Please take some time to review important questions before you schedule your appointment with me.
Q: Do you accept insurance?
In order to provide personalized treatment and care for my patients, I don’t participate in most insurance plans at this time. Currently, I am only credentialed with BlueCross BlueShield including their Medicare plans and Health Choice. This means that for all other insurance plans, I will be considered “out of network.” If you have a health benefits policy that provides mental health coverage, you may be entitled to insurance reimbursement for any provided professional services. You will receive a superbill/Receipt at the end of each visit to submit to your insurance company, if you choose to do so. You should check if your insurance allows out of network benefits for mental health and what percentage of your payment will they reimburse.
Having worked in managed care positions and with my experience as a medical director in my career, I don’t believe that managed care is the best model for physician patient relationships. I don’t believe, limiting myself to 15-20 min slots of time allows me to actually know my patients. I like to use my expertise as a physician, to guide what best suits my patients’ needs. Not taking insurance protects your privacy as my patients. This means that your records are not subject to submission to insurance companies. However, I still have to follow mandatory reporting requirements as set forth by the licensure board pertaining to the safety of my patients, and/or children and elderly.
Q: How do I schedule an appointment?
For more information about my services and to schedule an appointment, please visit my website at https://www.hamdani-psychiatry.com/
You will be directed to an online initial form to be submitted. If there are openings available you will receive a portal invite after response from Dr. Hamdani. Once an appointment time is secured, you will receive the initial admission packet along with forms to be completed before the appointment. It is very important that you fill the forms prior to our appointment. My office doesn’t maintain any paper copies of the admission packet.
Q: How quickly can I get an appointment?
Typically, I am able to provide appointments anywhere from 2-3 weeks, unless I have cancellations. At times, because of my small practice and limited hours; I can’t offer appointments for a few months and will respond to your inquiry with that information.
Q: What if I need to cancel an appointment?
Cancellations are accepted up to 48 business hours before your appointment. After that, you will be charged the full fee for your appointment or your copay if you are with BCBS and Health Choice.
Q: What if I need to contact you during non-office hours?
Please limit after-hours phone calls to urgent situations. If your situation is non urgent, call the office number and leave a message. Allow 24 working hours for the message to be returned. It is preferred that you use the patient portal for non urgent questions. Please refer to my policies to read more about medication refills and telephone policy. In an emergency, call 911 or go to your closest Emergency Room. If I am out of town or on vacation, I will sometimes arrange for another psychiatrist to cover my patients, but the covering psychiatrist will have limited prescribing ability. Most of the time, I cover my own patient load.
Q: What is the cost of the appointments? Do you offer discounts?
As mentioned above, I am considered an out-of-network physician for all major insurances and do not accept insurance, except BlueCross BlueShield and Health Choice. Payment is required at the time of service, and a receipt/superbill will be provided at the end of the appointment. If you have out-of-network benefits, you may submit the receipt for direct reimbursement from your insurance company. If you have any questions, please call your insurance company to inquire about your out-of-network benefits prior to making an appointment. Every insurance company is different and has different deductibles, reimbursement rates, and procedures for submitting claims. It is your responsibility to know your benefits before making an appointment with me, even if you are covered by an insurance I don’t take.
Discounts are decided on a case to case basis, based on an individual’s unique situation and are completely at the discretion of Dr. Hamdani.
Fee Schedule
- Initial assessment and evaluation 60-90 min $250-$375 for cash payments
- Medication management follow up 30-40 min appointments: $150 -$185
- Individual psychotherapy 55 min session $250
- Couples counseling 55 min session $250
- Requests for paperwork including treatment summary reports, are billed at my hourly rate of $250 an hour.
Telephone calls: Calls under 10 min will not be charged. Calls over 10 min will be charged at my hourly rate and will be prorated. Please note that insurance companies do not pay for telephone consultations.
No shows and cancellations at less than 48 business hours will be charged the full fee of the appointment. Insurance patients will be charged their full copay. In the event of repeated no shows or cancellations, discharge from the practice is an option, at my discretion. Up to 2 late cancellations are allowed in a year for established patients at no charge.
Any balances due, will need to be paid in full prior to scheduling an appointment.
