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Our office does not participate with any insurance companies. We can provide you with procedure codes that you can use to discuss potential out-of-network benefits with your insurance company.
We do not speak directly with insurance companies, but please let the office know as soon as possible if there is a form to fill out for preauthorization.
Following the evaluation process, we provide an itemized receipt that you could submit to your insurance company for potential reimbursement.
Please note that many insurance companies indicate that they provide coverage for neuropsychological testing; however, ultimately, reimbursement is made based on the medical necessity of the evaluation. Evaluations for concerns related to learning and attention are typically not reimbursed for because insurance views these types of evaluations as being educationally related and not medically required.
By not working with insurance companies, we can provide higher-quality of care. We are not bound by the number of hours permitted to complete the evaluation. We also do not need to overbook in order to compensate for the lower rate of pay provided by insurance companies. It also provides you with confidentiality, as our treatment does not need to be audited or report to an insurance company.
The type of evaluation needed, the areas of concern, and the age of the child contribute to the cost of the evaluation.
Comprehensive neuropsychological evaluations range in cost from $3,000 to $4,500.
If a comprehensive evaluation is not needed, targeted evaluations range in cost from $1,000 to $2,500. IQ testing in isolation is $500.
Payment is due in full at the last testing session.
We accept personal or bank checks made out to Mindspring Development Services, as well as Zelle payments to the account drpetouvis@gmail.com.
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This video includes detailed information about the evaluation process and the most common referral concerns. If you are still unsure, you are welcome to make an appointment for a consultation. Initial consultations take place via phone or a virtual platform, depending on your preference. The fee is $200 for an hour session. If you decide at the end of the appointment that you would like to move forward with an evaluation, the $200 will be applied to the evaluation bill.
Reach out to your child’s teacher(s) first. If you live in New Jersey and the teacher shares your concerns, you can ask if the teacher can consult with the Intervention & Referral Services Committee (I&RS) (in NY there is a Response to Intervention [RTI] committee). These types of committees are made up of other teachers, usually an administrator, and other types of staff, such as a school psychologist, nurse, and/or learning consultant, for example. The purpose of these committees is to brainstorm with the teacher about the struggling student in order to come up with a plan of action. The areas of concern can be in any domain influencing the child at school (academic, social, emotional, behavioral, adaptive skills, motor skills…). Sometimes the recommendations are for strategies the teacher can implement. Other times, the student receives a special type of small group or in-class extra help for a certain academic subject, often referred to as Basic Skills Instruction. Regardless of the type of help, a measurement plan should be put in place to assess if the child is improving in the area(s) of concern with the additional help. The committee then reconvenes, usually in four to eight weeks, to discuss progress. At that point, the decision can be made to continue with the plan, tweak the plan, discontinue the plan, or refer the child to special education.
At any time, a parent has the right to request an evaluation from their Child Study Team (referred to as the Committee for Special Education in NY). A parent is not required to wait for the I&RS process in order to request an evaluation; however, schools often would like to try to see if a child can be helped via general education supports prior to evaluating for special education.
Parents sometimes request a neuropsychological evaluation because their school has rejected their request for an evaluation, they prefer to privately pursue an evaluation that encompasses areas of functioning beyond school-based testing, and/or the timeline of the school’s testing is longer than a private evaluation (depending on scheduling).
We recommend avoiding the word “testing” related to the process. The sessions will not feel like traditional classroom testing. The work is mostly interactive.
We recommend saying that you’ll be doing a variety of activities to see how you learn best to make sure you are getting everything you need at school (and/or in life!). Dr. Petouvis introduces herself as “Dr. Petouvis”or “Dr. P.” You can describe her to your child, if your child is on the younger side, as a teacher-type doctor without any shots or medicines.
Please bring any paper forms you were provided (if applicable). Also, if you were requested to bring records and you do not have electronic records, bring printed copies that Mindspring Development Services are able to keep for your child’s record.
Feel free to bring a drink and a snack to the appointment for your child. At least one break per testing session will take place out in the waiting room, which is a great time for a snack.
The child will primarily be in a testing room with the evaluator, and the parent or adult bringing the child to the appointment will be in the waiting room. Feel free to bring work, a book, or a tablet. WiFi is available.
We request that young-aged siblings are not brought to the sessions, based on the lengthy nature of the appointments and in order to keep the waiting room quiet.
We request the following records to be provide prior to the first testing session, unless otherwise specified:
We recommend telling your child’s school you are pursuing an evaluation for multiple reasons, including that we request teacher input. You do not need to provide the reason for having the evaluation, nor do you have to share the results. Those decisions can be made later in the evaluation process. If you do not want your school to know about the evaluation, we can discuss this prior to the beginning of the evaluation.
We do not conduct testing sessions virtually. While intake interviews with parents and follow-up conferences to review evaluation results are typically held online, the student evaluation itself is in-person.
In-person sessions provide essential insights, particularly for assessing speech/language, social skills, motor functions, and attention—areas that can be compromised in a virtual setting due to home distractions, for example. Additionally, in-person testing allows us to observe key behaviors, such as transitions into the testing environment, separation from parents, and how the person returns to work after breaks, which are not fully captured virtually.
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At the end of the last session, general feedback may be able to be relayed to the parent regarding the student’s presentation, and potentially any overt strengths and/or weaknesses.
More often, diagnostic impressions are not provided at the last testing session because all of the testing completed needs to be scored and analyzed together. Reports are typically available two to three weeks after the last testing session.
We provide an evaluation report with recommended support strategies and interventions, if needed. We offer consultations for parents and schools, and we conduct progress monitoring reevaluations as needed.
We can have an open discussion about concerns about the findings. I want the report and information discovered to be most useful for your child. Schools typically require scores if the results are going to be considered as part of eligibility criteria for special education or a 504 plan. There are times, though, when parents request that I provide them with a summary letter of qualitative findings, rather than providing their child’s school with all information in the report, for privacy reasons and/or because parents do not want the report to bias school staff working with their child. If I provide an excerpted letter, I state that the parent requested the letter as a summary & that a comprehensive report was also provided to the family.
The need for reevaluation depends on the initial findings, the age of the child, and whether or not they are receiving special education services. Elementary students are sometimes reevaluated once per year to measure progress and to determine if additional services are needed. Reevaluations are oftentimes targeted evaluations based on areas of concern, particularly if conducted on a more frequent basis, such as once per year.
For students in middle school and high school, reevaluations can take place every three years, unless there are significant changes that require sooner evaluation. Some families and schools determine that after the initial neuropsychological evaluation and an understanding of the child’s diagnosis, the school-based reevaluations are sufficient for reevaluations.
Yes. Dr. Petouvis attends school meetings on behalf of students, upon request. Dr. Petouvis does not attend meetings on behalf of a child whom she has not evaluated directly.
At this time, Mindspring Development Services is only providing evaluative and consultative services. Our vision is to offer additional intervention services in the future.