Thriving Center Practice Policies

Thriving Center of Psychology (Thriving Mind Psychology, PLLC (Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New York Psychology Services,Oregon, Washington D.C, Illinois), LA Performance Psychology, PC (Nebraska, Texas, Washington, California Psychology Services), Thriving Center of Psychology, LLC (Florida), Thriving Center for Psychology NJ, LLC (New Jersey), Thriving Center of Psychology NM, LLC (New Mexico), Thriving Mind Psychiatry, PLLC (New York Psychiatry), Thriving Center of Psychiatry, PC (California Psychiatry)

PRACTICE POLICIES

APPOINTMENTS AND CANCELLATIONS:

Thriving Center of Psychology requires at least 48 hours advance notice for cancellation of an appointment. If you are unable to attend your scheduled appointment due to circumstances beyond your control, please reach out to your clinician. Failure to provide sufficient notice for cancellations and/or repeated no-shows for your appointment may impact your ability to schedule additional appointments with your clinician. If you cancel or reschedule within 48 hours of a scheduled session, or you do not attend a scheduled session, you may be charged the full session fee. If you are using Lyra benefits your session fee is determined per the clinician’s contracted rate.

BILLING AND PAYMENTS:

You will be expected to pay for each session by credit, debit, HRA, or HSA card no later than the time it is held. Accounts not paid within 30 days could be subject to additional late penalty fees of $40/month. If your account has not been paid within 60 days and arrangements for payment have not been agreed upon, I have the option of using legal means to secure the payment. This may involve hiring a collection agency or going through small claims court which will require me to disclose otherwise confidential information. In most collection situations, the only information I release regarding a client’s treatment is his or her name, the nature of services provided, and the amount due. If such legal action is necessary, its costs will be included in the claim.

CREDIT CARD INFORMATION:

Your credit card information will be used so time is not wasted during the duration of our meetings. Your credit card will be charged the day of your session. You will not be billed more than 24 hours in advance for therapeutic services, with the exception of weekend appointments and Monday morning appointments that are planned to take place prior to 9:45am. Our administrative offices are closed on weekends, so please note that we will process these particular payments on Fridays.

INSURANCE:

Insurance Reimbursement

In-Network

For insurance plans that we participate with, we can submit claims on your behalf. Reimbursement will be subject to your plan’s copay, coinsurance, and/or deductible. Any remaining balance the insurance company has deemed as patient responsibility will be collected following receipt of the Explanation of Benefits from your insurer, which may take up to 90 days from the date of service. It is important to understand your plan’s benefits and limitations, and to notify us immediately upon any changes in your coverage, including loss of insurance. If your insurer denies coverage and/or payment for services, you will assume financial responsibility and be required to pay in full for all charges.

Out-of-Network

If your health plan includes out-of-network coverage (common with PPO plans), we may be able to assist you in submitting documentation to your insurance company for reimbursement, which will be subject to the coverage and limitations of the policy. we will provide you with the documentation needed to submit your own out-of-network claims. Please note, in-person and teletherapy sessions may be reimbursed differently. We cannot guarantee that you will be reimbursed for any portion of costs for your care. If your insurance company denies coverage and/or payment for services rendered, you will assume financial responsibility and be required to pay in full for all charges.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND TELECOMMUNICATION:

Due to the importance of your confidentiality and the importance of minimizing dual relationships, I (the clinician) do not accept friend or contact requests from current or former clients on any social networking site (Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc). I believe that adding clients as friends or contacts on these sites can compromise your confidentiality and our respective privacy. It may also blur the boundaries of our therapeutic relationship. If you have questions about this, please bring them up when we meet and we can talk more about it.

ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION:

Our office cannot ensure the confidentiality of any form of [communication] through electronic media, including text messages and email. If you prefer to communicate via email or text messaging for issues regarding scheduling or cancellations, we will do so. While I (the clinician) may try to return messages in a timely manner, I cannot guarantee immediate response and request that you do not use these methods of communication to discuss therapeutic content and/or request assistance for emergencies.

Services by electronic means, including but not limited to telephone communication, the Internet, facsimile machines, and e-mail is considered telemedicine by the State of New York. Under the New York Telemedicine Act, telemedicine is broadly defined as the use of information technology to deliver medical services and information from one location to another. If you and your therapist chose to use information technology for some or all of your treatment, you need to understand that: (1) You retain the option to withhold or withdraw consent at any time without affecting the right to future care or treatment or risking the loss or withdrawal of any program benefits to which you would otherwise be entitled. (2) All existing confidentiality protections are equally applicable. (3) Your access to all medical information transmitted during a telemedicine consultation is guaranteed, and copies of this information are available for a reasonable fee. (4) Dissemination of any of your identifiable images or information from the telemedicine interaction to researchers or other entities shall not occur without your consent. (5) There are potential risks, consequences, and benefits of telemedicine. Potential benefits include, but are not limited to improved communication capabilities, providing convenient access to up-to-date information, consultations, support, reduced costs, improved quality, change in the conditions of practice, improved access to therapy, better continuity of care, and reduction of lost work time and travel costs. Effective therapy is often facilitated when the therapist gathers within a session or a series of sessions, a multitude of observations, information, and experiences about the client. Therapists may make clinical assessments, diagnosis, and interventions based not only on direct verbal or auditory communications, written reports, and third-person consultations, but also from direct visual and olfactory observations, information, and experiences. When using information technology in therapy services, potential risks include, but are not limited to the therapist’s inability to make visual and olfactory observations of clinically or therapeutically potentially relevant issues such as: your physical condition including deformities, apparent height and weight, body type, attractiveness relative to social and cultural norms or standards, gait and motor coordination, posture, work speed, any noteworthy mannerism or gestures, physical or medical conditions including bruises or injuries, basic grooming and hygiene including appropriateness of dress, eye contact (including any changes in the previously listed issues), sex, chronological and apparent age, ethnicity, facial and body language, and congruence of language and facial or bodily expression. Potential consequences thus include the therapist not being aware of what he or she would consider important information, that you may not recognize as significant to present verbally to the therapist.

MINORS:

If you are a minor, your parents may be legally entitled to some information about your therapy. I will discuss with you and your parents what information is appropriate for them to receive and which issues are more appropriately kept confidential.

TERMINATION:

Ending relationships can be difficult. Therefore, it is important to have a termination process in order to achieve some closure. The appropriate length of the termination depends on the length and intensity of the treatment. I (the clinician) may terminate treatment after an appropriate discussion with you and a termination process if I determine that the psychotherapy is not being effectively used or if you are in default on payment. I will not terminate the therapeutic relationship without first discussing and exploring the reasons and purpose of terminating. If therapy is terminated for any reason or you request another therapist, I will provide you with a list of qualified psychotherapists to treat you. You may also choose someone on your own or from another referral source.

Practice Policies for Headway Clients

Appointments and Cancellations

Please remember to cancel or reschedule 48 hours in advance of your appointment. If a cancellation or rescheduling of an appointment takes place less than 48 hours prior to your appointment time a $200 fee will be processed by Thriving Center of Psychology. Please email or text/call our office if you have any questions. This policy protects and respects your time and the provider’s time. We do not double book appointments, so your appointment time is reserved exclusively for you. If you arrive late to a session, you may lose the time you are late, as our providers cannot stay over and cut other appointments short due to the client’s tardiness.

All psychotherapy sessions are scheduled for 53-60 minutes. Should you require an alternate amount of time for your sessions, please discuss your needs with your provider in advance.

Billing and Payments

All payments for services rendered are due no later than the time of your appointment. Each client is required to maintain a valid form of payment on file with Headway and Thriving Center of Psychology. You may use a credit, debit, HRA, or HSA card. One dollar ($1.00) will be charged to your credit card at the time of booking to confirm a valid credit card is on file. Appointments billed through your insurance will be processed through Headway. Headway will email your specific financial responsibility, per appointment, directly to you after your insurance has been verified. If we are unable to process payment through Headway, you will be charged a self-pay fee through Thriving Center of Psychology. If you update your payment information and we are able to process payment for your appointment through Headway, we will refund you the amount charged by Thriving Center of Psychology for that appointment.

If we are unable to process payment and the balance is not paid within 30 days, you will be subject to an additional late penalty fee of $40/month. If your account has not been paid within 60 days and arrangements for payment have not been agreed upon, I have the option of using legal means to secure the payment. This may involve hiring a collection agency or going through small claims court, which will require me to disclose otherwise confidential information. In most collection situations, the only information I release regarding a client’s treatment is his or her name, the nature of services provided, and the amount due. If such legal action is necessary, its costs will be included in the claim.

Credit Card Information

Your credit card information stored within your Headway Portal will be used so time is not wasted during the duration of our meetings. Your credit card will be charged the day of your session by a third-party billing company. Please note, that if Headway is unable to process your payment for services rendered, you will be subject to the session fee through Thriving Center of Psychology.

Insurance

Thriving Center of Psychology is only in-network with Aetna at this time through our partnership with Headway. If your insurance plan changes for any reason, please alert the administrative team ([email protected]) as soon as possible so that we can avoid any interruption of care. If you have any questions that I can assist with, please let me know.

Please be sure to log in to your Headway profile prior to each session to understand all benefits and costs. If you have not met your in-network deductible for this year, you may be subject to higher out-of-pocket costs until your in-network deductible has been met. Headway is responsible for informing Thriving Center of Psychology clients of their benefits.

Please visit: <https://headway.co/account> for a comprehensive explanation of your Aetna benefits prior to each session with Thriving Center of Psychology.

Telephone Accessibility

If you need to contact the office, please call or text us directly. All office contact information is available on our website at thrivingcenterofpsych.com

If we are not immediately available, however, we will attempt to return your call within 1 business day. If a true emergency situation arises, please call 911 or your local emergency room.

Social Media and Telecommunication

Due to the importance of your confidentiality and the importance of minimizing dual relationships, I (the clinician) and any members of the TCP Team do not accept a friend or contact requests from current or former clients on any social networking site (Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc). I believe that adding clients as friends or contacts on these sites can compromise your confidentiality and our respective privacy. It may also blur the boundaries of our therapeutic relationship. If you have questions about this, please bring them up when we meet and we can talk more about it.

Electronic Communication

Services by electronic means, including but not limited to telephone communication, the Internet, facsimile machines, and e-mail is considered telemedicine by the State of New York. Under the New York Telemedicine Act, telemedicine is broadly defined as the use of information technology to deliver medical services and information from one location to another. If you and your therapist chose to use information technology for some or all of your treatment, you need to understand that: (1) You retain the option to withhold or withdraw consent at any time without affecting the right to future care or treatment or risking the loss or withdrawal of any program benefits to which you would otherwise be entitled. (2) All existing confidentiality protections are equally applicable. (3) Your access to all medical information transmitted during a telemedicine consultation is guaranteed, and copies of this information are available for a reasonable fee. (4) Dissemination of any of your identifiable images or information from the telemedicine interaction to researchers or other entities shall not occur without your consent. (5 ) There are potential risks, consequences, and benefits of telemedicine. Potential benefits include, but are not limited to improved communication capabilities, providing convenient access to up-to-date information, consultations, support, reduced costs, improved quality, change in the conditions of practice, improved access to therapy, better continuity of care, and reduction of lost work time and travel costs. Effective therapy is often facilitated when the therapist gathers within a session or a series of sessions, a multitude of observations, information, and experiences about the client. Therapists may make clinical assessments, diagnoses, and interventions based not only on direct verbal or auditory communications, written reports, and third-person consultations, but also from direct visual and olfactory observations, information, and experiences. When using information technology in therapy services, potential risks include, but are not limited to the therapist’s inability to make visual and olfactory observations of clinically or therapeutically potentially relevant issues such as your physical condition including deformities, apparent height, and weight, body type, attractiveness relative to social and cultural norms or standards, gait and motor coordination, posture, work speed, any noteworthy mannerism or gestures, physical or medical conditions including bruises or injuries, basic grooming, and hygiene including appropriateness of dress, eye contact (including any changes in the previously listed issues), sex, chronological and apparent age, ethnicity, facial and body language, and congruence of language and facial or bodily expression. Potential consequences thus include the therapist not being aware of what he or she would consider important information, that you may not recognize as significant to present verbally to the therapist.

Minors

Termination

Ending relationships can be difficult. Therefore, it is important to have a termination process in order to achieve some closure. The appropriate length of the termination depends on the length and intensity of the treatment. I (the clinician) may terminate treatment after an appropriate. discussion with you and a termination process if I determine that the psychotherapy is not being effectively used or if you are in default on payment. I will not terminate the therapeutic relationship without first discussing and exploring the reasons and purpose of terminating. If therapy is terminated for any reason or you request another therapist, I will provide you with a list of qualified psychotherapists to treat you. You may also choose someone on your own or from another referral source.

Practice Policies for Northwell Clients

Appointments and Cancellations

Please remember to cancel or reschedule 48 hours in advance of your appointment. If a cancellation or rescheduling of an appointment takes place less than 48 hours prior to your appointment time a $200 fee will be processed by Thriving Center of Psychology. Please email or text/call our office directly if you have any questions. This policy protects and respects your time and the provider’s time. We do not double book appointments, so your appointment time is reserved exclusively for you. If you arrive late to a session, you may lose the time you are late, as our providers cannot stay over and cut other appointments short due to the client’s tardiness.

All psychotherapy sessions are scheduled for 53 minutes. Should you require an alternate amount of time for your sessions, please discuss your needs with your provider in advance.

Billing and Payments

All payments for services rendered are due no later than the time of your appointment. Each client is required to maintain a valid form of payment on file with Thriving Center of Psychology. You may use a credit, debit, HRA, or HSA card. Appointments billed through your insurance will be processed through Thriving Center of Psychology. To learn more about your benefits and what your financial responsibilities will be please reach out to Magnacare at 855-340-7737. If we are unable to process the invoice through Brighton Health Plan Solutions, you will be charged a self-pay fee through Thriving Center of Psychology. If a claim is denied, we will do our best to research and get the invoiced processed. If for any reason we are unsuccessful we will process the self-pay fee set by Thriving Center of Psychology. Should the invoice be processed after we have collected payment, we will refund you the amount charged by Thriving Center of Psychology for that appointment.

Credit Card Information

Your credit card information stored within your Thriving Center of Psychology Client Portal will be used so time is not wasted during the duration of our meetings. Your credit card will be charged the day of your session by Thriving Center of Psychology.

Insurance

Thriving Center of Psychology is only in-network with Aetna and Brighton HPS at this time. If your insurance plan changes for any reason, please alert the administrative team ([email protected]) as soon as possible so that we can avoid any interruption of care. If you have any questions that I can assist with, please let me know.

The Thriving Center is not responsible for the verification of client’s insurance benefits. Before moving forward with our services, please be sure to contact Magnacare/Brighton Health (855-340-7737) for any insurance or benefit questions. Failure to verify your specific in-network deductible information for the year may result in unexpected out of pocket costs.

Telephone Accessibility

If you need to contact the office, please call or text us directly. All office contact information is available on our website at thrivingcenterofpsych.com.

If we are not immediately available, however, we will attempt to return your call within 1 business day. If a true emergency situation arises, please call 911 or your local emergency room.

Social Media and Telecommunication

Electronic Communication

Services by electronic means, including but not limited to telephone communication, the Internet, facsimile machines, and e-mail is considered telemedicine by the State of New York. Under the New York Telemedicine Act, telemedicine is broadly defined as the use of information technology to deliver medical services and information from one location to another. If you and your therapist chose to use information technology for some or all of your treatment, you need to understand that: (1) You retain the option to withhold or withdraw consent at any time without affecting the right to future care or treatment or risking the loss or withdrawal of any program benefits to which you would otherwise be entitled. (2) All existing confidentiality protections are equally applicable. (3) Your access to all medical information transmitted during a telemedicine consultation is guaranteed, and copies of this information are available for a reasonable fee. (4) Dissemination of any of your identifiable images or information from the telemedicine interaction to researchers or other entities shall not occur without your consent. (5 ) There are potential risks, consequences, and benefits of telemedicine. Potential benefits include, but are not limited to improved communication capabilities, providing convenient access to up-to-date information, consultations, support, reduced costs, improved quality, change in the conditions of practice, improved access to therapy, better continuity of care, and reduction of lost work time and travel costs. Effective therapy is often facilitated when the therapist gathers within a session or a series of sessions, a multitude of observations, information, and experiences about the client. Therapists may make clinical assessments, diagnoses, and interventions based not only on direct verbal or auditory communications, written reports, and third-person consultations, but also from direct visual and olfactory observations, information, and experiences. When using information technology in therapy services, potential risks include, but are not limited to the therapist’s inability to make visual and olfactory observations of clinically or therapeutically potentially relevant issues such as your physical condition including deformities, apparent height, and weight, body type, attractiveness relative to social and cultural norms or standards, gait and motor coordination, posture, work speed, any noteworthy mannerism or gestures, physical or medical conditions including bruises or injuries, basic grooming, and hygiene including appropriateness of dress, eye contact (including any changes in the previously listed issues), sex, chronological and apparent age, ethnicity, facial and body language, and congruence of language and facial or bodily expression. Potential consequences thus include the therapist not being aware of what he or she would consider important information, that you may not recognize as significant to present verbally to the therapist.

Minors

Termination

Ending relationships can be difficult. Therefore, it is important to have a termination process in order to achieve some closure. The appropriate length of the termination depends on the length and intensity of the treatment. I (the clinician) may terminate treatment after an appropriate. discussion with you and a termination process if I determine that the psychotherapy is not being effectively used or if you are in default on payment. I will not terminate the therapeutic relationship without first discussing and exploring the reasons and purpose of terminating. If therapy is terminated for any reason or you request another therapist, I will provide you with a list of qualified psychotherapists to treat you. You may also choose someone on your own or from another referral source.

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Security Notice for Attending Psychotherapy In-Person

SECURITY NOTICE FOR ATTENDING PSYCHOTHERAPY IN PERSON

All Thriving Center of Psychology (Thriving Mind Psychology, PLLC (Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New York Psychology Services,Oregon, Washington D.C, Illinois), LA Performance Psychology, PC (Nebraska, Texas, Washington, California Psychology Services), Thriving Center of Psychology, LLC (Florida), Thriving Center for Psychology NJ, LLC (New Jersey), Thriving Center of Psychology NM, LLC (New Mexico), Thriving Mind Psychiatry, PLLC (New York Psychiatry), Thriving Center of Psychiatry, PC (California Psychiatry) clients are asked to complete the following authorization, should you be scheduled for an in-person appointment at any time throughout the course of your care.

To maintain a secure environment, the building our office is located in has specific security requirements. In order for guests to gain access to the building they are required to a) be on a list of approved guests and b) present a photo ID to building security (in the lobby). To comply with security requirements, we send your first and last name to the office building to be added to the building security list the day of your appointment and you will be required to present your photo ID. No other identifying information will be provided nor will the building have access to your reason for visiting.