by way of Video Consultations.

Definitions:

  • Virtual Consultation – A Video Consultation offered to a patient by a Virtual Doctors NZ Healthcare Provider

  • Consultation Duration – A normal Consultation is of 8 minute duration

  • Virtual Doctors NZ Healthcare Providers – These include, but are not limited to Doctors, Nurses, Clinical Assistants, Case Coordinators, Clinical Family Navigators and Wellness Support Personnel

  • Consultation Charges – Fees payable by a patient for the Virtual Consultation services rendered by Virtual Doctors NZ Healthcare Providers

  • Online Charges – Consultation fees payable by a patient for requesting a Virtual Consultation

  • In Clinic Charges – Consultation fees payable by a patient on presenting for a face-to-face Consultation in the Clinic

  • Offline Charges – Consultation fees payable by a patient for requesting an in-absentia Service from a Virtual Doctors NZ such as Insurance other reports, etc

  • Invoiced Amount – Fee amount generated and charged to the patients by way of Invoices created in the patient’s file on the Patient Management Software

  • Payment – Fees payable or paid by a patient for the Services rendered to them based on the Invoice generated

  • Refund – Amount of monies to be returned to the patient for failure to render a service or the cancellation of a requested service (eg cancellation of an appointment / procedure)

  • Credit – Amount of monies put into credit on to a patient’s account on their file in the PMS, which could be used for payments for a future service fee

  • Appointment Cancellation – The cancellation of a scheduled appointment with a Virtual Doctors NZ, which may be done by the Patient or by the Provider / Organisation

  • “Cooling off” Cancellation – An Appointment cancelled immediately up to 2 hours after booking it – this could be due to an error made by the patient or a change of mind

  • “Planned Cancellation” – An Appointment cancelled more than 24 hours before the scheduled Appointment time

  • “Unplanned Cancellation” – An Appointment cancelled between 12 – 24 hours before the scheduled Appointment time

  • Late Cancellation” – An Appointment cancelled less than 12 hours before the scheduled Appointment time

  • Appointment DNA (Did Not Attend) – Patient’s failure or lateness to present for a scheduled appointment / procedure

  • Rescheduling of Appointment – Change in Date or time of a booked appointment to defer it to a later date / time, initiated by either the Patient or by Virtual Doctors NZ personnel

  • Breakdown of an Appointment – An appointment that is unable to run the course of its entire duration of 10 minutes due to technical or connectivity issues

  • Termination of an Appointment – An appointment that is discontinued by either the Provider or the Patient, part way through its normal duration

Policy:

Virtual Consultation Modality:

  • Virtual Doctors NZ will at least for the first appointment utilise a video consultation. You will be given a video link where the meeting will be held upon making a booking. It is your duty to ensure you have the right device and software to attend the video call.

Virtual Consultation (Online) Charges:

  • All Virtual Consultations rendered by the various Healthcare Providers will attract a fee payable by the patient.

  • The fee structure of the Online charges will be reviewed and adjusted periodically.

  • Patients requesting Virtual Consultations via the Online portal will be presented with the applicable Charges at the time of requesting an appointment booking.

  • Appointment confirmation will only be done after the Patient has made the online payment for the service that has been requested.

  • The fee will be $69 per consultation.

  • The fees stated in this document relate to a single consultation of 10 minutes duration.

  • If during the course of a Virtual Consultation, a Provider feels that the patient needs to be seen in person, the patient will be asked to present to their usual GP.

Cancellations, DNA, Rescheduling:

Cancellations:

  • Upon booking and confirmation of an appointment, a patient may choose to cancel the appointment either immediately or at a later stage.

  • The monies refundable to the patient will be dependent on the duration of time between the cancellation of the appointment and the time of the scheduled appointment

    • A patient can choose to cancel an Appointment immediately up to 2 hours (Cooling off Cancellation) after booking an appointment, and this would not attract any Cancellation fees

    • If a patient cancels an Appointment more than 24 hours (Planned Cancellation) prior to the scheduled Appointment time, there would be no Cancellation fees applicable

    • For Appointments cancelled between 12 – 24 hours (Unplanned Cancellation) before the scheduled Appointment a Cancellation fee of 50% of the Consultation fee would be applicable

    • Cancellations between 0 – 12 hours (Late Cancellations) prior to the scheduled Appointment time will attract a Cancellation fee equivalent to the full Consultation charge that has been paid by the patient

DNA (Did Not Attend):

  • Upon booking and confirmation of an appointment, a patient is expected to connect and be present for the Virtual Appointment session 5 minutes before the scheduled Appointment time

    • If a patient fails to present for the scheduled Appointment 5 minutes after the commencement of the scheduled Appointment, the patient will have been considered not to have attended and the Appointment will be cancelled as a DNA (Did Not Attend)

    • If a patient fails to present for the scheduled Appointment altogether, the patient will have been considered not to have attended and the Appointment will be cancelled as a DNA (Did Not Attend)

  • All DNAs will attract a Cancellation fee equivalent to the full Consultation charge that has been paid by the patient

  • Some DNAs which may occur due to emergent circumstances, may qualify for a Credit of the Consultation fee, but would need to be evaluated on a case by case basis

  • Should a patient wish to book a fresh appointment due to their DNA, they can choose to do so, but will have to pay the full Consultation fee as applicable

Rescheduling / Rebooking:

  • Upon booking and confirmation of an appointment, a patient may choose to reschedule the appointment either immediately or at a later stage, due to change in circumstances

    • Rescheduling of an Appointment done immediately upon booking an appointment will not attract any change / cancellation fee, and patient would not be expected to pay any additional fees

    • Rescheduling of an Appointment done between 0 – 6 hours prior to the scheduled Appointment time will attract a Cancellation fee equivalent to the full Consultation charge that has been paid by the patient

    • Rescheduling of an Appointment done between 6 – 24 hours before the scheduled Appointment a Cancellation fee of 50% of the Consultation fee would be applicable

  • The monies refundable to the patient will be dependent on the duration of time between the cancellation of the appointment and the time of the scheduled appointment.

  • Any rescheduling of Appointment done at the scheduled Appointment time would be considered a DNA. No credit or refunds would be available to the patient.

Doctor Unavailable:

  • Sickness, personal emergent circumstances and other unforeseen events can lead to a rostered Doctor not being available for a Scheduled Appointment Session.

  • In the event that a Doctor is unavailable to attend a Scheduled Appointment Session, the Virtual Clinic Administrative Staff will:

    • In conjunction with the Roster team, ensure the availability of a replacement Doctor to manage that planned session.

    • Get the Appointment book for the replacement Doctor opened

    • Contact the various Patients who have scheduled Appointments and inform them of the change in the Doctor with the option to, either be attended to by the replacement Doctor, or to reschedule the Appointment to a different day and time when the original Doctor is next available.

  • If the patient is willing to be attended to by the replacement Doctor, there will be no change to the charges that the patient has already paid.

  • If the patient wishes to reschedule the Appointment to a different day & time to be attended by the original Doctor, the charges paid by the patient will become applicable to the rescheduled Appointment. There will be no additional charges levied.

  • If the patient neither wishes to be attended to by the replacement Doctor, nor reschedule the Appointment, the patient can choose to cancel the Appointment, the fees paid by the patient will be fully refunded.

Breakdown & Termination of an Appointment:

  • In the event of an IT / connectivity / technical failure during the course of a Virtual Consultation, the Provider needs to phone the patient, inform them about the technical issue and offer to reschedule / rebook the Appointment at the next available time at no extra cost to the patient.

    • If the patient does not wish to reschedule / rebook another Appointment, the current appointment will be considered as a “failed” encounter and patient would be refunded the full Consultation fees

  • The rapport between a patient and a Provider could breakdown during the course of a Consultation, owing to a variety of factors, including demands for Controlled Medications, unrealistic patient expectations or interpersonal differences. In the unlikely event of a breakdown in the rapport between the patient and the Provider, during the course of a Virtual Consultation, the Provider will gently inform the patient of the need to terminate the Consultation

    • For Terminated Consultations, fees paid by the patient may be partially or fully refunded on a case by case basis. The decision to refund the monies or not would be at the discretion of the Provider concerned and the Senior Management team

Credit & Refund:

  • The refunds will be made directly into the patient’s account that was linked to the Online payment gateway.

  • If the patient has chosen to receive a refund, the refundable amounts will be as follows:

    • “Cooling off Cancellation” – 100% (Full) refund

    • “Planned Cancellation” – 100% (Full) refund

    • “Doctor unavailable” Cancellation – 100% (Full) refund

    • “Failed Encounters” – 100% (Full) refund

    • “Unplanned Cancellation” – 50% refund

    • “Late Rescheduled Appointment” – 50% refund

    • “Last minute Rescheduling of Appointment” – No refund

    • “Late Cancellations” – No refund

    • “DNA” – No refund

    • “Terminated Consultations” – TBD

  • We are unable to process refunds for bank transfers from bank accounts based outside of New Zealand. Patients in New Zealand with overseas bank accounts are advised to book appointments using a credit or debit card.

  • We do not provide ACC nor WINZ medical certificate services. If you booked an appointment to discuss either of these issues, refund will be issued only in accordance with the refundable amounts as above.

  • We will decline all requests for “weight loss injections”.