FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is a Psychiatrist?
A psychiatrist is a medical doctor (an M.D. or D.O.) who specializes in mental health, including substance use disorders. People seek psychiatric help for many reasons. The problems can be sudden, such as a panic attack, frightening hallucinations, thoughts of suicide, or hearing “voices.” Or they may be more long-term, such as feelings of sadness, hopelessness, or anxiousness that never seem to lift or problems functioning, causing everyday life to feel distorted or out of control.
After completing thorough evaluations, psychiatrists can prescribe medications to help treat mental disorders. Psychiatrists use a variety of treatments – including various forms of psychotherapy, medications, psychosocial interventions and other treatments depending on the needs of each patient.
What is a Psychologist?
A Psychologist is a healthcare professional that has earned an advanced graduate degree in Psychology (PsyD or PhD). Psychologists can perform tests and assessments that can help diagnose a condition or tell more about the way a person thinks, feels, and behaves. These tests may evaluate intellectual skills, cognitive strengths and weaknesses, learning disabilities and preferences, personality characteristics, and neuropsychological functioning. Psychologists can also use their skills to help people learn to cope with stressful situations, overcome addictions, manage their chronic illnesses and much more.
What Is the Difference Between a Psychiatrist and Psychologist?
A psychiatrist is a medical doctor (completed medical school and residency) with special training in psychiatry. A psychiatrist is able to conduct psychotherapy and prescribe medications and other medical treatments.
A psychologist usually has an advanced degree, most commonly in clinical psychology, and often has extensive training in research or clinical practice. Psychologists treat mental disorders with psychotherapy and some specialize in psychological testing and evaluation.
What is a therapist?
Licensed Clinical Professional Counselors (LCPC), Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists (LMFT), and Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSW) provide mental health services. Therapists require Master Degrees and approval of their licensing boards to practice in the mental health field. Therapists provide mental health diagnosis and develop a treatment plan. There are many different types of therapy such as play therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, animal-assisted therapy, dialectal behavioral therapy, and many others. Therapists cannot recommend or order medications, but they can refer you for evaluation for medication or other treatments.
What insurances do you accept?
• Aetna
• Blue Cross Blue Shield
• Cigna
• Humana
• Medicare
• Tricare
• COMPSYCH
• PSYCHEALTH
• Northwestern Medicine HMO
• Kane County HMO
• DuPage Medical Group HMO
• Illinois Health Partners HMO
What are your self pay appointment rates?
Patients that are not utilizing their health insurance or are not insured may visit our providers at the following preferred rates.
Initial Psychiatric Evaluation (Physician) – $300
Initial Psychiatric Evaluation (Physician Assistant) – $250
Follow Up Visit (medication management with Physician or PA) – $150
Initial Evaluation (Therapist, Psychologist, LCPC/LCSW) – $200
Follow Up Visit (Therapist, Psychologist, LCPC/LCSW) – $150
Psychological Testing (varies by number of tests administered) – $1,500 – $2,500 (average cost for entire process, initial eval to sharing results)
Psychological Testing (varies by number of tests administered) – $1,200 -$2,200 (average cost for testing, scoring, report writing, not including initial evaluation and final visit sharing results)
No Show/Late Cancellation Initial Appointment – $200
No Show/Late Cancellation Follow up Appointment – $120
Letter or form preparation; extended phone calls outside of scheduled appointment time – $150/hour
What you should know prior to your visit?
• If you need to cancel or move the appointment, please make sure to do so 48 hours in advance for an Initial Appointment and 24 hours in advance for Follow Up appointments in order to avoid the no show fees ($200 for the initial visit and $120 for each follow up).
• If you have a deductible, copay or coinsurance, please be aware that payment is due at time of service.
• When you come in the office for your initial appointment, please make sure to bring your picture ID and the insurance card with you. We will need to make a copy of both of them.
• Make sure to fill out all the questionnaires required for your appointment and New Patient Packet prior to your appointment – please follow this link https://advancedbhs.com/forms/
Do you offer Virtual Telemedicine Appointments?
Yes, we offer both in person and virtual appointments for both psychiatry and therapy. Psychological testing appointments are preferred to be virtual for initial consultation and final appointment to go over the test results. Some insurance plans may waive the cost sharing for virtual appointments. Please check with your insurance for details.
Do you offer Sliding Scale for Self Pay Patients?
Unfortunately, we do not offer a sliding scale at this time.
What form of payment do you accept?
For initial appointments and patients new to our office, we accept credit cards, debit cards and cash. For established patients, we may also accept personal checks. We do not offer Apple or Google Pay at this time. Please check back soon.
How do I request refills for my medications?
Providers send sufficient refills at the end of the visit with the patient, to last until your scheduled follow up appointment. In case you run out of medication prior to your next visit, please contact our office to request refills. Please notice we do not accept refill requests from the pharmacies. The patient or their guardian, should initiate the request by contacting our office directly. Please allow at least 48-72 business hours to receive the prescription.
How can I contact my provider?
You may contact your provider for any non-urgent matter by leaving a message for them via email or by calling the office at (630)689-1022. Please notice that response time for routine messages is within 48-72 business hours.