To book an appointment for a NEW PATIENT, please follow these steps:

1)  Prior to your first visit, please complete our new patient information forms and return them to our office.  You may call our office to request a copy of the forms via mail or print them directly from this website:

  Click here to download new patient information forms

You will need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and print the PDF file.  Click the icon below to download Acrobat Reader if you do not already have it installed on your computer.

2)  When you complete the history form, be sure you include the separate pages that ask in detail about your past medical treatments and prior lab tests.  This is almost always very important information. Also, gather pertinent lab, x-ray reports, consultation letters, etc. so we can review the entire record as we prepare for your visit.

3)  Mail the new patient forms.  We will attempt to contact you to set up an appointment when we receive your forms.  Please be sure that your phone number and/or email address is correct.  If our response to you is delayed, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Note:  We must have the completed questionnaire before we can book an appointment.  We prefer you send us the lab reports with the questionnaire.  However, as a practical matter, it’s often best to send the questionnaire first while you continue to gather the lab records.

By obtaining the questionnaire first, we can review it as we prepare for your visit.  Most of our patients have complex problems.  The time involved in getting organized is well worth the (substantial) effort.

4.  We ask you to send a $100 deposit with your questionnaire. This is to hold your place.  We schedule 1.5 hours of the physician’s time and additional time with the nurse educator.  You might imagine the difficulty that results if a new patient fails to show.

If you must cancel, we will refund your deposit provided that you give at least 14 days notice.  After 14 days, the doctor will have already devoted time carefully reviewing your case and the deposit is, therefore, non-refundable.

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Our fees for the initial evaluation visit and also the typical first follow up visits:

For many patients, three visits is enough to accomplish their initial goals. A typical treatment plan follows this schedule:

The Initial Visit:  Prior to your first visit Dr. Podell and the nurse educator review your comprehensive history questionnaire, along with lab reports and other records you submit. Plan to spend about 2.5 hours at our office for the first visit. Dr. Podell sees each patient for about 1.5 hours. Work with the nurse educator occurs both before and after Dr. Podell’s visit.

The goals of the first visit is to listen carefully to your history, discuss your past records, conduct a physical examination, and develop an over-view plan for diagnosis and treatment. At the end of the first visit we provide each patient with a written list of instructions for the next weeks. At your request, we will dictate a letter to or discuss your case with your physician. If further questions occur later, we encourage you to call Dr. Podell, Wendy King, R.N, Ph.D., or our nurse educator.  Dr. Podell’s initial visit charge is $650.

The Second Visit is usually about 4 weeks later: In some ways this is the most important visit. We review the results from recent diagnostic tests, and evaluate the success of the treatment strategies we began after our first visit. For most persons the second visit is 30 minutes, and the charge is $200. For persons whose problems are especially complex we advise a 45 minute second visit, for which the charge is $300.

The third visit is usually about one month after the second, and takes 30 minutes. The charge is $200.

Thus, for most persons the professional charge for the initial block of 3 visits professional charges would be $1050. For persons with especially complex problems a $1150 is possible. Dr. Podell does not participate in any HMO or PPO plans. We provide patients with “superbill” receipts and diagnosis codes. Most (but not all) health insurance plans offer a degree of reimbursement for visits to “out of plan” professionals. Dr. Podell has “opted out” of Medicare. Therefore, you may not submit Dr. Podell’s charges to Medicare or to a Medigap insurance. Persons who have independent insurance coverage unrelated to Medicare may submit to their independent provider, even if they are on Medicare. Medicare/Medigap patients who see Dr. Podell would normally be covered for lab work and medicines, since the laboratories and the pharmacies usually do participate in these plans.

 

Wendy King, R.N., Ph.D is advanced practice nurse (nurse-practitioner not a physician. She does participate in Medicare, and accepts the standard Medicare fee schedule. (Dr. King directs our pediatric behavioral, autistic spectrum and clinical research programs.) For non-medicare patients Dr. King’s new patient first visit charge is $500 . Dr. King does not participate in commercial managed care programs.

Our office wants to help you get your insurance benefits. Although our office does not participate in insurance plans, we provide you with the procedure and diagnostic codes required for you to submit for "out of plan" reimbursement. This usually is sufficient. Where insurance plans require further information or extended discussions, our staff will help you work with your insurance company. We charge a very modest pro-rated fee for the staff time involved.

 

Laboratory Providers: At our Springfield location, we draw blood in the office and usually send the labs to either Bioreference Laboratory, Quest Labs or Labcorp.. At Somerset, there is a Quest lab station nearby. If your health plan prefers a different lab, we will give you a prescription for the lab tests. You you can take that prescription to the lab. If you (or your health plan) prefers that your primary physician order the lab tests, , we can write out our recommendations for you to give to your primary physician. We will be happy to discuss these with your physician if he or she has questions.  We encourage your physicians to call us about any other aspects of your care.

We have no financial interest in any lab test. Our objective is to help you obtain the testing you need as conveniently and as inexpensively as you can.