General Office Policies

Updated 1-18-2022

Policies are subject to change. Please contact our office for the most updated policies. These policies are valid for Magnetic Hope.

1. Payment: Co-pays are expected at the time of service.
2. Hours: Regular office hours are:
   • Monday – Thursday 8:30-4:00
   • Friday: 8:00-12:00 pm.
   • Extended hours are available only by appointment.
3. Cancellation Policy: We have a 72-hour (three business-day) cancellation policy for any appointments. If you do not show or do not cancel within the notice period, you will be obligated to pay the full fee of the service. Notification must be received by 4:00pm to be counted on that business day. The cancellation fee is NOT billable to insurance.
4. Telephone Calls: Magnetic Hope office staff typically answer the telephone during the office hours of 9am to 4pm Monday-Thursday and 9-11 on Friday except for holidays. If we are assisting other patients OR if you are calling after hours, your call will go directly to voicemail. We check and respond to voice mails regularly during office hours only. If you need to speak with a clinician urgently during or after office hours, you will be billed accordingly, (see “Notice of Common Non-Session Charges”). If considered medically appropriate by the clinician, calls can be scheduled with clinicians and will be billed at their prorated hourly rate. If you need administrative assistance with regards to billing, then contact the billing staff directly.
5. Use of Video Chat/Virtual visits for Clinical Communication: Dr. Richesin and/or her staff may communicate via a video chat format like Zoom, Skype, Google Video, or Doxymity. A patient who uses this form of communication agrees and understands that this form of communication can have substantial and inherent security risks, but hereby allows such communication despite these risks. If a patient does not approve of this form of communication, then the patient must refuse such forms of communication and give us notification as such in writing. Face-to-face visits, and direct phone calls offer the only more secure alternative. Virtual visits with the clinician must comply with state and local laws. In addition, your insurance coverage may not cover charges for virtual visits in the same way that they do for face-to-face visits.
6. Emergency Calls: We are not set up to handle emergencies, and we do not provide an on-call after-hours service. If you have an emergency, call 911 or go to your closest emergency room. Do not leave us any voice mails, texts or emails as these will not be addressed until the next business day. Please contact us the following day to let us know of your emergency and the treatment you received at the hospital.
7. Use of Email: If you provide us your email or originate an email to us, then you agree with the use of email with our office. The nature of electronic communications is such that I cannot guarantee that our communication will not be accessed by other people. I will use updated security measures for keeping data protected, but there is a risk that our electronic communications may be hacked and accessed by others . You should also take reasonable steps to ensure the security of our communications (for example, only using secure networks for telemedicine sessions and by constructing long passwords to protect the device you use for telemedicine). We use email for administrative purposes, like billing, receipts, scheduling, and patient feedback unless we have made another agreement with you. We ask that you help us protect your privacy by limiting email exchanges and text messages with my office to administrative matters. This includes things like setting and changing appointments, billing issues, and other related matters. I try not to discuss any clinical information by email or text and prefer that you do not either.  If your email is hacked let us know by phone. We only use email from the domain name magnetichope.com. Do NOT accept any emails from other domains regarding care from our clinic. Patients, family members and clients understand that using email has some inherent security risks. If you do not want us to use email or texting to communicate, then give our office notification in writing and do not supply your email to us. If you originate an email to us, then you therefore give us permission to communicate with you via email.
8. Prescriptions: Since I am sharing my TMS patients with their regular provider, I focus on the TMS and do not routinely provide medication management. Instead, I prefer patients to continue their current medications throughout the TMS process and then if needed, I am happy to collaborate with you and/or your regular provider about medication. If you need a refill you will need to contact your usual prescriber.
9. Appointments/Charges: Magnetic Hope clinicians make efforts to see patients at their scheduled time for their allotted time. Situations arise where additional time is medically needed to address a specific need. If the appointmentgoes beyond the original booked time, then the Provider will bill for the additional amount of time in session. We schedule TMS sessions back-to-back, so it is extremely important that patients be on time. If you are more that 5 minutes late then we may not be able to do TMS as it would infringe on the next patient’s scheduled time. We may not have any available openings for the remainder of that day in which case you would have to miss that day’s TMS (but are still responsible for the charge for it, which is not covered by insurance). If we do have an opening later that day, we will try to move you to it, but we charge an administrative fee of $50.00 that is also not covered by insurance. It must be paid before the TMS treatment. We accept Visa, and MasterCard (and other payment forms with prior arrangement).
10. Genetic testing: I think genetic testing can be helpful for patients on medications, and I do at times facilitate this if your provider does not offer it. The results will be reviewed with you during a regular follow-up. We do charge a small administrative fee for the testing.
11. Release of Information: Following the execution of a valid Patient Authorization Form for Release of Information, your records or a treatment summary will be forwarded to licensed professionals at no charge as a professional courtesy. Requests to release records to any other entity (including attorneys, underwriting companies, etc.) will be billed at the actual cost of supplying the records, to include cost of reviewing, copying, mailing, and additional professional time. Any request for release of records must allow at least three weeks preparation time as a Summary of Care (SOC) may be prepared by the treating clinician. It is the policy of our clinic to not release records directly to patients because psychiatric and medical records can include medical  & psychiatric jargon and abbreviations. You may request a SOC of your treatments in our office.  The typical charge for this copy is $50.  Should you want to review your entire medical record, this can be done together, in person, in an office appointment. Charges for the office appointment apply.
12. Billing Dispute:If you receive a charge which you believe to be invalid, our office will accept a written notice concerning the disputed charge. We will review the dispute with supporting evidence and respond in a timely manner.
13. Covid -19 Policy: We have implemented a COVID 19 policy in the office to keep you, your family, our families, and all employees and patients in our clinic free of illness. Please notify us at support@magnetichope.com before you come in if you have Covid, have a fever, cough, or any shortness of breath.  If you have these symptoms or have been around anyone who has had COVID 19 in the last seven days, you should quarantine and be tested.
14. Video Surveillance of Property: Magnetic Hope monitors its building with 24 hour surveillance.  The Medical Director, the administrator, and the property manager will have access to this video.
15. Notice of common Non-session charges: During TMS you will meet with your TMS therapist on Monday-Friday excluding holidays. You will also have regular follow-up sessions with Dr. Richesin. These should suffice to allow you to address any clinical or administrative concerns that you have. If you require excessive communication outside of your appointments then we do bill for this time, and it is not covered by insurance. We would also recommend that you consider supportive therapy, and we are happy to provide references for excellent clinicians who provide this type of therapy.
16. Telemedicine: Since the start of COVID-19 I have been doing TMS initial evaluations completely by telemedicine to minimize the spread of the virus. The same fee rates apply for telemedicine as for in-person evaluations. Although they recently have been paying for telemedicine, there is no guarantee that insurance or other managed care providers will continue to cover sessions that are conducted via telecommunication. If your insurance, HMO, third-party payor, or other managed care provider does not cover telemedicine sessions, you will be solely responsible for the entire fee of the session. Please contact your insurance company prior to our engaging in telemedicine sessions in order to determine whether these sessions will be covered.