Contracts
Alignment Audit: Existing service agreements and retainer contracts must be cross-referenced against the new public fee schedule.
- Consistency Clause: Ensure that the fees listed in your contracts match the public website exactly. Discrepancies create immediate grounds for contract disputes.
- Variable Cost Disclaimers: Contracts must explicitly define which costs are pass-throughs (e.g., medical expenses, third-party legal fees) to prevent families from interpreting the website's itemized list as a guaranteed "all-inclusive" cap.
Hiring/Training
Intake Protocols: Admissions and intake staff must be retrained immediately. They cannot verbally offer "sliding scales" or estimates that contradict the published website rates without documenting the deviation explicitly. Verbal representations that differ from the website create liability.
Reporting & Record-Keeping
Digital Archiving: You must implement a protocol to archive your website's fee page.
- Snapshot Requirement: Every time fees change, save a dated PDF or screenshot of the website. If a family sues two years from now claiming they relied on a specific price, you must be able to produce the fee schedule as it appeared on the date of their inquiry.
Fees & Costs
Web Development: Budget immediately for IT vendors to build a conspicuous "Adoption Costs" landing page.
Legal Review: Allocate funds for legal counsel to review the nomenclature of your fees to ensure they are not misleading under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA).
