What to Expect

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Before Your First Session

• Initial Phone Consult: A brief call to make sure we're a good fit, discuss insurance coverage, address any questions/concerns, schedule your first session.
• Paperwork Completion: Online forms to be completed through the SimplePractice portal, including consent forms and basic information about you and your therapy goals.
• Appointment Reminders: Email and text reminders will be sent before your scheduled appointment.

During Your First Session

• Virtual Waiting Room: You'll access the session through a link SimplePractice provides via text or email that will take you to a virtual waiting room.
• Session Focus: Building rapport, sharing your story, and discussing your therapy goals.
• Session Wrap-up: Review of the session, discussion of self-care strategies, scheduling future appointments.
• Billing and Payment: Your insurance will be billed after the session, and any out-of-pocket costs will be collected through the Headway portal.

Therapy sessions are a dedicated hour for you to prioritize your well-being. You have the freedom to guide the conversation, sharing your thoughts, feelings, and experiences at your own pace and depth.

• Authenticity: Be yourself, express yourself openly and honestly, and don't censor your thoughts or feelings.
• Communication: Share your concerns freely and openly with your therapist.
• Emotional Expression: Allow yourself to experience and express your emotions fully during therapy sessions.
• Focus on Growth: Explore underlying issues and work towards long-term personal growth, rather than solely focusing on symptom relief.
• Boundaries: Establish clear boundaries with your therapist regarding session times, communication, and other relevant areas.
• Self-Reflection: Maintain a journal to track your thoughts, feelings, and experiences both during and between sessions.
• Self-Compassion: Acknowledge that therapy can be challenging at times and allow yourself to experience moments of resistance or hesitation.
• Flexibility: Don't feel constrained by time limits during sessions.
• Scheduling: Schedule sessions at a time that is convenient and conducive to your well-being.
• Collaboration: Work collaboratively with your therapist to explore options and make informed decisions that align with your personal goals.
• Patience: Understand that therapy is a process and that significant change takes time and consistent effort.

Practicing Compassion is in-network with Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna/Evernorth, Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans, and United Healthcare. We also provide superbills for out-of-network benefits. 

Yes, we utilize the Headway platform for insurance and billing purposes. A link will be sent to you from Headway to verify your insurance benefits prior to your first session. You can also call the member services number on your insurance card to learn more about your coverage.

Yes, we provide superbills for out-of-network reimbursement. A superbill is primarily used when a client sees a healthcare provider who is not part of their insurance network, meaning they need to pay upfront for services and then seek reimbursement from their insurance company. The client is responsible for submitting the superbill to their insurance company and following up on the reimbursement process. We accept debit cards, all major credit cards, HSA, and FSA cards. 

Practicing Compassion offers self-pay rates for clients who choose not to use insurance or for those with out-of-network coverage. The standard fee is $150 per 60-minute session. A sliding fee scale may be available upon request.  

Benefit coverage varies by insurance plan.

• Deductible: You may be responsible for meeting your deductible before insurance coverage begins.
• Copay: A fixed amount you pay per session.
• Coinsurance: You pay a percentage of the session cost, with insurance covering the remainder.

Once your insurance benefits are verified with your insurance provider, we will have a clearer understanding of your potential out-of-pocket costs. You will be informed of any financial responsibility prior to your first session, ensuring no surprises. 

A good faith estimate (GFE) is a list of expected charges for health care services. Your clinician will provide this to clients who don't have insurance or aren't using insurance.  A GFE helps you understand upfront the expected costs of your care . 

Practicing Compassion, LLC

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW HEALTH INFORMATION MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.

I. OUR PLEDGE REGARDING HEALTH INFORMATION:
We understand that health information about you and your health care is personal. We are committed to protecting health information about you. We create a record of the care and services you receive from us. We need this record to provide you with quality care and to comply with certain legal requirements. This notice applies to all of the records of your care generated by this mental health care practice. This notice will tell you about the ways in which we may use and disclose health information about you. We also describe your rights to the health information we keep about you, and describe certain obligations we have regarding the use and disclosure of your health information. We are required by law to:

• Make sure that protected health information (“PHI”) that identifies you is kept private.
• Give you this notice of my legal duties and privacy practices with respect to health information.
• Follow the terms of the notice that is currently in effect.
• We can change the terms of this Notice, and such changes will apply to all information we have about you. The new Notice will be available upon request, in our office, and on our website.

II. HOW WE MAY USE AND DISCLOSE HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU:
The following categories describe different ways that we use and disclose health information. For each category of uses or disclosures we will explain what we mean and try to give some examples. Not every use or disclosure in a category will be listed. However, all of the ways we are permitted to use and disclose information will fall within one of the categories.

For Treatment Payment, or Health Care Operations: Federal privacy rules (regulations) allow health care providers who have direct treatment relationship with the patient/client to use or disclose the patient/client’s personal health information without the patient’s written authorization, to carry out the health care provider’s own treatment, payment or health care operations. We may also disclose your protected health information for the treatment activities of any health care provider. This too can be done without your written authorization. For example, if a clinician were to consult with another licensed health care provider about your condition, we would be permitted to use and disclose your personal health information, which is otherwise confidential, in order to assist the clinician in diagnosis and treatment of your mental health condition.

Disclosures for treatment purposes are not limited to the minimum necessary standard. Because therapists and other health care providers need access to the full record and/or full and complete information in order to provide quality care. The word “treatment” includes, among other things, the coordination and management of health care providers with a third party, consultations between health care providers and referrals of a patient for health care from one health care provider to another.

Lawsuits and Disputes: If you are involved in a lawsuit, we may disclose health information in response to a court or administrative order. We may also disclose health information about your child in response to a subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful process by someone else involved in the dispute, but only if efforts have been made to tell you about the request or to obtain an order protecting the information requested.

III. CERTAIN USES AND DISCLOSURES REQUIRE YOUR AUTHORIZATION:

1. Psychotherapy Notes. We do keep “psychotherapy notes” as that term is defined in 45 CFR § 164.501, and any use or disclosure of such notes requires your Authorization unless the use or disclosure is:
   a. For use in treating you.
   b. For use in training or supervising mental health practitioners to help them improve their skills in group, joint, family, or individual counseling or therapy.
   c. For use in defense in legal proceedings instituted by you.
   d. For use by the Secretary of Health and Human Services to investigate my compliance with HIPAA.
   e. Required by law and the use or disclosure is limited to the requirements of such law.
   f. Required by law for certain health oversight activities pertaining to the originator of the psychotherapy notes.
   g. Required by a coroner who is performing duties authorized by law.
   h. Required to help avert a serious threat to the health and safety of others.
2. Marketing Purposes. As a psychotherapist, we will not use or disclose your PHI for marketing purposes.
3. Sale of PHI. As a psychotherapist, we will not sell your PHI in the regular course of my business. No mobile information will be shared with third parties/affiliates for marketing/promotional purposes. All the above categories exclude text messaging originator opt-in data and consent; this information will not be shared with any third parties.

IV. CERTAIN USES AND DISCLOSURES DO NOT REQUIRE YOUR AUTHORIZATION. Subject to certain limitations in the law, we can use and disclose your PHI without your Authorization for the following reasons:

1. When disclosure is required by state or federal law, and the use or disclosure complies with and is limited to the relevant requirements of such law.
2. For public health activities, including reporting suspected child, elder, or dependent adult abuse, or preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety.
3. For health oversight activities, including audits and investigations.
4. For judicial and administrative proceedings, including responding to a court or administrative order, although our preference is to obtain an Authorization from you before doing so.
5. For law enforcement purposes, including reporting crimes occurring on my premises.
6. To coroners or medical examiners, when such individuals are performing duties authorized by law.
7. For workers’ compensation purposes. Although my preference is to obtain an Authorization from you, we may provide your PHI in order to comply with workers’ compensation laws.
8. Appointment reminders and health related benefits or services. We may use and disclose your PHI to contact you to remind you that you have an appointment. We may also use and disclose your PHI to tell you about treatment alternatives, or other health care services or benefits that we offer.

V. CERTAIN USES AND DISCLOSURES REQUIRE YOU TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO OBJECT.

1. Disclosures to family, friends, or others. We may provide your PHI to a family member, friend, or other person that you indicate is involved in your care or the payment for your health care, unless you object in whole or in part. The opportunity to consent may be obtained retroactively in emergency situations.

VI. YOU HAVE THE FOLLOWING RIGHTS WITH RESPECT TO YOUR PHI:

1. The Right to Request Limits on Uses and Disclosures of Your PHI. You have the right to ask us not to use or disclose certain PHI for treatment, payment, or health care operations purposes. We are not required to agree to your request, and we may say “no” if we believe it would affect your health care.
2. The Right to Request Restrictions for Out-of-Pocket Expenses Paid for In Full. You have the right to request restrictions on disclosures of your PHI to health plans for payment or health care operations purposes if the PHI pertains solely to a health care item or a health care service that you have paid for out-of-pocket in full.
3. The Right to Choose How We Send PHI to You. You have the right to ask us to contact you in a specific way (for example, home or office phone) or to send mail to a different address, and we will agree to all reasonable requests.
4. The Right to See and Get Copies of Your PHI. Other than “psychotherapy notes,” you have the right to get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record and other information that we have about you. We will provide you with a copy of your record, or a summary of it, if you agree to receive a summary, within 30 days of receiving your written request, and we may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee for doing so.
5. The Right to Get a List of the Disclosures We Have Made. You have the right to request a list of instances in which we have disclosed your PHI for purposes other than treatment, payment, or health care operations, or for which you provided us with an Authorization. We will respond to your request for an accounting of disclosures within 60 days of receiving your request. The list we will give you will include disclosures made in the last six years unless you request a shorter time. We will provide the list to you at no charge, but if you make more than one request in the same year, we will charge you a reasonable cost-based fee for each additional request.
6. The Right to Correct or Update Your PHI. If you believe that there is a mistake in your PHI, or that a piece of important information is missing from your PHI, you have the right to request that we correct the existing information or add the missing information. We may say “no” to your request, but we will tell you why in writing within 60 days of receiving your request.
7. The Right to Get a Paper or Electronic Copy of this Notice. You have the right to get a paper copy of this Notice, and you have the right to get a copy of this notice by email. And, even if you have agreed to receive this Notice via email, you also have the right to request a paper copy of it.

EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS NOTICE

This notice went into effect on 1/26/2025

Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), you have certain rights regarding the use and disclosure of your protected health information.