Insurance Coverage
I am a preferred provider (“in-network”) for the following insurance carriers:
- Blue Cross Blue Shield
- Premera
- Lifewise
- Regence
- Bridgespan
- Health Care Management Administrators (HMA)
- First Choice
- Cigna
For these plans, I will bill them directly for your visits, and you will only be responsible for co-payments and deductible amounts. I will provide you with monthly statement for co-payments and deductibles.
For other insurance carriers, I am considered "out-of-network." In this situation, you would pay for the fee at the time of service and then seek reimbursement for services from your insurance carrier. I can provide you with an invoice which can be submitted for this purpose. Please be aware that most insurance plans only provide partial reimbursement for out-of-network services. Some plans will not cover out-of-network services until a very high deductible has been met, or will significantly limit the quantity and type of reimbursable services
Either way, please contact your insurance company to confirm the coverage and to understand your out-of-pocket financial responsibility. Here are some good questions to ask: What are my in-network or out-of-network outpatient mental health benefits? Do I have a co-pay or a co-insurance? How much is my deductible?
I am not a Medicare, Medicaid, or Apple Health provider.
Payment and Fees
Payment of your deductible or copay or full payment is due in full at the end of the first visit, and then monthly thereafter. I accept cash, check and credit cards. I do have a limited number of sliding scale fee slots if you are an undergraduate or graduate student, and do not have one of the above insurance plans.
Cancellations
Your appointment time is reserved exclusively for you, so please provide me with as much notice as possible should you need to cancel or change an appointment, at least 24 business hours (with the exceptions of being sick or in emergency). Full fees will be charged for missed appointments and cancellations with less than 24 business hours notice. Please note that insurance plans do not cover fees for missed appointments or late cancellations.
Confidentiality
I take patients' confidentiality seriously and try my best to protect it beyond what is required by state and federal law and by the ethics code of the medical profession. I will not release information about you or your treatment without your written permission. However, under the following circumstances, the law authorizes and/or requires disclosure of protected health information
- suspected abuse of a child, developmentally disabled person, elder or other dependent adult
- imminent or planned harm to yourself or others
- Required by a court of law (see HIPAA disclosure document).
- If you choose to use your insurance for our visits, it will be required to disclose information regarding your diagnosis and treatment plan to the insurance company.
I may also ask your permission to allow contact with your primary care physician or others whose care may interact critically with our work. It is of course your choice whether to permit such contact or not.
If you are interested in learning more about your legal rights to privacy in the healthcare system, please visit: www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa.
Communications
E-mail can be used for scheduling but I recommend patients to communicate about most other matters by leaving a message on my office voice mail (206-906-9013). If e-mail is used for a clinical matter, please keep in mind that my email is not encrypted and even with reasonable security measures, it cannot be guaranteed as entirely private and confidential. Emails about clinical matters will be included as part of your medical record. Please refer to the email policy for more details.
Due to my work schedule, I am often not immediately available by telephone. When I am unavailable, my telephone is answered by voice mail that I monitor frequently. I will make every effort to return your call on the same day you make it, with the exception of late evening, weekends and holidays.
If there is a life threatening emergency or you are unable to wait for my return call, please call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room. You may also call the King County Crisis Line at (206) 461-3222. When I am out of town, another psychiatrist may be covering for me. In this event, my voicemail will provide instructions for contacting the covering psychiatrist.
Non-Therapeutic Services
Unless we explicitly agree otherwise at the beginning of the treatment, I do not provide evaluations nor complete paperwork for legal purposes, for disability or for work-related claims. If we work together, I will not agree to talk with lawyers, guardians-ad-litem, or other parties not directly involved in your treatment. I generally feel these services interfere with the therapeutic relationship and should be contracted separately.
You can find the more detailed information regarding my policies here.
I am a preferred provider (“in-network”) for the following insurance carriers:
- Blue Cross Blue Shield
- Premera
- Lifewise
- Regence
- Bridgespan
- Health Care Management Administrators (HMA)
- First Choice
- Cigna
For these plans, I will bill them directly for your visits, and you will only be responsible for co-payments and deductible amounts. I will provide you with monthly statement for co-payments and deductibles.
For other insurance carriers, I am considered "out-of-network." In this situation, you would pay for the fee at the time of service and then seek reimbursement for services from your insurance carrier. I can provide you with an invoice which can be submitted for this purpose. Please be aware that most insurance plans only provide partial reimbursement for out-of-network services. Some plans will not cover out-of-network services until a very high deductible has been met, or will significantly limit the quantity and type of reimbursable services
Either way, please contact your insurance company to confirm the coverage and to understand your out-of-pocket financial responsibility. Here are some good questions to ask: What are my in-network or out-of-network outpatient mental health benefits? Do I have a co-pay or a co-insurance? How much is my deductible?
I am not a Medicare, Medicaid, or Apple Health provider.
Payment and Fees
Payment of your deductible or copay or full payment is due in full at the end of the first visit, and then monthly thereafter. I accept cash, check and credit cards. I do have a limited number of sliding scale fee slots if you are an undergraduate or graduate student, and do not have one of the above insurance plans.
Cancellations
Your appointment time is reserved exclusively for you, so please provide me with as much notice as possible should you need to cancel or change an appointment, at least 24 business hours (with the exceptions of being sick or in emergency). Full fees will be charged for missed appointments and cancellations with less than 24 business hours notice. Please note that insurance plans do not cover fees for missed appointments or late cancellations.
Confidentiality
I take patients' confidentiality seriously and try my best to protect it beyond what is required by state and federal law and by the ethics code of the medical profession. I will not release information about you or your treatment without your written permission. However, under the following circumstances, the law authorizes and/or requires disclosure of protected health information
- suspected abuse of a child, developmentally disabled person, elder or other dependent adult
- imminent or planned harm to yourself or others
- Required by a court of law (see HIPAA disclosure document).
- If you choose to use your insurance for our visits, it will be required to disclose information regarding your diagnosis and treatment plan to the insurance company.
I may also ask your permission to allow contact with your primary care physician or others whose care may interact critically with our work. It is of course your choice whether to permit such contact or not.
If you are interested in learning more about your legal rights to privacy in the healthcare system, please visit: www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa.
Communications
E-mail can be used for scheduling but I recommend patients to communicate about most other matters by leaving a message on my office voice mail (206-906-9013). If e-mail is used for a clinical matter, please keep in mind that my email is not encrypted and even with reasonable security measures, it cannot be guaranteed as entirely private and confidential. Emails about clinical matters will be included as part of your medical record. Please refer to the email policy for more details.
Due to my work schedule, I am often not immediately available by telephone. When I am unavailable, my telephone is answered by voice mail that I monitor frequently. I will make every effort to return your call on the same day you make it, with the exception of late evening, weekends and holidays.
If there is a life threatening emergency or you are unable to wait for my return call, please call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room. You may also call the King County Crisis Line at (206) 461-3222. When I am out of town, another psychiatrist may be covering for me. In this event, my voicemail will provide instructions for contacting the covering psychiatrist.
Non-Therapeutic Services
Unless we explicitly agree otherwise at the beginning of the treatment, I do not provide evaluations nor complete paperwork for legal purposes, for disability or for work-related claims. If we work together, I will not agree to talk with lawyers, guardians-ad-litem, or other parties not directly involved in your treatment. I generally feel these services interfere with the therapeutic relationship and should be contracted separately.
You can find the more detailed information regarding my policies here.