APPOINTMENT POLICY

• Please expect to arrive 15-20 minutes prior to your scheduled appointment.
• We ask that you complete the new client paperwork, new patient paperwork and cancellation policy form prior to arrival. These can be found under our new patient center tab or by clicking Here
• If you plan to be later than fifteen (15) minutes, please call and reschedule. *For more information, please see our Appointment Cancellation Policy.
• As of October 1st 2021 a booking fee is required to schedule any dental, surgical or anesthesia procedure.

Walk-in clients are welcome but you may have to wait and we can't guarantee you will be seen, appointments are preferred. Emergency cases receive top priority followed by clients with previously scheduled appointments.

PATIENT ARRIVAL POLICY

For your protection, and that of others, all dogs must be on a leash and properly controlled while in the waiting area or exam rooms. We recommend walking your dog before taking him/her in your car.  Please do not let your pet void prior to your appointment if you are having any illness concerns. If your pet needs to void alert staff at check in so a sample can be collected in case it is needed. 

All cats must be presented in an appropriate cat carrier.

If your cat is afraid of your carrier, follow these instructions:

A few days before your scheduled visit (preferably 1 week), take your carrier out of storage and place it near your cat’s feeding area. Next, leave the carrier door open and put your cat’s favorite blanket and some toys in the carrier so it becomes a familiar part of your cat’s environment. After some time, place some of its favorite foods inside or on top of the carrier. Because the next stressful event for many cats is simply traveling into your car, which always means a visit to the vet clinic, minimize your cat’s fear by taking it for a couple of short rides before the day of your visit. Another helpful alternative would be applying products such as the Feliway spray to the carrier 30 minutes to an hour prior to your arrival. Feliway pheromones can help reduce the signs of stress your cat may be feeling while at the hospital.  We offer Feliway products in our office for purchase and in some cases kitties may benefit from a pre-trip medication. If you are concerned your cat may be more fearful please simply ask and we can help to reduce unnecessary stress if possible. 

APPOINTMENT CANCELLATION POLICY updated 2022

When you schedule an appointment or procedure with Union Animal Hospital you are holding a place on our calendar that is no longer available to another patient.  In order to be respectful of your fellow patients, please contact our office as soon as you know you cannot make a scheduled appointment.
If cancellation or rescheduling is necessary, we require you to call in advance.  Appointments for exams and procedures are in high demand, and your advanced notice will allow another patient access to that appointment time. Missed appointments are a waste of time for everyone and can affect every patient, client and employee that uses and works at Union Animal Hospital.

Late Arrivals

Please remember we are a medical facility and all appointments are asked to arrive 15 minutes prior to their scheduled appointment time to facilitate the check in process. If you are too late and we are not able to get you fully checked in for your scheduled appointment time we may not be able to see you at that time. We will do our best to adjust our schedule to prevent rescheduling your appointment, when possible, by moving you to the walk-in/urgent care service when you arrive or seeing if another veterinarian is available. If you choose not to wait, see another veterinarian or we are unable to see you due to late check in/arrival then your appointment will be subject to the cancellation policy and rescheduled at your discretion. We certainly understand that delays may happen, they happen to us too, but time is valuable and we have an obligation and responsibility to do our very best to service clients and patients who are here for their appointments on time in a timely manner whenever possible.  We strongly encourage all our clients to arrive at least 15 minutes early for scheduled appointments to facilitate the check in process.  

No-Shows

When you schedule an appointment and fail to show or fail to notify us of your inability to keep your appointment, it impacts our ability to service clients who may already be here waiting to see a doctor.  If you fail to show or fail to notify us about your inability in keeping your appointment time on more than two (2) occasions, you may be required to prepay for your appointment time with no refund option. 

Cancellations

If you must cancel an exam/non-procedure appointment, we ask for 24 business hours’ notice.  For dental, surgical or anesthetic procedural appointments, we ask for 48 business hours’ notice.  The following fees will be applied to your account for not calling as required. 

Missed Office Visits – No shows & Late Cancellation Fees:

1st Missed Appointment – Our staff will call to ensure the well being of you and your pet in addition to rescheduling your exam.

2nd Missed Appointment – A $10.00 fee will be applied to your account for canceling an appointment a second time with less than 24 hours’ notice. *Prepayment for the exam may be required to reschedule plus missed appointment fee, both are nonrefundable*

3rd & Subsequent Missed Appointment – The cost of the exam will be applied to your account for canceling an appointment a third time and every subsequent time with less than 24 hours’ notice. You may be subject to termination of your care with our office.

Missed Dental or Surgical Procedures:

*As of 1/1/2022 All Procedures require a nonrefundable booking fee to schedule and this fee may be used to cover cancellation fee*

For a Dental or Surgical procedure – A $50.00 fee will be applied to your account for cancelling any procedure appointment with less than 24 business hours’ notice or no-showing your appointment. You will also be required to prepay for your dental or surgical procedure (based on the mid-range of your estimate) in order to reschedule.  If you fail to show or cancel appropriately a second time, a $100.00 fee will be deducted from your prepaid deposit.

Please Note:

• A missed appointment fee will need to be paid prior to receiving any new services, prescriptions, or food and are subject to late fee, finance charges and statement/handling fees if not paid.
• Missing three (3) consecutive appointments or frequent cancellations/schedule changes may result in the termination of care at our office.
• Cancellations must be confirmed by a staff member within the cancellation windows to avoid fees. Failure to ensure proper communication to our office is solely the responsibility of the client.  Voicemails, texts and emails are not always reliable and may result in delays or failure of appropriate cancellation and applicable fees.   

We thank you in advance for abiding by these policies and helping us keep our clients, staff, and patients on schedule and safe!

Please understand that we have created this policy out of respect for those clients who are waiting to have their pets be seen.

PAYMENT POLICY

Our goal is to serve you and your pet in every way possible. This includes ensuring your medical team provides the level of care that fits within your budget. It’s important that your financial commitment and responsibilities are made clear before treatment begins. In the case of an emergency, your pet will be stabilized before your medical options are presented.

Payment, in full, is required at the time services are rendered. Feel free to ask for an estimate of charges at any time. If your pet is admitted to the hospital, the veterinarian will ask you to leave a deposit typical the high end of any provided and approved estimate. Moreover, the veterinarian and nurse will provide a treatment plan and estimate for these hospitalized patients.

CHANGES TO CONTACT INFORMATION

In order to provide you with the highest level of customer service, such as to receive important notifications regarding your pet’s health (i.e. care reminders), it is vital that you keep our team notified of changes to any of your contact information. This includes email address, mail address, and correct mobile numbers (i.e. text messages for appointment reminders). Please also make sure to provide us with alternate contact information, and that way it guarantees the message will be delivered. 

On-Site PHARMACY

It is our goal to provide you with complete veterinary care in a professional and accessible atmosphere. That is why we offer an onsite pharmacy to fill your pet’s prescription needs. Most of our medications are similar or less expensive than other sources as we strive to keep our prescription prices as low as we can to help ensure that our patients get the vital medications they need. 

Having an on-site pharmacy provides you with a more convenient way to get your pet’s medication. Ensures less errors in medication filling and more timely refill options.  We hope that this will save you time and ultimately enhance your experience with us.

If you have any questions, concerns or comments about your pet's medications please contact us to discuss.

Disclosure - Please be aware on-site veterinary clinic pharmacies are legal pharmacies but regulated by different rules.  On site veterinary clinic pharmacies are not licensed pharmacies with the state of Washington. This means we cannot legally fill prescriptions for other veterinarians that are not working in our clinic without a valid veterinary patient client relationship (VPCR) with you and your pet. Legally to get a prescription medication filled by our office your pet has to have a relationship with one of our veterinarians and we cannot accept a script from a veterinarian that is not working at our office. 

Written Prescription Policy - updated 2022

Beginning in 2022 clients that wish to fill their medications outside our office will have to pick up a written prescription if planning to fill with an outside pharmacy not in partnership with us. In order to help with this we have partnered with myvetstoreonline which powers our online pharmacy and allows for digital authorization of prescription medications. (check out our pharmacy here)  For your convenience most medications are available onsite and are price competitive or cheaper than many other larger online or in store pharmacy retailers. In the event you choose to fill elsewhere or the medication your pet needs is not stocked in our office, a written prescription will be provided. Written prescriptions are available upon request at the time of your appointment but if requested later may take up to 72 business hours to generate and get ready for pick up. Please be aware only your prescribing veterinarian can provide you with a written script and this will be subject to their schedule. Other veterinarians in our practice cannot legal write a script for your pet without having an exam with that veterinarian.  Prescriptions require a legal prescriber signature to be valid and most veterinary clinics do not have the ability to digitally sign prescriptions as there is not a "digital network" linked to veterinary clinics as they have in human medicine, therefore, written prescriptions are necessary when not filling with our online partners or with our onsite pharmacy.  

Warning - Human pharmacies may sell or carry similar medications but they are not trained or certified in animal pharmacology and may inadvertently provide your pet with a formulation that is not going to work due to differences in absorption in animals vs humans. Furthermore, human medications may contain substances that may be safe in humans but harmful in pets. Human pharmacists are not trained in dosing or side effects in animals and alterations to what your veterinarian prescribes are prohibited but, cases have been known to occur without our consultation or consent and this is outside of our control. For these reasons we strive to keep most medications on site that your pet needs and for those we can't we will provide you a written prescription for a human alternative that we know is safe and limit the pharmacists from substituting when possible, which may limit which pharmacy they can be filled at.  Our office assumes no liability for prescription errors made by alternate formulations used by human pharmacies as many human products may contain other ingredients that can be harmful to pets.  We also offer no guarantees on other pharmacy policies, costs or availability of medications we provide a written prescription for.  Any issues with regard to filling of you written prescription must be addressed with the pharmacy you choose to use. 

Faxing Authorizations - our office no longer has a fax machine and prescriptions cannot be faxed.  Some pharmacies will allow for scanned emails of written prescriptions and this can be an alternative for some clients. Not all pharmacies will accept this and this is not legal with all prescriptions thus this may not be possible in all situations and fees may be applied.

Phone authorizations - Our office does not provide phone authorized prescriptions except when working with select compounding pharmacies.  This is for your protection and your pets protection as miscommunications are a major concern for pet medications/dosage and formulations. Prescriptions are safe when written and signed. Phone authorizations are also not legal with some medications. 

OUR ONLINE PHARMACY

OUR ONLINE PHARMACY AND HOME DELIVERY PROGRAM

At Union Animal Hospital, we offer most of the medications available through the hospital for purchase online with the convenience of Home Delivery. This means you can order quality prescription medications, food and health care products, sourced directly from the manufacturer, and have them shipped right to your front door, on time, just when you need it. 

AUTOSHIP - Saves you time and money

AutoShip allows you to schedule regular deliveries of your pet’s medications and food at your convenience with free shipping and autoship discounts. 

HOW TO USE OUR ONLINE PHARMACY:

New users will need to set up a user name, password, and add the pets they wish to purchase medication for. Your pet’s doctor will still need to authorize any prescription, so please allow us time to receive and review your request. This usually takes 1-2 business days. Please keep in mind that by law your pet must be examined by us within the past year for us to prescribe any medication. If it has been over one year please call for an appointment first. If you have any questions, feel free to call the office and we would be happy to help you through the process.

ARE YOU READY TO ORDER? Click Here! 

Use promo code WELCOME15 to get 15% off your first order *only one coupon can be used per customer

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

As of 2-1-2022 our online pharmacy is now powered by myvetstoreonline, a trusted family owned business with decades of experience. That means when you use our online pharmacy you are not only supporting you local community but also supporting another family owned business rather than a large corporate company. The majority of the proceeds from sales on our online pharmacy stay right here in the greater Spokane area and support local families and businesses, what more could we ask for! This is our way of contributing to the shop local mentality to keep supporting our neighbors and community. The best part for you is it is time saving and price matched and in most cases, with convenient options to make getting your medications and items delivered right to you door while still supporting your local community. We changed our partnership when our previous partner was bought out by a large corporate company that does not hold the same values or dedication to our clients and community. Their focus was shifted and no longer in line with our mission. For returning customers you will need to set up a new account but we will get you moving as quickly as we can to digitally authorize your requests, speeding up the process. 

What does that means?

Today, the vast majority of websites selling prescription drugs online are doing so illegally. In fact, The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy® (NABP®), the official registry of the .pharmacy domain, has found that 96% of the nearly 11,500 drug outlets it has reviewed are out of compliance with United States pharmacy laws and practice standards. To address this critical issue, the NABP created the .pharmacy domain to provide consumers with a simple way to determine if an online pharmacy or pharmacy-related website is safe and legitimate.

The pharmacy domain in myvetstoreonline website address means you can rest assured that the prescription drugs we sell are always safe, authentic and sourced directly from the manufacturer.

For more information, visit www.safe.pharmacy

ORDERING FROM AN OUTSIDE ONLINE PHARMACY OR OUTSIDE PROVIDER?  

If you have ever searched online for pet prescription medications, you’ve no doubt seen attention-grabbing claims. They sound convincing in their promises of convenience and lower prices. Internet sites that sell pet drugs can be reputable pharmacies. However, others are fronts for businesses breaking Federal, State and sometimes International laws. When choosing an online pharmacy there are many things to consider to protect your pet and ensure the medication received is aligned with medical standards.

Some common challenges to purchasing medication online include:

• medications that are counterfeit
• outdated or mislabeled medication
• incorrectly formulated or improperly stored
• may not contain actual active ingredients
• may contain contaminants or the incorrect amount of the active ingredient
• may be compromised due to being stored in conditions that are too hot, cold, or humid
• may not have the proper directions for administration
• does not have staff trained in animal prescription medications, side effects or dosages

Because of the risk associated with purchasing from online pharmacies, Union Animal Hospital will no longer fax prescriptions to outside online pharmacies, nor approve a prescription request over the phone as of January 1st 2019. If you choose to buy from an online pharmacy, we will be happy to provide you with a written prescription at not cost, and ask that you come pick it up.  It may take up to 3 business days to get a written script approved by our veterinarian outside of your exam appointment. This is because our veterinarians are not in the office every day and are often scheduled to see appointments throughout the day along with procedures and reviewing patient test results and calling clients back. Prescriptions require the veterinary to review your record before they can authorize and this takes time to ensure everything is in order for your pet. Additionally, only the veterinarian in charge of your pet's care can  sign prescriptions.  Please request one at your exam for a more convenient and timely prescription.  Once you get this written prescription you will be able to send it to them directly. We simply want the best for your pet, and with the rebates, we feel we are able to provide quality medications for you in a more cost effective way than purchasing from online pharmacies.

We appreciate your understanding, and thank you for entrusting us with the care of your furry loved ones!

The Staff of Union Animal Hospital