This document outlines how this practice operates, and the therapy procedures that are implemented. It includes tips on how to make the most of the speech-language services offered, information on the protection of personal information, as well as the general policies and financial management of the practice.
Please read the document carefully. You will have to sign it and return to me via email as soon as possible in order to commence with therapy.
1 :: THE NATURE OF THIS PRACTICE
The primary purpose of this practice is to provide speech-language services to young children with communication related difficulties.
The practice has a special interest in (paediatric) neurogenic disorders, neurodevelopmental therapy, autism, apraxia, dysphagia and feeding therapy, as well as reading and literacy related issues.
2 :: THE THERAPY PROCEDURES
The practice offers a complimentary 30 min online consultation with the therapist in order to discuss your concerns about your child. During this time, the therapist will offer her professional perspective on the case and provide appropriate referrals where necessary.
Please note that this session does not constitute an assessment or therapy session, and you will be required to provide written consent to the conditions of the consultation prior to the meeting.
Should you decide to pursue further consultation with the practice, a time will be set-up for a full speech-language assessment with your child. Prior to the assessment, you will be asked to completed a fairly detailed intake form so as to get a comprehensive perspective on the nature of your child’s speech-language profile.
You will also be asked to provide any reports or feedback from other professionals who have engaged with your child. Please send these reports in as soon as possible as this information, together with all information provided by yourself/ves during the 30 min consultation and intake form, will be used to guide the assessment protocol.
Please note that the assessment can take between 60-90 minutes depending on the assessment plan deemed necessary by the therapist. Also, the structure and timing of the assessment is at the therapist’s discretion. This means that the assessment might take place in 1 session, over 2 x 45 min sessions, or 3 x 30 min sessions.
Once the assessment has been completed, the therapist will contact you to set up a feedback meeting during which the findings, recommendations, and therapy plan will be discussed.
Therapy times will be established once you have decided to go ahead with the intervention plan as suggested by the therapist, and have agreed to the financial and treatment policies of this practice.
3 :: THE THERAPY PROGRAMME
The speech-language therapy plan for your child is tailored to the unique profile of your child. For this reason, please bear the following in mind:
While the goals of therapy may remain consistent, the programme is always open to change in order to accommodate the behavioural, developmental, social, emotional, and communicative fluctuations that your child may exhibit. You are encouraged to keep regular contact with the therapist regarding changes that your child may experience so that therapy is always at a level that maximises benefits for your child.
Please get actively involved! Therapy should not be viewed as a one stop solution that begins and ends in the therapy rooms. Speech-language and communication are skills that are present in every aspect of daily life, and need to be acknowledged as such in order for your child to succeed. It is necessary for at least one parent /caregiver to commit to actively engaging with therapeutic suggestions outside of the therapy context.
Do attend therapy timeously. A late and rushed arrival may cause stress to your child and set the tone for a less that optimal therapy session. If you arrive late for your appointment, the therapist will do her best to see you, however the appointment may be shortened due to time constraints and the full session fee will apply.
Maintaining regular contact with the therapist is important so that you know the nature of therapy with your child. You are welcome to contact the therapist through email or WhatsApp. Please bear in mind that the therapist might not be able to respond to you immediately, though she will endeavour to do so as soon as possible.
Please keep the therapist informed of any changes that might impact on how your child responds to therapy.
Do keep the therapist updated with all professional information that pertains to your child. This includes reports from school, teacher, psychologist, physiotherapist, teacher, family doctor/occupational therapist and so forth.
4 :: GENERAL POLICIES OF THE PRACTICE
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU READ AND UNDERSTAND EVERY POINT IN THIS SECTION. Your acceptance of the terms will be taken as consent to the policies of this practice.
If you must cancel an appointment, please be courteous and inform the therapist at least 24 hours in advance.
PLEASE NOTE: Clients 12 years of age and younger may NOT be “dropped” off. An adult must be present at the therapy rooms or in parking area while the child attends therapy.
If you need to bring siblings to therapy, please have them use their quiet voices and be respectful and considerate of others so as not to disturb your child in the session or others on the premises.
There is an outdoor playing gym and swimming pool on the premises. In the interests of child safety and privacy to the occupants of the home, please refrain from taking children to these areas.
PLEASE NOTE that the therapeutic management and techniques implemented in the practice often require the therapist to physically move the child’s body (i.e. head, neck, oral musculature, and at times the body) for optimum therapeutic success. All aspects of intervention comply strictly with the Children’s Act, 2005 as amended from time to time.
ALL CHILDREN ALWAYS remain under the care and responsibility of their parents. While every effort is made to ensure your child’s safety, the practice and the therapist cannot be held liable for any loss, injury or accident that may occur during therapy which is attributable directly or indirectly to the therapist, and by signing this contract, you indemnify the therapist against any loss, injury or accident that may occur.
For safety reasons, your child will have to be accompanied to therapy by yourself/ves or by people who have been authorized in advance (by yourself/ves as parents) to bring your child to therapy. Please indicate the name/s and contact details of persons who are authorized to bring your child to therapy in the section below. Do include your child’s relation with the said person.
In the interests of health and safety to all, please DO NOT bring sick children to therapy. Children will not be seen if any of the following is present:
- Too ill or uncomfortable to function in the therapy setting;
- Continuous runny nose;
- Thick or discoloured nasal discharge;
- Excessive sneezing or coughing and mucus-producing cough;
- An elevated temperature;
- Lethargy of any sort
This practice reserves the right and professional judgement to withhold or discontinue speech-language services under the following conditions:
- Appointments are missed or cancelled for three consecutive sessions.
- If the child’s continued participation will be of detriment to the child and/or. family.
- If financial commitments to the practice are not kept.
- Acts that are unconstitutional according to The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, including any discriminatory conduct.
- Children and families who are in anyway disrespectful, damage property and demonstrate aggressive or violent behaviour of any sort will be asked to leave immediately.
Should parents wish to discontinue therapy, please provide at least a month’s written notice so that there is enough to provide social-emotional closure between your child and the therapist. The notice period is also important for adequate hand-over and referrals to other professionals or schools. A discharge report will be provided upon request.
5 :: PROCESSING OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
In order to provide your child with the best therapy, it is important that the therapist has as much personal information as possible concerning your child.
Personal information includes, but is not limited to your child’s biometrics, residential and contact details, medical, family, social and academic records, information from other professionals, informal sources, session records/notes and communications/correspondence, as well as any other information that is required to provide speech-language therapy services, as per HPCSA regulations and the Protection of Personal Information Act No. 4 of 2013 (POPIA).
The information collected will only be used for the purposes for which it was collected (providing speech-language therapy services); and the provision of such services may not be possible should you not provide this information or fail to inform the therapist of changes or updates.
Your child’s information will be securely stored in physical and/or electronic forms and the practice will review security safeguards on an ongoing basis to ensure that your information is kept safe and confidential. This practice may disclose your information to service providers who are involved in or enable the delivery of services to you, such as medical schemes or other health care professionals, where this is in service of your treatment and where such third parties comply with the privacy requirements as regulated by POPIA.
This may include processing and sharing information for the purpose of collecting unpaid debts. The above mentioned third parties include email and text message service providers (e.g., Gmail and webmail) and cloud storage providers (i.e., Dropbox, Google Drive and/or One Drive) who may be located outside of South Africa.
To obtain and share this information, the practice require your express, informed consent in writing. Most instances of information sharing will be with your child’s teacher or any other health professional (e.g. educational psychologist, occupational therapist, remedial therapist, paediatrician, neurologist etc.). Subject to the information sharing as provided for above, your child’s information will be kept confidential as guided by the HPCSA Code of Conduct for Healthcare Professionals and our Privacy Notice
With consent, relevant information may be discussed with the referring healthcare practitioner or other health professionals registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa. In the event of a third-party request for confidential information from Sumaya Babamia Speech-Language Therapy, and in doubt of regarding the safety of confidentiality processes, the practice may insist on the following processes stated in the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA). Requests for access to information kept by Sumaya Babamia can be lodged with the Information Officer.
This practice utilizes smeMetrics Practice Management Software to manage bookings, create invoices and make claims. They are a reputable company with strict privacy guidelines.
This practice also makes use of Kitrin (Pty) Ltd to manage all administration aspects of the practice including but not limited to invoice submission through smeMetrics, allocation of payments and following up on overdue accounts.
6 :: Fees
Speech Therapy Rates 2022:
Assessments
| Procedure Code | Description | Rates |
| 821053 | Speech therapy assessment 60 mins | R 616.00 |
| 821051 | Speech therapy assessment 30 mins | R 264.00 |
| 820020 | Report Writing | R 352.00 |
| 821021 | Feedback Meeting | R264.00 |
*Assessments will be charged based on the amount of time spent with your child.
Therapy
| Procedure Code | Description | Rates |
| 821052 | 35 Minute session | R 380.00 |
| 821052 | 45 Minute session | R 440.00 |
| 821007 | Group therapy (per person) | R 262.00 |
Feedback Meetings
| Procedure Code | Description | Rates |
| 821020 | Speech therapy consultation 5-15 mins | R 117.00 |
| 821021 | Speech therapy consultation 16-30 mins | R 264.00 |
| 821022 | Speech therapy consultation 31-45 mins | R 440.00 |
| 821023 | Speech therapy consultation 46-60 mins | R 616.00 |
Home programs and reports
| Procedure Code | Description | Rates |
| 820020 | Report Writing | R 352.00 |
| 821009 | Preparation of a home programme | R 243.00 |
This practice is not contracted to medical aids. Once payment has been made, you will be provided with an invoice/ paid receipt to assist you in seeking reimbursement from your medical aid scheme.
The consulting fees of this practice are in accordance with the Board of Healthcare Funders of South Africa. All sessions are charged at medical aid rates and are subject to annual increase.Accounts are reflected on an invoice which will be emailed monthly. Each monthly statement reflects services rendered through to the 25th of the month. All invoices are payable by the 8th of the following month (14 days).
It is the parent/client’s responsibility to verify/clarify charges prior to attending evaluations or treatments. Fees apply to various types of services including direct client contact (clinic based or offsite), phone consultations, travel, and consultation with other professionals. Should payment be outstanding for a period of 30 days, therapy will be discontinued until the account is settled.
Accounts that are not settled within 90 days will be handed over for collection. You will be liable for any costs incurred by failure to settle the account including legal costs. The person responsible for the fees will accept full responsibility for your child’s speech-language therapy account as well as any outstanding payments owed to this practice.
7 :: Consent
Having read and understood these terms and conditions, by your signature, you hereby:
- Understand that this is a child-centred practice and all assessment and therapy measures implemented follow the international guidelines for best practices with young children aged 12 and under.
- Give permission for the therapist to implement therapeutic techniques as deemed necessary for oral sensory motor intervention as well as Neuro Developmental Therapy. You understand that all aspects of intervention comply strictly with the Children’s Act, 2005.
- Acknowledge that the initial meeting between the therapist and yourself/ves commences with a 30 min complimentary introductory session. If parents choose to stay with this practice, a time will be scheduled for a full assessment with the child and a follow up feedback session with the parents. Therapy will commence once the parents are in agreement with the therapy plan proposed by the therapist.
- Agree that contact time with between your child and the therapist, as well as parents and the therapist, will be billed for, unless otherwise decided up by the therapist. This includes feedback sessions and report writing.
- Recognise that the allocation of therapy times will be done at the therapist’s discretion.
- Accept the general policies of this practice and have given your consent to the conditions stipulated in section 4. General Policies of this practice.
- Understand that this practice makes use of smeMetrics billing software.
- Understand that this practice makes use of an external practice administration company Kitrin (PTY) Ltd and grant permission for them to contact me in regards to any queries about my account.
- Acknowledge and understand that the practice is fully aware of the POPI Act, and has indicated in section 5. Protection of Personal Information above, that the therapist has taken all necessary precautions to safeguard your child’s personal information.
- Understand the importance of releasing information pertaining to your child to schools and other relevant health professionals should it be deemed necessary by this practice. You consent to the therapist in this practice to release this information when required and acknowledge that the therapist will inform you of this prior to the release of such information.
- Realize that the information exchanged in therapy is treated as strictly confidential by the therapist as well as any other involved professionals.
- Acknowledge that your child’s personal information will not be shared with anyone else, or any other business (such as an insurance company, your employer, a lawyer) without written consent, except where therapist may be under a legal obligation to do so.
- Acknowledge that your child’s records will be kept up until they are 18 years of age or 21 years of age (as special needs child) as per the Patient’s Rights Charter. Patients will be notified if these records will be removed/changed or destroyed. All patient records (in hard-copy or electronic) are kept in locked locations.
- Confirm that you have read and understood the payment policy of this practice.
- Undertake that the person responsible for payment of therapy services accepts full responsibility of all payments and outstanding debts.
- Accept that Sumaya Babamia may suspend therapy until all outstanding accounts are settled in full.
- Understand that the email address and mobile number provided by me below will be used for all correspondence related to my appointments and invoices. Should you not receive the related invoice within 5 working days after a session (those that are attended or missed), you will be responsible for ensuring that you follow-up and ensure that you do have a copy of the related invoice.
- Accept that any late-coming will shorten the length of the session and that you will be charged in full. Sessions cannot run overtime if the client is late.
- Hereby indemnify and undertake to hold the practice and the therapist harmless against any injury, loss or damage that you or your child may suffer arising either directly or indirectly from therapy or any service provided in terms of this agreement.
- Permit a photocopy of this consent form as if it were an original executed consent.
- Consent to allowing this speech therapy session to be recorded via audio or video and understand the purpose of this recording is to provide assessment points and tools of measurement. You have been advised it will not be released for use in any public material or presentation.
I, the undersigned, confirm that I have read and understood each of the terms and conditions contained in this document and understand that this document constitutes the terms and conditions under which the professional services will be rendered.
I acknowledge that I am signing these terms and conditions voluntarily without being forced, influenced or pressured to do so. I have been given the opportunity to ask questions prior to having signed this agreement.
Note that the information below with a ‘*’ is mandatory. If you don’t have this information, you can enter a ‘-‘. However, if the information is missing or inaccurate, it will result in a delay of the appointment scheduling, billing process and/ or medical aid follow-up process.
AGREEMENT
I confirm that I have read and understood each of the terms and conditions contained in this document and understand that this document constitutes a part of the terms and conditions under which the professional services will be rendered.
I acknowledge that I am signing these terms and conditions voluntarily without being forced, influenced or pressured to do so. I have been given the opportunity to ask questions prior to having signed this agreement.