Treatment Guidelines

Hello,

As a psychiatrist, we are the primary mental health provider for our patients. Therefore, there are some guidelines that everyone needs to follow in order to continue care. One of the most important things to consider is that we will not continue care blindly. That means that in order to continue treatment, the doctor must be able to meet with you regularly to assess your mental status, treatment progress, and identify if changes are needed. We are happy to know when someone is doing good, but please do not wait to reach out only when you need something, are not feeling well, or are in crisis.

Follow-up Appointments:

Normally, at the beginning of the doctor-patient relationship, the doctor will want to see you back on a month-to-month basis. As treatment progresses and proves successful, the time interval may then be extended to every 2-3 months, at the discretion of the doctor. If changes are made or something needs to be monitored, she may request for you to return sooner. The longest time in between appointments should not exceed 3 months (quarterly appointments), regardless of how long anyone has been seeing her or how stable they may be. Therefore, it is a requirement to maintain regular and timely follow up visits.

The doctor makes it a point, at the end of every visit, to mention when she would like to see someone back. To avoid potential issues with scheduling and to maintain timely appointments, we recommend scheduling your follow up visits in advance, right after you see her. For this reason, our schedule is usually booked out in advance.

Refills:

We are not required to send in 90-day refills. If your insurance requires a 90-day prescription for refills to be covered, we try to be accommodating. That courtesy requires an understanding that if a 90-day refill was sent and the doctor recommended to follow up in 30 days, you would be expected to follow up within the requested 30-day timeframe.

If you are not keeping up with timely appointments in accordance with office policy, only 30-day refills will be sent if you are past due.

While many offices require that you are seen before a prescription can be sent, we try to be flexible within reason.

Controlled Medications:

These medications require sooner follow up intervals (not to exceed 2 months) due to their regulatory nature. Additionally, if someone is on a controlled substance and they are past due for an appointment, no refill will be sent in until they have been seen. Prescriptions for controlled substances should coincide with appointments.

Best practices:

1. Please provide a minimum notice of 48 hours (weekends and holidays excluded) if you need to cancel or reschedule.

2. Please be on time for your appointments, in case of lateness a 10 minute grace period is offered as a courtesy.

3. Please honor the follow up interval the doctor mentions at the conclusion of every visit, we cannot continue your care without you.

4. We are usually scheduled out in advance and recommend scheduling directly after appointments. If you prefer, we can help schedule recurring visits so that everything is set up in advance.

4. Treatment can only be provided in the states where the doctor is licensed, so please do not assume that it is okay to travel the country just because your appointment is virtual.

5. If a medication refill is needed, please let us know while you still have about a weeks worth left.

6. If your appointment is virtual, please be in a private and appropriate setting. Inappropriate settings include, but are not limited to, public places, bathroom stalls, operating moving vehicles, and etc…

7. Please set aside adequate time to meet with the doctor as appointments should not be rushed. If you schedule your visit during work hours and a meeting or job obligation comes up, please understand that we cannot be held responsible for that.

Insurance Accepted

Dr. Yana Bekker is an in-network psychiatrist with the following commercial insurance plans: