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If your child is struggling in any of the areas below and you are not sure how to help, a neuropsychological evaluation will be useful in getting to the root of the problem. We will help you understand your child’s strengths and weaknesses and provide you with a plan of action for home and/or school (recommendations + accommodations + resources).
When working with a psychologist to help your child thrive, it is imperative that you select someone who has excellent training, education, and experience. We specialize in working with school-aged children, young adults, and the brain! In order to provide a platform for us to understand your child’s needs best, we offer a free 20-minute consultation.
Forensic and Police and Public Safety evaluations are not covered by insurance as they are not medically necessary. They are for the purpose of legal and employment matters, respectively.
For clinical neuropsychological evaluations, we are not in-network with any insurance companies. To provide quality service to our clients, we decided to work directly with our clients. We can provide you with a superbill for potential reimbursement, but we cannot submit any billing on your behalf.
A note about insurance. Often, insurance companies will say they cover services and then go back on what they said once the claim is in, leaving you with the bill and broken promises. Also, insurance companies dictate how many hours and what type of standardized testing methods can be used since they are paying. Often, they will “approve or authorize” X number of hours, not nearly enough to complete a comprehensive and well-informed evaluation. We pride ourselves on providing you with a thorough evaluation and report and utilizing the most up-to-date evidence-based measures.
We accept all major credit cards. We also accept Health Savings Accounts, Flexible Spending Accounts, and Health Reimbursement Accounts (HSA/FSA/HRA). We require payment in full to secure your appointment.
For clinical neuropsychological evaluations only, if you have a PPO plan, it is possible to seek potential reimbursement for services. Since we do not contract with insurance companies, we do not have a medical biller on staff. Therefore, you are responsible for verifying your coverage. You will also be responsible for paying for our services upfront and seeking potential reimbursement from your insurance company after the completion of the service (this is the Out-of-Network process). We will provide you with what we call a “super bill” detailing services and the appropriate codes.
To get an idea of your potential reimbursement, you can contact your insurance company and ask about your “Out of Network Coverage” for a neuropsychological evaluation.
Questions to ask:
In short, no. Our practice has to work directly with your attorney. Your attorney is your advocate, whereas a forensic psychologist is a neutral third party to the legal decision maker or the court, regardless of which side they are retained on. We are not in a “helping role” as forensic evaluators and will only release the report to your attorney. The purpose of a forensic evaluation is to help inform legal arguments and judicial decision-making. You can provide your attorney with our contact information, and we will be happy to speak with them and send over our fee schedule and retainer agreement.
CT, MRI, and other brain scans are essential diagnostic tools your medical doctor or neurologist uses to visualize and assess neurological conditions, such as tumors, injuries, or abnormalities, in order to guide medical treatment and interventions. However, it falls short of revealing the practical impacts of these injuries on your daily emotional and cognitive functioning. Therefore, a neuropsychological evaluation can be a powerful tool (including paper-pencil testing and various questionnaires) that provides insight into how your brain operates and affects your cognitive abilities, behavior, and emotional well-being. Our comprehensive clinical evaluations will provide you with treatment recommendations designed to improve your overall well-being. If you are coming for a forensic neuropsychological evaluation (meaning you have a current criminal or civil matter), the results are meant to inform legal arguments and judicial decision-making (i.e., suitability for mental health diversion, post-injury emotional/cognitive functioning, or competence to execute a will to name a few).
First, make sure to send back your intake forms to our office before your appointment. After you complete a consultation with one of our psychologists, our office administrative assistant emails out an invoice via QuickBooks so that you can pay your evaluation fee online. She will also send your intake packet via our HIPAA-compliant client portal “IntakeQ.” You can complete it online and electronically sign your consent form. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact our office.
You will start your evaluation with a one-to-two-hour clinical interview where the psychologist will ask you questions about your background, including (but not limited to) your developmental, academic, vocational, psychiatric, psychosocial, and medical history. The psychologist will also inquire about your current emotional and cognitive functioning and ask you to discuss any type of problems or impairments that you may have experienced. If you experienced a head injury or decline in functioning at some point, the psychologist will want to know about your functioning before and after the event or decline. Clinical interviews are typically conducted on a separate day before the testing session of the evaluation. Clinical and collateral interviews (family, therapist, doctor, etc.) can be done via our HIPAA-compliant platform or in person.
Next, you will attend your testing session. These sessions range from two to five hours, depending on the issue being addressed. During your clinical interview, the psychologist will give you a better estimate of how long you should expect to spend in our office completing testing with our psychometricians (registered psychological associates). These are psychologists who are registered with the Board of Psychology and focus on administering neuropsychological tests in clinics and private practice. They are under supervision by a licensed psychologist in the practice. During your testing session, you should expect to complete various paper-pencil-style tests and questionnaires targeting the suspected area of impairment. Some of these measures are conducted via computer and iPad technology. Tests and questionnaires assess various cognitive and emotional abilities, such as fine motor and sensory skills, general intelligence, language skills, academics, executive functions (i.e., problem-solving, reasoning, attention, and concentration), learning, verbal and visual memory, and visual-spatial skills.
After the testing session is complete, the psychologist will score the tests. They will review the data in conjunction with any available records and information obtained during your clinical interview and that received from collateral interviews. Last, they will write a comprehensive report integrating the findings and detailing treatment recommendations or necessary accommodations. This part of the process usually takes about one to two weeks from your test session date.
The final part of the evaluation is to provide you with feedback about the test results, recommendations, and a written report. You will also have an opportunity to ask any questions about the process or findings. You will be scheduled for a one-hour feedback session one to two weeks after your testing session. This visit can be conducted via our HIPPA-compliant telehealth platform (i.e., Zoom or Teams) or in-office.
These evaluations are conducted in the opposite manner from our neuropsychological evaluations. You will have two visits with us. You will complete one to three hours of testing during your first visit. The amount of testing depends on your history and issues raised by the hiring agency. Completing this testing online while being proctored by one of our registered psychological associates is possible. You are also welcome to complete the testing at our office.
Next, usually within a day or so, you will be scheduled to complete your clinical interview with one of our psychologists who has met Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) continued professional experience (CPE). The psychologist will review your test results between sessions. During your interview, the psychologist will inquire about your history and background as it relates to your suitability for the position. Sometimes (depending on our availability), scheduling testing and an interview on the same day is possible.
After the interview, the psychologist will complete a written report integrating test data and information from the clinical interview and records reviewed (i.e., background investigator’s report, polygraph results, etc.). They will make an opinion as to your suitability for the position. You will not get any feedback or a copy of the report. The report is sent directly to the hiring agency 24-48 hours after the interview.
The hiring agency is responsible for payment if you were referred directly to us by the hiring agency (our contracted agencies include the Glendora Police Department, Huntington Beach Police Department, and Riverside Police Department). All other candidates will be responsible for payment. Our pre-employment evaluation fee is $800. Our fitness for duty evaluation requires a forensic retainer. Please call the office for our fee schedule.
If you are an appeal applicant, we may have you complete additional or no testing, depending upon our review of your first-round test results and report. We need those before you can be scheduled. See the next FAQ on the appeal candidate process for more information. If your hiring agency does not send these to the appeal evaluators, you will follow the process that is detailed above, completing a testing session and interview.
Our pre-employment evaluation fee is $800. This includes additional testing (if necessary,) an interview with the licensed psychologist, and a written report detailing findings and a suitability for hire opinion.
Our process. You must select one of the psychologists in the practice as your appeal evaluator and notify the hiring agency. All of our licensed psychologists have met POST CPE. Provide the name of the selected psychologist, our address (1173 N. Dixie Dr. Ste 201), phone number (626-709-3494), and email to our administrative assistant (support@vpg-corp.com). Some agencies will send us your packet (i.e., first-round evaluator’s report, prior test results, background report, etc.). If your hiring agency is one who sends these to the appeal evaluators, we need to receive this information prior to scheduling you for your evaluation. We prefer records to be sent via email as it is the quickest. But they may also send via mail or fax (626-377-4702). If sending via mail, please have the agency address it to Vienna Psychological Group, Inc. C/O Alex Pesante. Alex is our administrative assistant who receives and manages our mail, email, and records.
Once your records are received, our administrative assistant will contact you and send an online invoice for payment. Payment must be received before scheduling your testing sessions. You may pay via credit card online or bring a check to our office. These evaluations are not covered by insurance as they are required for employment, and not medically necessary. Once payment is received, you will be scheduled for the testing and interview sessions. We typically have testing appointments available every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Interviews are scheduled around the psychologists’ availability throughout the week. These evaluations do not take very long, and we can usually get you scheduled for all of your sessions within a few days to two weeks. Call our office for up-to-date availability. A written report is generated and sent to the hiring agency 24-48 hours after your interview.
You do not need to study for the tests. There is no such preparation. The tests are designed to measure your current cognitive and/or emotional functioning, not newly learned material. The tests and questionnaires will aid the psychologist in understanding the strengths and weaknesses of your abilities. This leads to appropriate treatment recommendations or accommodations to improve your overall well-being or an accurate determination of suitability for hire.
We recommend that you get a good night’s sleep, be well-rested, and give your best on the test day. Ensure you eat in the morning and take your normal medications as directed by your doctor unless they tell you otherwise. You may bring small snacks, and we will break for lunch if needed. In addition, make sure you have completed and returned the intake forms our office administrative assistant has sent you before your test appointment. It will help you get the most out of your time with the psychologist. If the psychologist has informed you that certain academic, psychiatric, or medical will be helpful, make sure you have sent them to our office before your appointment or at least signed a release of information with our office so that we can request them on your behalf.
And we would love to help answer it. Contact our administrative assistant at (626) 709-3494 or support@vpg-corp.com. Calls and emails are returned within one business day (holidays excluded). Please note that our office is closed on Fridays. Any calls or emails received on Thursday will be returned on Monday. We look forward to working with you!
