cost of psych assessment

[1cindy2]

My doctor's office charges $500 for the psych assessment. Is this way out of line? What happens in that session that justifies so much money? I'd love to know what to anticipate! Thanks.

[FlowerGalTX]

That seems a little high to me.

[HappyMe]

Mine was $150. That seems very high to me unless it is above and beyond what I understand the standard to be- one hour of test taking with a quick conversation with the psych.

[Evie Sleevie]

Um, that is CRAZY high!!!

[celticmom218]

That's crazy high! Can you find your own person the psych evaluation. I was allowed to do that.

[finallyfreeforever]

It's not unheard of. Most Docs charge their hourly rate times how long it takes to meet with you, interpret test results and write the report. Hourly rates very widely depending on years of experience and geographic location. Where I live, I would actually be suspicious of someone charging $150 but in other areas that's right in line.

[MozMonQ]

My psych eval was covered by insurance, but in the consent forms I had to sign prior to my session with her is her session fees. She charges $160 per hour. My psych eval was a short interview with her (about 20 minutes) and almost 2hrs of answering test-like questions.

[JoyESS1]

I am a licensed mental health professional and I have had the pre-op psych assessment and in my book $500 is way out of line! I paid $200 and thot that was bad but she did give 2 computerized tests by Millon that were specifically designed for people about to have bariatric surgery. Unless your psych evaluator is doing a whole battery of psychometric tests that for some reason your surgeon wants...I would shop around.
Things to ask: Do you evaluate people for surgery specifically? Bariatric surgery specifically? Do you offer ongoing counseling before and after surgery? At what rate? Would I have to come for that counseling to you? How long have you been doing psych evals? Are you a PhD, PsyD or MD? What does a psych eval. entail? If the psych eval includes personality inventories like the MMPI2 then I would not take it...it is a 566 question test that takes about 2 hrs. or more and is used to determine specific mental illnesses. Also ask if the psych person has heard of or practices Positive Psychology...this is a form of psychology that aims to work with the wellnesses in people instead of the pathologies.
If you have a mental illness co-ocurring w your obesity then ask if that is an absolute no without taking the evaluation. No sense in spending money if their mind will be made up ahead of time.
Anticipate some computer or paper and pencil tests (no right or wrong answers) and an interview to get your emotional, social and perhaps medical history. Should take 1-2 hrs.

[Rubyslippers1]

my psych evaluation was a written exam and cost $100.00 total out of pocket, however, everything was out of pocket for me.

[ILgal]

Mine was about the same but I had to have 3 visits. I had to have the personality inventory with the 500+ questions, arggh!! When I got my report, I did not agree with some of the assessments. Some just were not right and I know it. Counselor was however nice but not quite sure they were geared towards weight loss evals, it went overboard.

[Dana]

I paid 140.00 and 40 of that was for her to FAX the paper to my dr. THAT annoyed me. I had a few questions a nice visit. They look for signs of depression to see if you might be prone to it after the surgery. They usually do not stop the surgery but make you go to more sessions to deal with depression. They also checked us to see if we understood this wasn't a miracle weight loss surgery, that we would still have to diet, strike that, still have to change our eating habits for life. And that 150 lbs wasn't going to be gone in a month. I told her I knew I would always have to watch what I ate but if I just had a fresh start I knew I could do it! They ask about child abuse and other things that bring on depression. I think depression may be a sign of possible failure and they want to prevent that. That's al I know from my little visit!

[Sara]

I made my appt today and its going to cost me $250.00.

[1cindy2]

Thanks everyone! I thought this seemed really out of line, so it's really helpful to have comparison information!

[KarenMc]

That's pretty expensive...Is that the only place you can go?

[AmyLess]

Mine was $450 - $150 for the talk and $300 for the questionnaire, scoring, and report. I made the mistake of telling him I had been treated for depression over 7 years ago. Now I'm in psych eval hell while the therapist from 7 years ago tries to straighten out the mess. Even the insurance gal thinks his report was overly cautious as it was 7 years ago and I completed therapy successfully.