Policies
Emergency Contact
If you have an emergency that cannot wait until the next business day, you can reach me by calling my emergency pager at 703-213-1237
Please enter your number and the pound sign and then hang up. Please also leave me an email at [email protected] with the reason for your page.
If I have not responded within 5 minutes, please page me again. If you cannot wait for my reply, please go to your nearest hospital emergency room and have them page me.
COVID-19 Notice
At this time I am not doing any in-person appointments. I am using a telemedicine application through my Patient Portal to provide a secure method for continuing our medical and psychotherapeutic work together.
It is my hope that we will soon be able to return to in-person meetings.
Insurance
Tricare Insurance
While I am a Tricare Approved Provider (from the CHAMPUS days), I am not a Tricare Participating Provider. You will have to submit my receipts yourself for reimbursement, but you should receive some coverage form Tricare for my services.
Insurance (Other than Tricare)
I do not participate in Medicare, Medicaid, or any insurance company panels. My fees are covered as either an "Out of Network" or "Non-participating" provider. Insurance companies vary widely in how they handle my fees. Some pay little or none of my fees, while others cover my charges to some extent. Please check with your individual insurance company about their policies before scheduling. If you need to use your insurance coverage, the best way to access that is through your insurance company website.
Fees
My fees for services as of January 1, 2021, are as follows:
Initial Diagnostic Evaluation (60 minutes, first session) $440
45-minute appointment for psychotherapy, medication management, or family therapy $275
30-minute appointment for medication management $225
15-minute medication appointment $120 (rarely used)
Video Sessions
Please be sure ahead of time that you have a private place to talk without interruptions from people or pets. It is your responsibility to assure that you have good Wifi, cell phone or internet access. It is disruptive to your care to have sessions interrupted by a poor connection. Please double-check that your device is charged, or have a charger available for our session.
The same fees are charged for in-person or video sessions.
Payment For Services
Please let me know if this presents a problem for you.
Late Cancellation Fees and Missed Appointment Charges
If you cancel an appointment less than 24 hours ahead of time, and it is not because of a medical emergency, you will be charged the full fee. The same is true for missed appointments without any notice. Your insurance company will not pay for these charges.
This is the subject of a lot of questions, and I think it is useful to think of this as a time rental model. Once you schedule your appointment, I have set aside that time for you alone. If you do not use that time, it has still been set aside for you, and other patients have been told they cannot be seen because that time is not available.
Conflicts like business meetings, sports practices and games, homework, and religious school commitments may conflict with your scheduled time. As long as you give me enough notice, I can usually reschedule most appointments within the same week.
If the time can be filled by another patient, then there will not be any fee charged. I and my staff are very good at filling late cancellations, so even if you have to cancel less than 24 hours ahead of time, please email me ( [email protected]) and my secretary ( [email protected]) and we will do everything we can to fill the time and prevent a fee.
Prescription Refills
Please ask me for all refills at the time of your appointment. If refill requests outside of appointment times occur regularly, a charge of $25 will be assessed for the time to process the refills.
Please know that prescriptions will NOT be filled without a scheduled appointment in place for follow up.
While many insurance companies ask that you have 90-day refills, I am not comfortable doing this until the medication has been shown to be both effective and safe for you or your family member. If there is any risk of self-harm, I may limit the amount of medication prescribed at any one time as well. This may not agree with your insurance company’s policy.