I have made the following adjustments to practice policies during the pandemic:
Please pay as promptly as possible. After one unpaid medication management session or two unpaid psychotherapy sessions, I will not provide additional services until payment is received in full. If you do not pay after three months, I will respectfully give you a 30-day supply and transition your care. The government is expanding its services to address this need. You can also see someone through your panel if you have insurance coverage. I will transfer your records in a timely fashion. Please consider pre-paying for your future sessions.
Office Safety Precautions in Effect During the Pandemic
- I only offer consultations for prospective new patients with in-person appointments.
- If you are practicing self quarantining and you need services but do not want or cannot come for an appointment, I will offer telephone sessions only after we have agreed to establish a doctor-patient relationship. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, AMA, and APA have specified that receipts can include a telemental health code. This is a new item that I will include this in your receipt after you and I discuss this.
- I will call you to protect your confidentiality during a telephone session. I will not use any third party application like Doxy, Skype, FaceTime, etc. as your information is still collected. Although the telephone is a low technology modality, your safety and confidentiality remain my priority.
- Please note that even phone calls do not ensure confidentiality. Still, you can minimize disclosure of health information by going into a private area and not sharing your information with anyone else. I will always call you from a private office.
- The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and practice guidelines have emphasized that prescription duration should stay the same. There is no threat to supply chains as of yet. Therefore, I will not change the duration of prescriptions. This is to avoid worsening medication shortages, especially for critical medications like controlled substances. The DEA has warned providers against overprescribing beyond our usual duration as of today: https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/coronavirus.html
- I will only take check for telemental health sessions, not cash. Please write "telehealth session" on the check in case of any audit from the government or insurance company. The same charges of $160 for 30 minutes and $300 for 50 minutes apply.
- There is no missed appointment fee for people who learn within 24 hours that they are affected and must take measures or have to stay home from the office. Your health comes first - I understand that as a physician.
- State laws vary on providers being able to provide emergency telehealth sessions during the pandemic. Please contact me if you are not physically in New Jersey or New York.
Please pay as promptly as possible. After one unpaid medication management session or two unpaid psychotherapy sessions, I will not provide additional services until payment is received in full. If you do not pay after three months, I will respectfully give you a 30-day supply and transition your care. The government is expanding its services to address this need. You can also see someone through your panel if you have insurance coverage. I will transfer your records in a timely fashion. Please consider pre-paying for your future sessions.
Office Safety Precautions in Effect During the Pandemic
- Office seating in the waiting room and in therapy/testing rooms has been arranged for appropriate physical distancing.
- My colleagues and I wear masks.
- We maintain safe distancing of at least six feet.
- Restroom soap dispensers are maintained and everyone is encouraged to wash their hands upon entering the office.
- Hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol is available in the therapy rooms and the waiting room.
- We schedule appointments at specific intervals to minimize the number of people in the waiting room.
- We ask all patients to wait outside until no earlier than 5 minutes before their appointment times. The office next door has a seats spaced a minimum of six feet apart.
- Credit card pads, pens and other areas that are commonly touched are thoroughly sanitized after each use.
- Physical contact is not permitted.
- Tissues and trash bins are easily accessed. Trash is disposed of on a frequent basis.
- Common areas are thoroughly disinfected at the end of each day.
