Consultation and Treatment
New Patients
After reading through the pages on
this website you may be
interested in an evaluation, or in becoming an ongoing patient, at our
clinic.
The first step is making sure that you
know our clinic is the best
fit for you and your family. We have tried in these pages to give you a
fair amount of information about what we do. Additional
information can be found in the Overview
section.
Our initial consultation is very
comprehensive. It involves filling
out a questionnaire that is 30+ pages, and then coming in for a 2-hour
Clinical Evaluation and then, for most patients, a 2-hour Psychiatric
Evaluation. For most people who come to see us, this thoroughness is a
relief. However, it is probably not for you if you are in an urgent
need for immediate changes in treatment. We are not a
"medication-only"
clinic, and will not prescribe medication until after
a patient has undergone our Clinical and Psychiatric Evaluations. It is
probably also not for you if you are pretty satisfied with previous
evaluations and are looking for "med
checks" and/or infrequent
counseling sessions. We strongly believe that regular therapy
appointments, oftentimes in conjunction with monthly medication
appointments, is the most effective combination for providing symptom
relief, growth and change, and stabilization.
You also need to be comfortable with
the financial aspects
of receiving treatment at our clinic. We rarely accept insurance
assignment (via Single Case Agreements only), and we are not part of
any managed care plans. This means that you need to pay at the time of
session. Most of our patients do so with an automatic payment
plan using their Visa or MasterCard, although we also accept cash or
checks. You will receive a detailed listing of all office
fees
and cancellation policies with your requested questionnaire packet.
Many of our patients do receive
reimbursement from their insurance
company for the care we provide, but this varies from insurance plan to
insurance plan. You must speak with our Billing Office to
determine if your insurance company provides reimbursement, and we are
happy to direct you on how to ask your insurance representative for
your coverage details. The billing office can be reached at
925-648-2650.
An initial consultation consists of
two 2-hour evaluations with us
and is a comprehensive assessment. Almost all of our new patients tell
us that this consultation is the most thorough assessment that they
have had. You should be prepared to pay $400 to $700 for the visits,
respectively.
What is the Next Step?
The next step is to contact our main
office at 925-648-4800 and
speak with one of our staff, who will gather your information to send
you the questionnaire packet and answer any additional questions you
may have. By reviewing our administrative information on this
page, we hope to provide our patients with the peace of mind that comes
with understanding the intake process for the most comprehensive and
compassionate care.
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