Late, Cancellation, No-Show Policy

POLICY
Maintaining Our Place of Healing:
Late, Cancellation, & No-Show

Effective Date: 08/01/2026

It is the policy of Temecula Medical Group to monitor and manage late arrivals, cancellations, and no-shows to maximize appointment availability for all patients. While we understand emergencies can arise, consistent adherence to your scheduled appointments helps us provide the best possible care.

WHY WE HAVE THIS POLICY

At Temecula Medical Group, our core value is to be “A Place of Healing.” We cherish the time we spend with each patient, ensuring you receive the focused care you deserve. To honor this commitment, we carefully manage our schedule to respect every patient’s time and our providers’ ability to deliver thorough, compassionate care.

When a patient arrives late, it can ripple through the day, shortening the time available for others who are also seeking healing. While we always strive to be understanding and offer grace in how we treat you, this does not extend to the appointment clock itself: there is no grace period for arrival time, and our policy below applies from the scheduled start time. This helps us balance fairness by protecting the appointments of those who follow. If we can’t accommodate a late arrival due to scheduling constraints, we’ll work with you to reschedule promptly.

Sometimes, a patient’s health issues are complex and require extra time to provide the detailed, conclusive care they need. Consistent with our core value of “A Place of Healing,” we adapt in these moments to ensure every patient receives the attention their health demands. This may occasionally put us behind schedule, and we ask for your understanding as we do our best to stay on time while prioritizing exceptional care.

Description & Definitions

Temecula Medical Group strives to provide excellent care to each patient in a timely manner. To achieve this goal and ensure fairness for all patients, it is essential to maintain a well-organized clinical schedule. To better manage appointments, we define the following terms:

Late Arrival: A patient who arrives after the scheduled appointment time. There is no grace period — any arrival after the scheduled start time is a late arrival under this policy.
Cancellation: Any instance in which a patient cancels an appointment, with or without rescheduling.
Same-Day Cancellation: A cancellation made less than 24 hours (one business day) before the scheduled appointment.
No-Show: A patient who fails to arrive for a scheduled appointment without prior notice.

Policy Details — Late Arrivals

Actions Taken: (a) We will attempt to fit the patient into the provider’s schedule; this may require significant waiting time and is subject to provider availability. (b) If no providers are available, the patient will be rescheduled for a later time or another day.
Rescheduling Fee: If a patient must be rescheduled due to a late arrival, it will be treated as a same-day cancellation/no-show and is subject to a $40 rescheduling fee (see fee exceptions below).

Note: Patients who have not completed their intake forms need to arrive 25+ minutes early for their appointment. Failure to do so may result in rescheduling and a rescheduling fee.

Policy Details — Cancellations

Patients are encouraged to notify the clinic by phone, voicemail, or patient portal as soon as possible. This allows us to offer the appointment slot to another patient in need. Cancellations made 24 hours or more before the scheduled appointment are not subject to a fee.

Policy Details — Same-Day Cancellations

Same-day cancellations significantly impede our ability to adapt our schedule and provide timely care to other patients. A cancellation made less than 24 hours (one business day) before the scheduled appointment will be treated as a no-show and is subject to a $40 rescheduling fee (see fee exceptions below).

Policy Details — No-Shows

Actions Taken: (a) A no-show will be documented in the patient’s chart. (b) The patient must contact the clinic to reschedule their appointment.
Rescheduling Fee: $40, subject to fee exceptions below.
Frequent No-Shows: Patients with a history of frequent no-shows may be subject to discharge from the practice, per the Discharge Policy below.

Fees, Insurance & Non-Discrimination

General rule: Rescheduling fees for late arrivals, same-day cancellations, and no-shows are not billable to insurance (consistent with CMS Medicare Claims Processing Manual, Ch. 1, § 30.3.13) and are the patient’s personal financial responsibility.
Medicare patients: This fee is applied equally and without discrimination to all patients, including Medicare beneficiaries, consistent with CMS guidance permitting missed-appointment charges only when the policy applies uniformly across the entire patient population.
Medi-Cal patients: Consistent with California and federal Medicaid rules (42 C.F.R. § 447.15), Temecula Medical Group does not charge no-show, late-cancellation, or late-arrival rescheduling fees to Medi-Cal beneficiaries — including when Medi-Cal is the secondary payer. We continue to send reminders and offer rescheduling support to help these patients keep their appointments.
Other coverage: If a patient’s payer contract separately prohibits missed-appointment fees, that contract controls and the fee will not be charged to that patient.

Discharge Policy

The clinic reserves the right to discharge patients with a documented history of excessive no-shows, cancellations, or late arrivals. Consistent with Medical Board of California guidance on avoiding patient abandonment:

Patients will receive written notice of discharge at least 15–30 days before the effective date.
During that notice period, the practice will continue to provide urgent/emergency care and necessary prescription refills, and will assist the patient in locating alternative care.
The decision to discharge is made on clinical and administrative grounds by a licensed provider, and is not based on productivity, revenue, or financial targets.

Frequent No-Shows / Late Cancellations — Discharge Thresholds

We understand that occasional missed appointments can occur due to emergencies or unforeseen circumstances. However, consistent no-shows or late cancellations strain our resources and limit access for other patients. A patient may be considered for discharge from the practice if they meet any of the following thresholds (unless exceptions apply):

3 or more missed appointments (no-shows or late cancellations) in the previous 6 months, or
4 or more missed appointments in the previous 12 months.

Exceptions (these generally do not count toward the thresholds):

Missed appointments due to inpatient hospital stays.
Appointments canceled with at least 24 hours notice.
Missed appointments related to a documented disability, consistent with the practice’s obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act; the practice will consider reasonable accommodations on a case-by-case basis.
Other documented extenuating circumstances (e.g., serious illness, family emergency), at the practice’s discretion.

Emergencies

We understand that emergencies may occasionally prevent timely cancellations or arrivals. In such cases, patients are encouraged to notify the clinic as soon as possible, and rescheduling fees may be waived at the clinic’s discretion.

Patient Responsibilities & Acknowledgement

Please arrive on time and notify us promptly of any changes. There is no grace period for late arrival.
New and existing patients will be asked to acknowledge this policy in writing (via intake forms or portal).
This policy is posted on our website and available upon request.

If you have questions about this policy, please contact our office at (951) 302-2526; our contact form; by email at admin@temeculamedicalgroup.com; or by mail at Temecula Medical Group, 27555 Ynez Road, Ste 102, Temecula, CA 92591.