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Billing for Psychiatrist

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oneround:
Medical Psychologists are a fairly new breed of post doctoral level correct RD?.  Thing is that these doc's if I'm not mistaken are not licensed under the state psychology board but rather the medical board and very well above your normal basic and applied psychology degree, which can not prescribe scripts.

I'd be interested in obtaining some more information on this if you have some available RD because this topic here has sparked alot of attention.  i also agree on the misdiagnosis deal witht he Psy's  I have reviwed many files and had to really question if these providers even actually spent anytime with the pt. to know what the heck they were prescribing to them.  very interested in what you can pass along on this subject

billingmom:
Well i did billing for a psychiatrist and it was easy...  Basically I billed electronically, some cash patients but mainly insurance.  I had no complaints.

PMRNC:
They are being certified in areas where psychiatrists are hard to come by.

Michele:
RD is correct, there are now 2 states in the country, New Mexico & Louisiana that allow psychologists who meet specific training requirements to prescribe medications.  The following was taken from:  http://psyris.com/pages/text/a5.html


"Psychologists receive graduate training in psychology and pursue either a Ph.D. or Psy.D. in clinical or counseling psychology. Doctorate programs typically take five to seven years to complete and most states require an additional one or two year long internship in order to gain licensure. Other states require an additional year or two of supervised practice before granting full licensure.

In the United States, there are a handful of psychologists who are authorized by the Department of Defense to provide prescription medications for the treatment of mental illness. The U.S. military recognizes the need to have psychologists fully involved in the treatment of mental disorders."

"Psychologists licensed in the States of New Mexico and Louisiana can also provide prescription medications. To do so, they must meet very specific training requirements and be supervised by a physician."



I also found the following info on the topic from http://psychology.about.com/od/psychotherapy/f/psychvspsych.htm:


The title of "psychologist" can only be used by an individual who has completed the above education, training, and state licensure. Informal titles such as "counselor" or "therapist" are often used as well, but other mental health care professionals such as licensed social workers can also claim these titles.

Psychiatrists are physicians to have specific training in the assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental illnesses. Psychiatrists attend medical school and receive an M.D. After completing medical training, they complete an additional four years of residency training in mental health. In addition to this, some receive additional training in a specific area of interest such as geriatric psychiatry, child and adolescent psychiatry, addictions and other areas.
Prescribing Medications

A second important distinction between the two careers is that psychiatrists can prescribe medication, while psychologists cannot. There has been a recent push to grant prescribing powers to psychologists, with states such as New Mexico and Louisiana now allowing psychologists to write prescriptions after consulting with a psychiatrist."

In my response I was only stating the difference, I wasn't implying that I thought either was better than the other, just that they have distinct services that they provide.  Yes some psychologists also do psychological testing, but not all do.  I was only answering the question from a billing standpoint.

Michele

oneround:
Thank you Michele, this is good onfor for me to study.

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