If you have never visited a psychiatrist’s office or attended counseling, you may not know what to expect. Even before your first visit, we are here to help you at every step along the way.
STEP
1
Initial Call and Insurance Verification
When you first call us, we’ll ask for some key information to get started, including information about your insurance.
Next, we’ll ask that you contact your insurance company to clarify how much you may have to pay out of pocket for your appointment. We will also verify active coverage with your insurance company. By seeking this information up-front, we can help you avoid surprise bills later on. If you’re paying the fees yourself, we’ll skip this step.
STEP
2
Review of Practice Policies
Once we have spoken with your insurance company, we’ll call you back to discuss your coverage. If you’re ready to move forward, we’ll email you a document about our clinic’s policies and procedures.
To ensure a smooth process, It’s essential that you understand how we schedule, conduct, and bill your sessions. Thus, we’ll ask for your electronic signature so that we know that you have read the document and agreed to the terms.
STEP
3
Scheduling Your Appointment
Once you’ve reviewed and signed our practice policies, you’re ready to schedule your first appointment at Eappen Clinic by phone. We’ll take a credit card number to keep on file, and then we’ll work with you to find an available timeslot.
STEP
4
The Initial Appointment
Your first appointment will either be a comprehensive 40-minute evaluation with Dr. Eappen, or a comprehensive 60 minute evaluation with one of our nurse practitioners. If the latter, your second session will be scheduled with Dr. Eappen. At the end of your first evaluation, you’ll leave knowing the next steps, including whether we recommend medication, psychotherapy (also known a talk therapy), lifestyle changes, or a combination of these approaches.
STEP
5
Follow-up Sessions
If you choose to continue working with us, you will typically have a follow-up session scheduled within one week of your initial appointment. Follow-up sessions are 20 minutes with Dr. Eappen, and 30 minutes with our nurse practitioners. The frequency of these sessions varies based on the severity and complexity of your condition, and can range from twice a week, to once every three months. The time interval between sessions will continue to expand further as you get better. A typical scenario for a new patient who is starting treatment for the first time, and is responding well to treatment, would be a 1-week interval between the first and second session, two week intervals between sessions 2 through 4, three week intervals between sessions 5 through 7, and so on.
