New Patients
Thank you for your interest in Pathways to Wellness services! Here is what you can expect during your visits to the clinic.
NEW PATIENT PSYCHIATRIC EVALUATION VISIT:
All new patients are required to bring completed enrollment forms, a copy of your insurance card and picture identification to your first visit. We also ask new patients to bring current pill bottles or a complete list of all medications that are currently being taken, a copy of any recent labs or imaging studies and any psychological reports to your initial visit. Your physician or nurse practitioner will give you time to introduce yourself, ask about your background, why you are seeking psychiatric assistance and most importantly find out what you wish to achieve with the help of our services. Our medical staff are interested in understanding your past and current life experiences. While our medical staff collect information about past diagnoses from prior treating medical providers it is important to understand that your new Pathways Medical Provider will issue their own clinical conclusions based on your history and symptoms you present during your evaluation. Please allow for at least 1 – 1 ½ hours for your first visit.
* For any child or adolescent between the age of 5 to 17 a parent or legal guardian must be present for all appointments.
MEDICATION MANAGEMENT FOLLOW-UP VISIT:
After your physician has completed your Initial Evaluation he/she will request that you come back for a routine follow-up visit. These routine visits are referred to as a “medication management” visit. Your physician or nurse practitioner will inquire about how your medications are working for you, ask about your current life stressors and how you are managing and coping with them. Your physician will provide you with a refill or suggest medication changes and stress-reduction strategies when appropriate.
* Please be advise that the clinic will not provide phone refills. Therefore, it is extremely important that you make all of your scheduled appointments. If you are unable to make a scheduled appointment, please immediately contact the clinic to cancel and reschedule so that you do not run out of medication.
THERAPY SERVICES:
Our clinic offers individual psychotherapy, family and group therapy services. All therapy sessions will have a specific focus area for treatment, will include defined goals and will have an identified estimation of time necessary to complete therapy services. Your therapist will also give you a designated number of sessions. Therapy sessions can range from 30 to 90 minutes depending on your needs.
You may ask your physician or your insurance carrier to provide you with a referral for any of our therapy services.
HOW TO MAKE YOUR FIRST APPOINTMENT
FOR MEDI-CAL Insured:
As a new patient, you must call Alameda County ACCESS at (800) 491-9099 for a referral to Pathways to Wellness. The County ACCESS department then faxes a referral letter within the next 24-48 hours to our Intake Department. Call us to schedule your first appointment, (800) 975-PATH (7284). Both Alameda County and Contra Costa County requires that Pathways to Wellness obtains an authorization for services before any Medi-cal insured patient can be seen in our clinics.
FOR Medicare, PPO, HMO INSURED and private pay:
Call us to schedule your first appointment, (800) 975-PATH (7284)
