The American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery and American College of Surgery have requirements for accreditation that require surgical patients to undergo a pre-op psychological evaluation. According to ASMBS guidelines, this must be done by a psychologist or psychiatrist, not a licensed social worker. Many insurance payors require this before they will approve surgery as well. It’s important to understand what your options are for evaluation and to get the ball rolling as soon as possible, as the “psych eval” can be a rate-limiting step in your process to surgery. If you are already seeing a psychologist or psychiatrist, you can obtain a letter of clearance from them in many cases (please download the “Psychological Evaluation Guidelines” document below and give to your provider). If not, we offer multiple options for our patients as outlined here.
Our recommended choice is Dr. Charles Buhrman, Psy. D and his colleagues. They see patients frequently in all of our locations for live, in-person psychological evaluations. To set this up simply call our office, or request one with the Contact Us form below.
Depending on insurance and/or self pay situation, there are several online options as well.
Online Options
Great for Ohio/KY/IN residents with commercial/private insurance (e.g. Anthem, BCBS, Humana, Aetna, etc.) or Medicare
www.onlinebariatricpsychevals.
- Dr. James Glynn, Licensed Clinical Psychologist specializing in online Bariatric psych evals
- He takes most major insurances as well as Medicaid. His self-pay price is $175. He offers appts Monday thru Saturday and guarantees delivery of the psych eval report within 24 hrs. He can often accept same day requests too!
- To schedule just go to his web site listed above, or call 973-696-0800 extension 10.
Has providers in multiple states. Kentucky provider is self-pay only!
- You will need to register online to start the process. They can bill most commercial insurances, or their cash price is $200.
Great for Ohio residents with insurance including Medicaid and Medicare. Not available for Kentucky residents.
Psychological Health Services: Terri Czup, Ph.D – (614) 430-9697
- You will need to call to initiate the process. They can bill most major insurances including Ohio Medicaid (Caresource, Buckeye, Molina, etc.) and Medicare. Their self-pay price is $500.
Aseessment & Therapy Associates (ATA)
- ATA offers virtual pre-surgical psychological evaluations. Telehealth visits via video chat only require that you have internet access on either a computer or cell phone. They accept most insurances.
- Appointments can be scheduled from their web site at atabariatrics.com