Summit SurgicalGeneral Surgery Associates — Calgary, AB
For patients

Patient policies

Clear, fair policies that help us provide timely surgical care for every patient we serve. Effective April 2026.

Cancelling 24 hours' notice Call 587-392-0370 at least 24 hours before your appointment. After-hours voicemail is time-stamped and honoured.
No-show fee $150 From the second missed appointment or late cancellation. Your first is waived as a one-time courtesy.
Payment Cash or e-transfer No credit cards. Uninsured services and no-show fees are not covered by Alberta Health.
AI scribe HEIDI We use HEIDI, an AI medical scribe, during consultations. You can decline at any time with no effect on your care.
Download the Patient Policy Form (PDF) Please sign and bring it to your first appointment, or complete it at the front desk.
1

Purpose

Summit Surgical is committed to providing timely, high-quality surgical care to every patient. When a patient does not arrive for a scheduled appointment without adequate advance notice, another patient is prevented from receiving care and clinical time is wasted.

This policy is designed to be fair, transparent, and consistently applied across all patients in our practice.

2

Definitions

No-Show — A patient who fails to attend a scheduled appointment without notifying the office at least 24 hours in advance.
Late Cancellation — A cancellation made less than 24 hours before a scheduled appointment. Treated the same as a no-show under this policy.
Excused Absence — A no-show resulting from a documented medical emergency, hospitalization, or other extenuating circumstance, at the discretion of the practice.
3

No-show fee

$150No-show / late cancellation fee — applied from the second missed appointment onward. Not billable to insurance — patient responsibility only.
First offense — courtesy waiver. The first no-show or late cancellation will be waived as a one-time courtesy. You will be notified of this policy and reminded that future no-shows will result in the $150.00 fee. This waiver applies once per patient regardless of time elapsed between occurrences.
Second and subsequent offenses. Beginning with the second no-show or late cancellation, a fee of $150.00 will be charged. This fee is not billable to insurance and must be paid prior to or at the time of rescheduling.
Repeated no-shows. Patients who accumulate three or more no-shows within a 12-month period may be discharged from the practice or required to prepay a deposit for future appointments. Written notice will be provided before this action is taken.
4

How to cancel or reschedule

To avoid a no-show fee, please notify our office at least 24 hours before your appointment: call 587-392-0370. After-hours voicemail messages are time-stamped — messages received before the 24-hour window will be honoured. You may also cancel or reschedule through the patient portal.

5

Payment of fees

  • No-show fees and uninsured services such as medical forms are not covered by Alberta Health and are charged directly to the patient.
  • We do not accept credit cards. Payment is accepted by cash or e-transfer only.
  • Outstanding no-show fees must be settled before a new appointment can be scheduled.
6

Exceptions

We understand that true emergencies occur. The following circumstances may qualify for a fee waiver upon review:

  • Medical emergency or unexpected hospitalization of the patient or an immediate family member.
  • Death of an immediate family member.
  • Severe weather or natural disaster directly preventing travel.
  • Other extenuating circumstances at the sole discretion of the practice administrator.

Requests for exception must be submitted within 7 days of the missed appointment and may require supporting documentation (e.g., hospital discharge paperwork).

7

Patient acknowledgment

A signed acknowledgment form is required at your first visit. By signing, you confirm that you have received, read, and understood this no-show & cancellation policy. Please print the form and bring it to your first appointment, or complete it at the front desk on arrival.

Download the Patient Policy Form (PDF)
8

AI medical scribe — patient consent

What is HEIDI? Summit Surgical uses HEIDI, an AI-powered medical scribe, during clinical consultations. HEIDI listens to the spoken conversation between you and your surgeon and automatically generates a structured clinical note for your medical record. Its purpose is to reduce documentation burden so your surgeon can focus on you during the appointment.

What is recorded and how is it used?
  • The audio of your consultation is temporarily processed by HEIDI's secure servers to generate a clinical note.
  • The resulting note is reviewed and approved by your surgeon before being saved to your medical record.
  • Audio recordings are not permanently retained by HEIDI after the note is generated.
  • Your health information is never used to train AI models or shared with third parties for commercial purposes.

Privacy and compliance. The use of HEIDI at Summit Surgical complies with Alberta's Health Information Act (HIA) and applicable federal privacy legislation. HEIDI operates under a data processing agreement that requires it to handle your health information solely for the purpose of generating clinical documentation on behalf of your surgeon.

Your right to decline. Participation is voluntary. If you do not wish to have HEIDI active during your consultation, please inform your surgeon or the front desk before your appointment begins. Declining will have no effect on the care you receive. Your surgeon will document the visit using standard methods.

A HEIDI consent form is included in the Patient Policy Form above. Please complete it at the front desk or bring a signed copy to your appointment.

For patients

Forms & uninsured services

Completing work and insurance forms is not covered by the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan. Fees reflect the surgeon's time and are based on Alberta Medical Association guidelines.

Service Fee
Work or absence note Note of fitness or illness for your employer
$75
Return-to-work or modified duty form Includes functional abilities forms
$75–$125
Disability benefit form Short- or long-term disability, completed from your chart
$75–$150
Attending physician statement Detailed insurer statement
$200–$425
Letters requested by a third party Employer, insurer or lawyer letters about your care
$275–$550
WCB forms Billed directly to the Workers' Compensation Board
No charge to you
Good to know Our office will confirm the fee before any form is completed. Payment is due when the completed form is released. We do not bill employers directly. If your employer requested the form, you can ask them to reimburse you for the fee.

Website privacy

This website does not use forms, accounts or tracking cookies, and does not collect personal health information. The “Patient questions” assistant runs entirely in your web browser: nothing you type is stored, recorded or sent to Summit Surgical or anyone else. Please do not enter personal health information into it. To discuss your care, call our office at 587-392-0370.