This section is meant to provide you with basic information about the practice so that when you call to talk about using my services, we can focus on what you want to accomplish and how to make that happen.
Hours:
Office hours are as follows, with some variation as specific needs arise:
Monday 8:00-1:30
Wednesday 8:00-11.30
Friday 8:00-5:00
Tuesday and Thursday - closed
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As a rule, I reserve weekends and evenings for my family. Emergencies, of course, are seen at any time. Unless you and I schedule otherwise, each session will be 45 minutes long. If my schedule allows and we agree to extend the session, I bill in quarter hour increments. Likewise, if it makes sense to end a session early, I only bill for the time actually used. If your budget does not allow us to go overtime, please let me know.
Fees:
My fees are $200 per 60 minute hour except for court work ($250). Like most health care providers, I ask that you pay at the time of each session unless other arrangements have been made. While I am “out-of-network” for most insurance plans, let’s discuss how this translates in your case, as you may be pleasantly surprised. I am a provider for Tricare, Medicare and the various Georgia Medicaid plans.
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As a courtesy to my clients, I mail claims directly to their insurance carrier(s) and just collect the deductible and co-pay at the time of the visit. Because of the many, varied managed care plans, please check with your carrier regarding any requirements for pre-authorization. To help you derive the maximum benefits from your plan, I suggest you use the Insurance Benefits Worksheet that is included in the intake forms and call your insurance carrier to get the information needed. Statements are provided on request.
If you know you will need to change an appointment, please give me 24 hour notice so that I will have time to notify others who may wish to use your time slot. I charge $100 for missed appointments and cancellations without 24 hour notice unless the appointment can be rescheduled within the same week. (There are obvious exceptions to this, of course, such as a child's illness.)
Messages:
The operators at my answering service automatically tape record the conversation with each caller. When I call for messages, I hear exactly the message you left, so the operator does not write the message.
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They also send me a brief e-mail regarding your call. I generally check for calls/e-mails every few hours whether or not I am in the office. Late afternoon calls are frequently returned in the evening, so please leave a day and evening number if you call late in the afternoon. Non-emergency calls after 5:00 PM are returned the next day.
If I return a call to a work phone number, I only identify myself as “Paul Schenk”(not “Dr. Schenk”) in order to help preserve privacy. If you do not want me to call you at a particular number, please be sure to tell me and indicate so on the intake form.
Emergencies:
In the unlikely event your situation is an emergency, the answering service will page me for an immediate call back. Please tell them your call is an emergency if you need to have me paged.
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Be aware that it can take up to 20 minutes for them to page me during busy phone times. If I do not return your page in a timely manner, please call back. Obviously, for medical emergencies and/or life threatening situations, please call 911.
When I am out of town attending conferences, on vacation with my family or otherwise unavailable, one of my colleagues provides coverage for emergencies. He or she may be reached by calling my office phone number and asking the answering service operator for the name and phone number of the on-call psychologist.
E-mail, Cell Phones, and Fax:
If you plan to use fax or email to communicate with me, please be sure we discuss confidentiality and response time issues first. While I usually check e-mail several times a day, there are exceptions.
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Remember that cell phones are not as secure as “land lines”. When I am away from the office, I sometimes use my cell phone to return calls. Please let me know if you want me to only use a land line when we are talking by phone.
If you send me a fax, please leave me a phone message to alert me to watch for it. On rare occasions, the fax machine runs out of ink, or the sender misdials, or - one time - the sender put the pages with the wrong side down and I got 10 blank pages. It is important to understand that I cannot guarantee the privacy or confidentiality of e-mail. The legal protections regarding the confidentiality of the client -- psychologist relationship may not apply to email content.
What are the limits of confidentiality?
In Georgia, information given to a psychologist is termed "confidential," a legal term providing even more protection than "privileged" information. In essence, I am not allowed to share any information with anyone else without your written consent, with a few important exceptions:
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suicidal risk -- if I believe that a client is at imminent risk of harming himself or herself, I am legally and ethically required to intervene. In the unlikely event that I thought this applied to you, I would tell you before I contacted anyone else.
homicidal risk -- if I believe that a client is at imminent risk of harming someone else, I am required to intervene. Stemming from "duty to warn" legislation, I would have to notify the person whose life I believed was at risk. Again, in the unlikely event that I thought this applied to you, I would tell you before I contacted anyone else.
abuse of a minor child or an elderly person -- Psychologists are required to report suspected abuse to DFCS. Again, in the unlikely event that I thought this applied to you, I would tell you before I contacted DFCS.
In very rare cases, a judge can order a psychologist to release records. In 32 years, I have never had this happen.
Case law is somewhat ambiguous about confidentiality when two or more people are in the room with a psychologist. For example, assume I am working with a couple. For billing purposes, only one of them is the "client." Can the client waive confidentiality for the case file, including things the spouse told me, without the spouse giving consent? Has confidentiality already been waived because the spouse was present? Different courts have ruled differently.
If parents are involved in child custody litigation, the situation can arise where one parent waives confidentiality for the child's psychological records. In such cases, it is important to talk things over with your attorney.
For children and teens under age 18, there are two additional exceptions: If I believe a child/teen is either engaged in criminal activity (e.g., breaking into homes, stealing cars) or is involved in drug/alcohol use, it is my policy to tell parents -- after discussing it with the child/teen first. Technically, this is not a violation of confidentiality, because with few exceptions, parents have the legal right to access to their minor children's medical/psychiatric records.
So what about confidentiality for children and teens? The HIPAA regulations have made some changes that therapists are still sorting out. Historically, I have worked under the assumption that parents have the legal right to access everything in my notes. However, the reality is that teens (and children) are more likely to open up to me if they trust that I will honor their confidence. So I ask that parents trust that I will alert them if any of the above exceptions come into play. In practice, only one parent in 32 years has balked at that. The case involved a change of custody petition. I refused to share the requested information without a court order because of how destructive I thought it would be for his son. Before the case went to court a few weeks later, the boy turned 18, making it a moot point.
A Final Word:
Last and most important, therapy is a two-way process. In my office I keep the figure of a wizard holding a crystal ball to remind both of us that I don’t read minds. If there's something you want me to know about you or your family, or about how I'm working with you, please tell me. I see it as your job to tell me what you'd like to improve in your life (or your child's life), and my job to figure out how to help you make it happen.
