At Connections Wellness Group, we know that seeking behavioral health treatment comes with many questions. Below, we have presented many of the mental health FAQs – frequently asked questions – commonly associated with finding the proper mental health treatment for you or a loved one.
With close to a dozen locations throughout the Dallas–Ft. Worth metropolitan area, we are ready to provide comprehensive, affordable, and accessible mental health services to those in need. Naturally, if your questions are not addressed below, we invite you to contact us at 940.360.4245 or online.
Medication Refill FAQs
If you are prescribed a stimulant, it will be sent to your preferred pharmacy within one (1) business day. Due to the national shortage, if we need to resubmit your prescription to a different pharmacy, this can take up to 3 business days to complete. We are not able to send stimulant refills after office hours during the week or on the weekend.
It is important to keep your scheduled appointment to ensure that you receive timely refills. Repeated no shows or cancellations will result in a denial of refills.
If you have any questions regarding medications, please discuss these during your appointment. If for any reason you feel your medication needs to be adjusted or changed, please contact us immediately.
Medical Records and Other Information Requests
- How to request your medical records
- Fax the request to 940-228-1298
- Call medical records at 940-289-4502
- Email medical records at [email protected]
- To request medical records, a Request for Medical Records form will need to be filled out that will be placed in your patient portal.
- How much does it cost and why?
- In accordance with the Health and Safety Code, Subsection 241.154€, the fee effective as of January 20, 2017, for providing a patient’s health care information are as follows:
- For paper copies: $25 retrieval or processing fee, which includes providing the first 20 pages of records.
- PLUS: $0.50 per page for pages 26+
- For electronic copies: $25 Retrieval or processing fee, which includes providing the first 500 pages.
- PLUS: $25 for pages 501+
- For paper copies: $25 retrieval or processing fee, which includes providing the first 20 pages of records.
- NOTE: If you are wanting your records to be sent to another provider, have the provider send a request as those are free of charge.
- In accordance with the Health and Safety Code, Subsection 241.154€, the fee effective as of January 20, 2017, for providing a patient’s health care information are as follows:
- Timeline
- It typically takes 7-10 business days to process the request, but it will be provided within 15 business days.
- Delivery
- Printed and picked up (see notes for additional fees)
- Sent via encrypted email.
- Approval
- Some notes will need to be approved by your provider(s).
- Fees
- $300 fee per one hour, billed in a minimum of quarter-hour increments.
- $75 fee for every 15 minutes it takes to gather this information.
- If an affidavit is requested, a fee of up to $15 may be charged for executing the affidavit.
- The reason this fee is more than the $25 request for records fee is because of the process it takes to get the notes approved by the providers.
- $300 fee per one hour, billed in a minimum of quarter-hour increments.
- There is no charge when the request is coming from an organization.
- A consent form will be placed in patients portal to fill out and sign for us to release the requested records unless the organization includes one.
- There is a policy for these that lists all needed information.
- It can take a minimum of a week to process and up to 15 business days depending on how long it takes the companies to get back to us.
- $75 processing fee for FMLA
- $100 processing fee for STD/LTD
- A consent form must be completed for the requested organization or employer.
- The paperwork is faxed directly to the requesting employer/organization. If a patient wants copies, they will need to go through the request for medical records process.
- It is up to the provider if they agree to complete the paperwork.
- It is up to the provider if they provide an extension on the FMLA paperwork and duration of the extension.
- FMLA paperwork will not be completed until a patient has been seen a minimum of 3 months or up to the providers discretion.
- There is no fee if the patient is currently in PHP/IOP.
- If a patient is interested in FMLA/STD/LTD they must contact their employer’s HR department and they will then fax us the appropriate documents.
- No CWG provider will write or sign emotional support letters (ESA) anymore.
- No paperwork requesting clearance for plasma donation will be filled out, the patient will need to defer to their PCP.
- All letters cost $35 and is more than the $25 request fee because the process and time it takes to get with the provider to fill out the paperwork.
Mental Health FAQs
- Counseling, all types – $150
- Psychiatric Evaluation, Initial Visit – $350
- Psychiatry, Follow-Up Visit – $200
- Nutritional Counseling – $100
- We are in-network with Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna, Cigna, Tricare, Magellan, Humana, Optum, all UHC plans (UMR, All Savers, United Shared Services, etc.), Baylor Scott and White Health Plan, Bright Health Care, Behavioral Health Systems.
- We are not in-network with Medicaid or Medicare.
We do not accept any Oscar health plans at this time.
- LCSW – Licensed Clinical Social Worker
- LPC – Licensed Professional Counselor
- LCDC – Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor
- LMFT – Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
- Ph.D. – Doctor of Philosophy
- MD – Medical Doctor
- NP – Nurse Practitioner
- RD – Registered Dietitian
- LD – Licensed Dietitian
The answers may surprise you – there’s not a whole lot of difference between any of them! All licenses can practice therapy independently and are all licenses awarded by the state after an individual meets strict requirements. The main difference can be found in the educational approach received during their degree programs.
- Social workers are trained at the individual, family, group, and community levels.
- Counselors are trained with an emphasis on individuals.
- Marriage and family therapists are trained, unsurprisingly, with an emphasis on marriage and family!
Don’t overthink this, though! All the therapists are trained out of the same books, with the same theories, applying the same principles to the therapy relationship. The credentials behind their name should reassure you that they’re qualified and not cause confusion when selecting the best therapist!
We offer several services to our clinicians, such as:
- Competitive Pay
- Insurance Paneling & Credentialing
- Electronic Medical Records
- Furnished Office Space
- Quarterly Bonus Options
- And much, much more!