It's done all the time in the U.S.  It is routine for mental health
professionals, but common for all healthcare professionals.
    Of course, forcing payment is problematical.  You can make it a
condition of continued treatment, but you may not terminate treatment in
mid-stream for refusal for payment (for this or other reasons)
Furthermore, I've heard that courts will not enforce payment for payment
for missed appointments.
    I don't charge; I read patients the riot act if they break a couple of
appointments, and show them the door if they can't be grown ups about it.

Steve

oN Wrote:

Nope, we have an unusual approach ... We pay
them when they miss.

When I was first out of dental school I worked in an office that started
this type of policy. A problem was that the office was ALWAYS running behind
schedule, and often kept people waiting quite long past their scheduled
appointment time. People were quite quick to point this out, and several
left the practice over such charges.

I think if one is going to charge people for "wasted time", you better be
damn sure you are not wasting the patient's time!

T