DR. PAYTON'S PHILOSOPY: I believe that to help you, I must have a good understanding of the stresses in your life, so that together we can decide about whether medications [carefully selected and adjusted with input from you] are indicated along with a very specific plan of how to improve your coping skills. I will be working you to help you to increase your self-awareness and self-confidence so that you might experience a sense of fulfillment and happiness.
To achieve these goals requires that there is a trusting relationship. This takes time as I must carefully listen to you, then respond with suggestions that together we can develop a plan for the next step in our work together. Insurance companies limit psychiatrists to about 10 minutes for each visit and limit the fees as well. This is not enough time. To best serve my patients I decided I would not be a ‘network provider’ or be ‘in network’ with insurance companies. This means that your insurance will pay at an ‘out of network’ rate that could be less than an ‘in network’ rate. My office will bill your insurance for you if you wish. Your insurance company will reimburse you directly. I expect full payment at the time of your visit.
I've based my fees on my more than 40 years experience helping people along with the required amount of time that is helpful to my patients during each visit. My patients experience a very significant amount of improvement and have repeatedly indicated to me that they feel it is worth the extra cost to have me treat them. I have even seen dramatic improvement in patients who have had years of previous treatment. At times, it will require more time than had been planned in order to develop further understanding of a problem that will then lead to reduced stress and a feeling like a weight has been lifted. It is often obvious to my patients that we are going over the scheduled time and yet at times I will mention this to give them an opportunity to discuss stopping the session. However, there are times when I feel that the process that is occuring is too important to interrupt as the benefits to my patient continuing in the session are significant. Finally, as at times someone's appointment requires more time, I can end up running a few minutes behind. I am sorry for any inconvenience this might cause.
