Will my health insurance benefits cover services at Nystroms?
Can I request a specific gender?
What will happen at my first appt?
How many sessions will I have to have?
How much will you be billing my insurance?
How often do I have to come in for appointments?
Are you affiliated with or have privileges with any hospitals?
Are you a crisis clinic?
Do I need a referral from my doctor or insurance to be seen at your clinic?
What Insurances are accepted?
What is a licensed clinic?
Rule 31 – Chemical Dependency Care?
How do I make an appointment?
What are the in-home counseling programs?
What does out-of-network or point-of-service mean?

 

Will my health insurance benefits cover services at Nystroms?
Almost all medical insurance plans cover outpatient mental health services from a licensed mental health clinic such as Nystroms. Most plans have the consumer pay a co-payment with a general range of $5.00-$30.00 per visit. Some plans have deductibles which means you have to “meet” your deductible in a given calendar year before your plan pays benefits. Typical plans like this pay 80% of charges after the deductible is met. See our list of the major insurance providers that we are contracted with on page.

 

Can I request a specific gender?
Yes you can. When you call to make your first appointment with a Registration staff person they will ask you if you prefer a male or female therapist, best times of day for you to come in, etc. Our goal is to make a good fit for you and to meet your needs in the best possible way.

 

What will happen at my first appt?
The first appointment is referred to as the “intake session.” At this first appointment, your clinician will ask you many questions about your situation, types of problems you are experiencing, your personal and family history, medical questions and more all to gain a thorough understanding of you and how best to treat your problems in the most effective way. This evolves into what we call the “treatment plan” and is the blueprint for your sessions and a baseline for measuring success for you.

 

How many sessions will I have to have?
If you are coming in for therapy the average is 8-10 sessions. Sometimes things are resolved sooner and sometimes it may take longer. It really depends on your situation and the types of problems you are experiencing. The therapist will discuss the approximate number of sessions with you during the intake session. If you are coming in for medications as a treatment your prescriber will discuss the role of medications and the approximate length of time you might consider using the medication (s) for.

 

How much will you be billing my insurance?
All of our charges are billed uniformly to the insurance carriers and these are approved by all the major insurance payers. We cannot bill differently between different insurance plans. Different services have different rates. Certain licensure and educational levels of the providers have different rates as well.

 

How often do I have to come in for appointments?
The therapist will discuss this with you when you come in for your first appointment. Typically, sessions are weekly until you are doing better and then they taper until you have resolved your issues. The frequency is established between you and your therapist. If you are coming in for medications, you and the prescriber will discuss frequency. We call follow up visits for medications “med checks.” These are less frequent than therapy.

 

Are you affiliated with or have privileges with any hospitals?
We are strictly an outpatient clinic and do not function as a hospital. If someone needs the hospital we will help arrange for this and will carefully discuss this with you.

 

Are you a crisis clinic?
No, we are not a crisis clinic. Please call 911 in an emergency/life threatening situation.

 

Do I need a referral from my doctor or my insurance to be seen at your clinic?
Typically, most health insurance plans allow you to simply make an appointment at Nystroms and a referral is not needed.

 

What Insurances are accepted?
We accept all insurances. We attempt to verify that you have coverage prior to your visit and handle all the billing to your insurance plan. Ultimately, your health insurance is your benefit and you are responsible for knowing your coverage.

 

What is a licensed clinic?
As a licensed outpatient mental health clinic we have met all the rigorous and high quality standards of the State of Minnesota and have been licensed as a “Rule 29” mental health clinic. This is a standard of care and quality that insurance companies recognize and it is also designed to protect the public by having quality standards in place.

 

Rule 29 – Outpatient Care
As a licensed outpatient mental health clinic we have met all the rigorous and high quality standards of the State of Minnesota and have been licensed as a “Rule 29” mental health clinic. This is a standard of care and quality that insurance companies recognize and it is also designed to protect the public by having quality standards in place.

 

Rule 31 – Chemical Dependency Care?
Nystrom & Associates, Ltd. also has a licensed outpatient chemical dependency program as well. This program has met all the rigorous and high quality standards of the State of Minnesota and has been licensed as a “Rule 31” chemical dependency program. This is a standard of care and quality that insurance companies recognize and it is also designed to protect the public by having quality standards in place.

 

How do I make an appointment?
Simply call the main phone # or new patient line of the clinic location that best suits you. Once you call and request to be seen then you will be matched with a qualified clinician to work with you.

 

What are the in-home counseling programs?
Nystrom & Associates, Ltd. has a program for children and adolescents that meet certain criterion such as having a serious emotional disturbance (SED). If this is met then an in home therapist will be assigned to your child’s case. This is an intensive program that involves up to two home visits per week with 3-5 face to face contact hours. It also requires the parent(s) to be actively involved. Medical Assistance, PMAP’s, and some commercial insurance plans cover this program. See the website tab for "In Home Therapy & Children" for more information on this program.

The program for adults is called the Adult Rehabilitative Mental Health Services (ARMHS) program. The main criterion for this program is the adult must have a diagnosed mental illness. A mental health practitioner is assigned and the services are considered rehabilitative in nature. Medical Assistance and PMAP’s cover this program. See the website tab for “In Home Services-Adults” for more information on this program.

 

What does out-of-network or point-of-service mean?
These refer to the fact that you have a choice in your health plan to go outside of your particular HMO or Managed Care Network. This gives you options and typically you will have a deductible and then an 80/20 plan. The advantage of this is that there is less control from the insurance plan over the care given to you.