Payment Policy

If using health insurance, please contact your insurance before the first session, so that you are aware of what your co-pay is and if you have a deductible.     Payment is expected at the end of each session.  I accept cash, personal check, and credit card payments.   If you forget to bring your payment with you, please bring it to your next session.  

Credit Card Payments 

I use “Ivy Pay”, which is a HIPPA-compliant software company that will be utilized via text message.  You will receive a text message that will prompt you to put in your credit/debit card information.  You only have to do this once; Thereafter, you will be charged for each session and will receive a text message receipt.  If your card is declined, you will be sent a text message to put another card on file.  It is your responsibility to do this within 1 week of receiving the reminder.  If past 1 week, there will be a 25.00 charge automatically added to your account and further sessions may be delayed until paid in full. 

Check Payments

If a check is declined, you will be responsible for any bank fees accrued.  You will have 1 week to pay the amount owed using another form of payment.  If past 1 week, there will be a 25.00 fee added to your account and further sessions may be delayed until paid in full. 

Change of Status

It is important for clients to inform me regarding the following changes to personal information, so it can be updated promptly. This information is important for both clinical, emergency, and communication reasons, in addition to billing purposes. 

-ANY changes to your current insurance plan

-Change of home address  

-Change of phone number or email address

-Change in emergency contact person

-Change in credit card   

Ancillary Services

In the case that a client may be in need of documentation to be sent to other agencies, providers, attorneys, school/work, that will need to be completed outside of the therapy session, there will be a fee charged; Time utilized for these services cannot be billed through health insurance. The fee range will be discussed when the request is made.  Examples include third-party consultations, letters, completion of forms, sending records, making copies, and communication via phone calls/email/faxing related to these matters.    

Cancellation/No-Show Policy

Decades of research show that continuity and consistency of attendance is one of the best predictors of whether therapy will be effective for you. Coming to your appointments regularly and on time allows you to make the most out of your time with me, as your clinician, and ensures that you are both set-up to do the best work possible together.

I do my best to prioritize client scheduling needs and preferences. In order to both make sure you have your desired appointment slot and to offer empty slots to other clients seeking care, advanced notice of appointment cancellations is needed. Advance notice also allows me to accommodate rescheduling, when appropriate, as I know some changes are unavoidable. 

Cancelling and Rescheduling an Appointment

To ensure I receive your message in a timely manner, please text me @ 518-223-8099 or email at: [email protected]. The goal of rescheduling an appointment is to try do to so in the same week, but if not possible, it will count as a cancellation.  In these cases, clients who are in-person may choose to do a telehealth appointment instead, to avoid a fee being incurred.  Switching to telehealth at the last minute is only permitted in these situations. 

48-Hour Cancellation Policy

Cancellations should be made at least 48 hours in advance of your appointment.

· If you should feel the need to cancel less than 48 hours, there will be a fee of $100.00 that will be charged. 

· If you do not show for your appointment, you will be charged the full fee of your scheduled session.

Cancellation and no show fees cannot be billed to insurance and are the client’s responsibility. This charge will need to be paid before your next scheduled appointment via credit card.   Of course, I do understand that emergent circumstances do arise.  Exceptions are made for emergencies and are subject to my discretion. If your late cancellation or no-show is due to an unexpected family or clinical emergency such as hospitalization, contagious illness like COVID-19, death in the family, or natural disaster, please contact me immediately to discuss waiving this cancellation fee.

Termination/Pausing of Recurring Appt. Time Due to Scheduling Issues

Your treatment/recurring appointment time may be terminated or paused in the following circumstances:  A.) More than 3 cancellations/rescheduling of appointments of any kind in a 3-month period B.) Cancellation of weekly appointments for 4 consecutive weeks C.) Cancellation of 2 consecutive bi-weekly appointments

Insurance Policy

Clients are responsible for all matters regarding their health insurance.   This includes the following:

· knowing what the co-pay is- If there is an error or change in the amount of your co-pay, you must inform me of this immediately. If not informed of this, the client is responsible for any discrepancy and the clinician will not be deemed responsible for any monies lost.

· knowing what a deductible is and if you have one, what your deductible is before each session, and when the deductible is met. You can find this information easily by logging onto your insurance portal or by calling the number on the back of the insurance card.    

· knowing if you have paid the maximum amount of out-of-pocket expenses and no longer have a co-pay for the remainder of the term. If not informed of this, the client is responsible for any discrepancy and the clinician will not be deemed responsible for any monies lost.

· knowing if you have an HSA plan with your job, how much funding you have, and when that plan runs out of funding

· notifying your clinician as soon as possible when your insurance changes in any way, including if your ID number changed, your insurance has completely changed, or a secondary insurance is added, i.e. Medicare

· notifying your clinician when your insurance will be stopping-  Should a lapse occur in health insurance coverage, the client will be responsible for paying the full-fee for sessions until new health insurance starts    

· paying for any outstanding fees that are not covered by health insurance 

Out of Network Benefits

If I do not accept a client’s insurance, an Out of Network benefit may be available. If the client will be submitting for reimbursement, please let me know in advance, as I will provide a Superbill invoice. The client is responsible for mailing in forms for this purpose. 

Telemental Health and Technology Policy

Telemental health refers to providing psychotherapy services remotely using telecommunications technologies, such as video conferencing or telephone. One of the benefits of telemental health is that the client and clinician can engage in services without being in the same physical location. This can be helpful in ensuring continuity of care if the client or clinician moves to a further location within the state of NY or is otherwise unable to continue to meet in person.  Telemental health, however, requires technical competence on both our parts to be helpful. Although there are benefits of telemental health, there are some differences between in-person psychotherapy and telemental health, that will be outlined in this policy.

General Guidelines

Telemental health appointments should be treated the same as if you were coming into my office. 

· Find a private place to minimize the risk of being interrupted and other people overhearing your conversations with me.  Lying in your bed is not permitted.

· Dress appropriately for your session.  Pajamas are not permitted. 

· You should be seated and free from distractions.  This includes sitting in your car, as well.  However, if in your car, it should be while you are parked and in a remote location away from people and other distractions.  Having a teletherapy session while lying down or while doing another activity (i.e. walking, lying in bed) is not permitted. 

· Make sure your device (computer or phone) has enough power for the session.  It is recommended that you plug your device in for your session.

· Check your device ahead of time, making sure you have allowed permissions for Theranest(my software) to gain access to your microphone and web cam. 

· After signing in, make sure to press the button that asks you to join the session.

· If the session is interrupted, such as the internet connection fails, disconnect from the session and sign in again via the link that you received in your appt. reminder. If this fails, then I will call you to arrange other possible platforms, i.e. Doxy.com.

Telemental Health and Technology Confidentiality 

I have a legal and ethical responsibility to make my best efforts to protect all communications that are a part of our telemental health. However, the nature of electronic communication technologies is such that I cannot guarantee that our conversations will be kept confidential or that other people may not gain access to them. I use updated software with encryption methods, firewalls, and back-up systems to help keep your information private, but there is always a risk that our electronic communications may be compromised, unsecured, or accessed by others. You should also take reasonable steps to ensure the security of our communications (for example, only using secure networks for telemental health sessions and having passwords to protect the device you use for telemental health).

The extent of confidentiality and the exceptions to confidentiality that I outlined in my Informed Consent still apply in telemental health. I will maintain a record of our session in the same way I maintain records of in-person sessions in accordance with HIPPA-compliant policies. 

Appropriateness of Telemental Health

Telemental health is reserved for clients who are beyond the reasonable driving distance to my office.  Additionally, I also do a careful assessment to see if telemental health is appropriate for their needs.  There may also come a time, where it initially is appropriate, but then may change. I will let you know if I decide that telemental health is no longer the most appropriate form of treatment for you. We will discuss options of engaging in in-person counseling or referrals to another professional in your location who can provide appropriate services.  If you are away from home and still would like to have a therapy session, this is possible UNLESS you are outside the state of NY.  This is because I am only licensed in the state of NY. 

Electronic Communication

For communication between sessions, I only use email communication and text messaging with your permission. Text messaging is limited for administrative purposes only. This means that text messages should be limited to things like setting and changing appointments, billing matters, telemental health connection difficulties, and other related scheduling issues. Treatment is most effective when clinical discussions occur at your regularly scheduled sessions. If you feel that you cannot wait until the next session and need to communicate with me between sessions for any reason, email is the preferred method.  I do my best to regularly check my email or texts, but often cannot respond immediately, so these methods should not be used if there is an emergency.

Emergencies and Technology

Assessing and evaluating threats and other emergencies can be more difficult when conducting telemental health sessions than in traditional in-person therapy. To address some of these difficulties, I will ask you to identify an emergency contact person who is near your location and who I will contact in the event of a crisis or emergency to assist in addressing the situation. I will ask that you sign a separate authorization form allowing me to contact your emergency contact person as needed during such a crisis or emergency.

If you are experiencing a mental health crisis/emergency, please call the suicide hotline @98, local mobile crisis, or visit the nearest hospital’s emergency department.

Mentalyc Software Policy

I have a legal and ethical responsibility to make my best efforts to protect all communications that are part of our psychotherapy sessions. I have chosen to use Mentalyc’s note-taking system for psychotherapy as part of my effort to provide the best care to my clients. It provides me with an automatically generated transcript and summarization of our sessions. Mentalyc’s system is HIPAA compliant/secure and uses up-to-date encryption methods, firewalls, and backup systems to help keep your information private and secure. Your consent is needed for me to process our sessions using Mentalyc’s system.

Details

Recordings of our sessions will be transcribed and summarized by Mentalyc’s HIPAA-compliant technology. Mentalyc doesn’t store the recordings and client personal information. I may choose to keep the summarized notes as part of your confidential medical record. Mentalyc only keeps anonymized data to help improve the tool. As with any technology, there are certain risks and benefits, which I will list here:

Risks:

● All technology contains a risk of confidential information being disclosed.  You can ensure the security of our communications by only using trusted secure networks for psychotherapy sessions and having passwords to protect the device you use for psychotherapy. Mentalyc mitigates this risk by ensuring up-to-date technological security and storing the data with as little identifying information as possible.

Benefits:

● The technology allows the therapist to focus more of their attention on therapy.

● Removes the need for taking notes or trying to remember information during and after the session.

● Mentalyc reduces the therapist’s workload and thus, allows them to provide better client care.

● The technology may provide additional clinical insights for the therapist which helps improve outcomes in the therapeutic process.