Appointment Policies
Our appointments are a commitment to our working together in resolving the concerns that you have brought to therapy. We agree to meet regularly (or in some cases, as needed) and commit to being on time. The reality of living in a dense urban environment is one that we have to contend with, and fortunately modern technology affords us the ability to be aware of traffic issues from devices we tend to carry in our pockets, and still there are times where fate will interfere.
If you are late, we will probably be unable to meet for the full time, as likely there will be another appointment after yours, if that is the case we will try and make the most of our time. In the event that your therapist does not have another appointment, they will determine if the full duration session can be held.
If your therapist is ever unable to start on time, we ask your pardon, and assure you that the delay was unforeseen. We also promise you that you will receive the full time agreed to that day if possible. If it is not possible, the missed time added to your next appointment, or the session fee will be adjusted for the missed time.
Regular Appointment Scheduling
Following the intake, we will usually meet for sessions scheduled at regular intervals, while I am happy to be flexible, I have found that therapy is more effective when it occurs at a regular day & time and day each week. Depending on our discussion in the initial consultation, the frequency and length of your regular sessions may be adjusted, the lengths of normal sessions are:
- 40-45 minutes for brief sessions (Required by some insurance companies)
- 55-60 minutes (the standard hour, for individual clients)
- Greater then 60 minutes for extended individual sessions, Crisis, Family or Relationships (The exact length will be discussed in our initial appointment)
- Other session duration may be chosen with your therapist, or for group therapy
Canceled and Missed Appointments
The scheduled time for your appointment is set-aside for you, in the event that we cannot meet it is unlikely that I can make the time available to another with less then a weeks notice, so I ask you to notify me of planned cancellations as early as possible so that I may provide that time to someone else. If cancellations with less than a weeks notice become frequent we reserve the right to charge a rescheduling fee, clients will be made aware prior to the fee being assessed.
If you are unable to attend a session for unplanned reasons, please inform me at least two business days in advance. If you miss a session without canceling, or if you cancel with less than two business days notice, I will have to bill you for full session fee, clients paying with insurance please understand that your insurance provider will not pay for a missed session, and you will be billed the full standard rate.
When necessary, cancellations should be made by phone, and may be made by leaving a voice mail optionally you can send a message through email or SMS.
Canceled and Missed Appointments:
Cancelation with Advance Notice: If you know you will be going out of town, on vacation, or have a business trip coming please give me as much advance notice as you can. The scheduled time for your appointment is set-aside for you, if we cannot meet it is unlikely that I can make that time available to another with less than 7 days’ notice. So, I ask you to notify me of planned cancellations as early as possible so that I may provide that time to someone else.
You can give me advanced notice cancellations at the beginning or end of a session, by Email, Phone or Voice Mail, or Using SMS/Text Message. Please confirm with me that your message has been received if you do not get a reply from me by the next business day (M-F)
Cancelation with Short Notice: While it is unlikely that I will be able to replace the appointment on short notice, I also know that we cannot always know things in advance: Bereavement, Family Care, Car Problems, Health issues or other concerns that are pressing. I try to accept that ‘Life Happens’ and I appreciate that sometimes we just don’t know what today might hand us for tomorrow. I do not charge for short notice cancelations if I have been notified of more than 36-48 hours (two days) before the scheduled session once per quarter (every 3 months) and un-used ones will carry over into the next quarter.
I ask you to notify me of short notice cancelations by Phone or Through SMS/TextMessage. Please confirm with me that your message has been received if you do not receive a reply by the end of the day (T-F)
If cancellations with less than a week’s notice become frequent, we reserve the right to charge a rescheduling fee, clients will be made aware prior to the fee being assessed. if you cancel with less than two days’ notice, I will usually have to bill you for full session fee
No Notice Cancelation’s – Same Day Cancelations – Sickness or accident: If you miss a session without canceling or contacting me the appointment you will be billed at the full standard rate, The exception to this is illness or injury-accidents. .
If you are sick please let me know as soon as you are able, I prefer that you not come into the office, and I encourage you to take care of yourself if you don’t have the energy for a telehealth session.
If you have an accident/injury, please let me know as soon as you are able – I don’t want you to be dealing with an incident and worrying about contacting me – Shoot me a text so I know it happened. I reserve the right to see the accident/incident report.
Clients paying private pay please understand that you are responsible for paying for the missed session. If you are paying with insurance, please understand that your health insurance provider will not pay for a missed session, and you will be billed the Full standard rate for the missed appointment. The Income Sensitive rate for your sessions via OpenPath is what you will pay for a missed session. In some cases, your Insurance Companies Negotiated rate (including copay) with Indigo Mental Health will be charged as part of their contracting agreements.
heduling desk. Emailed cancellation may be accepted, however email is generally only checked on business days, and should never be relied on for time sensitive requests.
Appointment Reminders.
Clients will normally receive a reminder of upcoming appointments via email and/or text message 1-2 day prior to any scheduled appointment, once you have been added to our Electronic Health Records System. You may opt out of these notifications on TheraPortal.
Appointment Packages.
Appointment packages are available in bi-weekly or weekly packages, providing 2 or 4 sessions per-purchased at a savings up to 25% off for clients seeking services who are; not covered under insurance that we accept, do not qualify for our sliding scale options, or who chose to exercise the clients right to request no records as provided under WAC 246-810-035(2).
Current Rates and Fees.
Download Our Current Rates
These are our standard rates and fees for clients not using insurance, and some items that are not covered by all insurance providers.
Materials
Some therapeutic techniques may involve work books, tests, measurements, manuals or other materials. We will always discuss these materials prior to their integration into your therapy, materials provided by the therapist that are not handouts printed in the office will be billed separately from your session fees, and are not always covered by insurance.
Billing Policy
Most clients elect to pay for services using a credit or debit card, Indigo Mental Health partners with an industry leading practice management and payment servicing company that offers a secure ‘card on file’ system that allows me to accept electronic direct billing for clients with credit/debit/FSA and HSA cards. Having a card on file allows us more time in your session to focus on you. I can also accept these cards at time of service for clients paying in session, however this does consume some of our time together.
For clients who prefer to pay in cash, or would rather not use automatic payments, your payment for each session will be collected at the beginning of the session. We can also schedule your next session at this time, however to simplify scheduling I recommend setting up recurring appointments. I have found that this arrangement helps us stay focused on our goals, and therefore it works best.
Other payment or fee arrangements must be worked out before the end of our initial intake, or in advance of a change in arraingments.
Indigo Mental Health PLLC is equipped to take the following forms of payment:
- Consumer Credit Cards (MasterCard, Visa, Discover, American Exprss)
- Debit Cards (ATM cards that also carry the MasterCard or Visa logo)
- HSA and FSA Cards that also carry the MasterCard or Visa logo
- Cash
- American Express Affinity Cards, and Corporate/Business cards, or any Foreign Issued Credit Cards are accepted if they clear processing, however due to additional fees for these cards there will be a 4% service charge for their use, and they not eligible for recurring billing at this time.
- We do not currently accept EBT or other benefits cards, or payment by check.
- Regarding Insurance:
I am currently unable to accept Medicare, Medicaid, or Washington Apple Health Plans (Except Coordinated Care)
I am currently in the continuing process of selecting insurance panels / provider networks to join, as I enroll with these networks you can view my current Insurance Participation. - Refunds of Over Payments:
In the event of an over-payment (such as the addition of insurance, or payment for a session prior to the processing of insurance) we will refund the balance due, after subtracting co-payments, once insurance payments have been confirmed. Refunds will be less any transaction processor fees unless the charge was due to our negligence. You may also opt to use the balance as a credit toward future co-payments or non covered services.
As part of our commitment to social justice and making mental health care available to those who may due to income be unable to afford it, a portion of our scheduled sessions are made available at a subsidized fee based on individual need and circumstance, If you are interested in being considered for one of these subsidies or if we are working together and you become unemployed please discuss this when you schedule your Initial Consultation, or at your next session.