You will be asked to pay for the visit with a credit card at the time of establishing an appointment.
Your first visit with us, is in someways similar to seeing both a primary care physician and a therapist for the first time. It is a consultation visit. We will spend between 60 to 90 minutes together, review your or your child’s current symptoms, go through any school or testing reports, and review many different areas/aspects of your or your child’s life and history. This information will help us to better understand your personal experience and guide us to an individualized treatement plan to fit your or your child’s needs. Our conversation will also include specific questions about symptoms and diagnoses. Towards the end of our visit, we will share our initial thoughts/clinical assessment with you, and provide education about your symptoms and related treatment options. We will discuss the potential risks and benefits of each treatment option. Part of the initial consultation will be for you and the psychiatrist to decide if we are the “right fit” to be your or your child’s psychiatrist. If you and the psychiatrist agree upon a treatment plan for you or your child, at that time medication treatment and/or individual therapy will be initiated, then technically we will be your psychiatrist at that time.
Connecticut Psychiatric Partners , P.C. does not work with health insurance companies. We will provide you with invoice at the end of our visit, which you need to submit to your insurance company, for reimbursement of out-of-network services.
Yes, we are accepting new patients. We strive to see patients within 3 to 7 days of the first call.
The answer is yes, for the initial consultation only. Some mental health symptoms can be caused by or worsened by medical conditions. Blood tests are needed for most patients in the begining of treatment, for example to make sure that you don’t have a thyroid gland problem or anemia or an infection. Some of the medications we prescribe are controlled substances and will require urine drug screening. If you decide to include medications in your treatment plan, you will need to get a primary care provider.
Regrettably, no. At times, we return calls from our mobile phone, which your Caller ID would not recognize. Thus, if you need to speak with us, please either give us an unblocked number to call, or disable your Caller-ID block.
The answer is sometimes yes and sometimes no. In some cases we might not agree with certain medication choices, or we don’t prescribe certain medications for clinical reasons. Until we decide to be your psychiatrist, or to be your new psychiatrist, if you are switching care, you will need to get your medication/s from your existing mental health prescriber. You can also ask your primary care provider if they might be able to provide you with your mental health medications until you can get established with a new psychiatrist.
To compensate for lower rates of reimbursement from many insurance companies, some in-network psychiatrists will see more patients per hour. When comparing your options, find out how long your initial and follow-up appointments will be, and how much actual time you will have with the psychiatrist during your visits. Actual time with us during your appointments is as follows (and has a range which depends on complexity and how many questions you have during your appointment): 1st appointment from 60-90 minutes, 2nd appointment from 30 -45 minutes, stabilizing and maintainance appointments are usually 20-30 minutes.