D2 is in New York City. She has a PPO. I’d ask family members in the area for suggestions but I think she’d prefer them to not have TMI about her. I know some people locally I can ask for recommendations but that seems a long shot. Any ideas? Feel free to PM me if you have ideas but need more details. Thank you!
Does she have a previous mental health provider? Or do you know anyone in the field? We have had the best luck getting referrals from providers we know. Even if they don’t know someone on the new city, often they can reach out to their professional network and get some names for you.
Another place she may want to start is with her EAP if one is available. She may like the provider offered through the EAP and might be able to continue using them through insurance after exhausting EAP benefits.
Thank you! I’m going to check with someone her sister saw in our city. I didn’t think of the EAP. I’ll ask her if she has one.
I asked my PCP, a doctor I really trusted, when I needed to find a psychiatrist in Austin for my son (2,300 miles away). He made some phone calls and found a doctor. She ended up being excellent.
I agree that it can be surprising how many contacts people may have if you ask them. I spoke to an MD I met the other day about a relative’s in-law who was having medical problems and he recommended an MD who works in Honolulu, to see if she had anyone to recommend in Honolulu. Our allergist helped us find our D a specialist at Stanford that hopefully will help our D.
You can also try checking with your D’s insurer to see if they have list of mental health professionals in NYC that are participating and preferred with the health plan, if that makes a difference to you. For us, there can be a significant cost difference between MDs who are participating and preferred compared with those who aren’t. Especially if your D will be seeing this person for an extended period of time, this may be worth inquiring about.
I’d start by getting a list of in network providers, then looking them up online. Bc/bs lists each person, their schooling, specialties, years of practice. I help people find providers in other cities by looking them up on the Narional Registry. I also check if they have Diplomate status in an area of expertise that the person wants.
Like others have said, I would start with the list of in-network providers from the insurance company.
If don’t know much about picking a psychiatrist, but for a psychotherapist, I think you really have to meet the person, and see how you click with them. I’ve gone for a few months several times, and each time, I’ve met with 3 or 4 therapists before I found someone I liked.
I think it’s a bit like picking a school. You know almost immediately whether there’s a fit. Just be careful with the insurance company. Tell them you’ll probably be trying different people, and make sure you understand exactly what you have to do to get coverage. I think I had to get a separate case number or something like that for each therapist, in advance, in order for them to be covered. It was well worth the trouble. There were two times that I tried several people and ended up with someone who was really good.
Very little experience here – but I do have some. My best suggestion is to ask the home doc for a referral. We were told that the best psychiatrists generally don’t take new patients unless they come in as a referral – and also that we might not find a good doc that would take insurance. Fortunately, we are able to pay out-of-pocket. YMMV