If You are a New Patient – Welcome!
Thank you for choosing to enter treatment. This is an opportunity to acquaint you
with information relevant to treatment, confidentiality and office practices.
Beginning work on psychological issues is a major step in taking control of your
future.
The major aim of psychological treatment is to help you identify and cope more
effectively with problems in daily living and to deal with inner conflicts which
may disrupt your ability to function effectively. This purpose is accomplished by
- Increasing personal awareness
- Increasing personal responsibility and acceptance to make changes
necessary to attain your goals - Identifying personal treatment goals
- Promoting wholeness through psychiatric treatment and/or psychological
and spiritual healing and growth.
You are responsible for providing necessary information to facilitate effective
treatment. You are expected to play an active role in your treatment, including
working with your therapist to outline your treatment goals and assess your
progress.
Office Appointments:
Appointments are generally scheduled for 50 minutes. The practice’s hours are
weekdays until 6:30 p.m. Late day times are in great demand and may not be
available without a delay. Patients are generally seen weekly or more/less
frequently as treatment dictates.
You may discontinue treatment at any time, but please discuss these decisions
with your therapist. In the event of an emergency, your therapist may be
reached at 518-482-0167. If you are unable to reach your therapist, you should
call your primary care physician or the emergency number 911.
You will be billed for sessions that you cancel with less than 24 hours notice.
These charges are not reimbursed by insurance. When an appointment is
cancelled, the patient’s name is moved to the bottom of the appointment wait
list, so that another appointment may not be scheduled immediately. Frequent
cancellations suggest conflicted feelings about therapy and should be discussed
in session.
Confidentiality
Issues discussed in therapy are important and are generally legally protected as
both confidential and privileged. However, there are limits to the privilege of
confidentiality. These situations include:
Suspected abuse or neglect of a child, elderly person or a disabled person;
When your therapist believes you are in danger of harming yourself or
another person or you are unable to care for yourself;
If you report that you plan to physically injure someone, the law requires
your therapist to inform that person as well as the legal authorities;
If your therapist is ordered by a court to release information as part of
litigation;
When your insurance company is involved, e.g., in filing a claim,
insurance audits, case review or appeals, etc.;
In natural disasters whereby protected records may become exposed;
When otherwise required by law.
Privacy:
Notice of Psychologists’ Policies and Practices to Protect the Privacy of Your Health
Information
This notice describes how psychological and medical information about you may
be used and disclosed for the purposes of treatment, payment and health care.
Please review it carefully.
I use or disclose protected health information only with your consent through a
treatment authorization form. Because this is a solo practice, information is
generally not transmitted through electronic means, and insurance claims are
most often submitted in paper form. Because the Health Insurance Portability
and Accountability Act requires scalable compliance, which is conformity with
reasonable requirements, these procedures may not be identical to those of
larger health care providers.
Disclosure of health information may be required is there is a possibility of
harm to you or another, under a court order or court ordered treatment, as part
of a worker’s compensation claim, as part of a mandated report of suspected
child abuse or neglect, or if a government requests information as part of health
oversight activities. If you have questions, you should consult an attorney for
specific information about these matters.
Patients under 18 years of age who are not emancipated from parents are
treated as minors, and parents have access to their treatment information.
Insurance reimbursement generally requires release of information regarding
sessions and diagnosis, treatment plans and summaries, although we try to
release only the minimum required. Your signature on the insurance claim
form indicates your permission to supply requested information. I may contact
your primary physician if we first agree that this is useful.
You may revoke your release at any time, but information released under
authorization cannot be retracted once released. If the authorization was
obtained as a condition of obtaining insurance coverage and the law provides the
insurer the right to contest the claim under the policy, it cannot be retracted.
We will discuss these procedures at the beginning of treatment or whenever you
have questions or concerns. If a release of information is requested, your
signature on the Release of Confidential Information indicates that you have
read and understood this notice.
The Cost of Psychological Treatment:
The fees for psychological treatment are different than those of medical
treatment, as they involve the full attention of one professional for 50 minutes,
as well as planning and consult time outside the session.
Many independent insurers cover a portion of treatment or they may offer
coverage for 10 sessions per year. Others require large deductibles or large
copayments. It can be confusing to identify which company is actually providing
mental health coverage, as plans change, often on a yearly basis. This may also
involve changes in your coverage and in reimbursement policies and practices.
It is important to contact your insurer directly to ascertain your exact coverage.
When you choose to use a health care provider outside your insurance coverage,
it is important to call your insurer to determine the actual cost to you of any
and all charges. You need to call at the start of any treatment, since coverage
can change yearly.
My fees are $150 per session for individual psychotherapy and $175 for couples
therapy. If you choose to seek reimbursement from health insurance, you
should check if your plan allows for out-of-network benefits, which means that
you would pay me directly and then get reimbursed (usually between 50-80% of
my fee) by your insurance plan.
When insurance coverage and personal finances make it impossible to cover the
cost of treatment, it is important to discuss the issue with a therapist and
consider alternative means of treatment. Sometimes the best option is to
transfer to sliding scale services available through community services. An
additional alternative is to settle accounts using a major credit card (Master
Card, Visa, American Express).
We anticipate a change in access to psychological services under the new federal
health care reform regulations. Currently, federal law requiring parity between
medical health and mental health insurance coverage will increase the number
of people having mental health coverage by a large proportion, up to fifty
percent in some states. With no increase in the number of mental health
service providers foreseen, this may lead to increased pressure for treatment.
Payment
Payment is due at the time of the session unless other arrangements are made.
If charges are billed to a patient, they must be paid upon receipt, as our office
cannot carry balances due past thirty days. Our office files insurance claims as a
courtesy to patients, but charges must be paid at the time they are incurred.
Patients need to become familiar with the requirements and benefits of their
policies, as they are responsible for deductibles, copayments and co-insurance.
If treatment costs are a problem at the beginning of treatment, we are happy to
recommend other services which use a sliding scale for setting fees.
Telephone and electronic messages:
Emails are generally returned by the close of the business day, but telephone
messages may not be answered quickly. For this reason, we recommend that all
contact be made through email at drlaurenayers@gmail.com
Due to confidentiality requirements, returned calls may not include messages
on home answering machines or other devices. Messages sent by email may be
subject to hacking or viruses.
Office Policies & Practices
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