TalkiatryReviews of talkiatry.com

Mental health is such a delicate and important part of our lives. Unfortunately many companies such as Talkiatry have jumped onto the money bandwagon to try to take advantage of people that need help. I was suddenly discharged due to them saying there are no providers in California ... yet when I go to the website I can see multiple providers. Previously I had an appointment and few days before provider cancelled mind you I had waited a month for this appointment. The two appointments I did have with a therapist ..I felt was unfruitful since I did not feel the therapist was professional nor able to show me any strategies. Don't waste time trying to get services with this company they are incompetent and unethical.

Would give 0 stars if I could. I have a specific medication I need filled and after calling Talkiatry to make sure they could do it with the service online they “checked” and said “yes.” I wait a month for my appointment and when it’s time some guy jumps on who says he’s tired and is having a hard time keeping his train of thought. He tells me he doesn’t prescribe the medication I need and I explained to him that I called to check and they said he could and this was a waste of a month when I could have been looking for another doctor. I asked if I could just switch to another medication and he said no because the one I’m one is too “addictive” and it needs to be tapered and blah blah blah. I told him I’m on and insanely low dose and is that still an issue? Of course it was. I asked what other medication could I take after getting off it and he said, “there aren’t any.” I told him that doesn’t make sense to me. With how much advancement in medication we have, how are there ZERO medications that can help me as equal to the one I’m one? Absolute joke and waste of time. No way these are the best of the real psychiatrists, I guess otherwise they wouldn’t be using this service to try to get patients.

For no reason should you seek help from them. At every turn, the process is designed to discourage new patients from seeking help. From a major failure of the booking platform preventing me from scheduling an appointment and asking me to fill out new patient paperwork three times to being ultimately shown care providers as options that cannot successfully treat me because of my age, the front end setup is a nightmare. Then, when I finally have my new patient appointment, the psychiatrist doesn't want to treat me because I'm too close to turning 25 and she only treats people 25 and under. So I walk away from an hour long call with no diagnosis, treatment options, or help of any kind for what's becoming crippling mental health issues. Only the vague promise of a referral. This becomes important later. So I do actually get reassigned to a new psychiatrist after about a week and have to wait 3 weeks to have an appointment. This appointment then gets rescheduled because they claim the provider is double booked. Which, whatever. It happens to the best of us. So it's now three weeks after my first failed appointment and a week before my next new patient appointment with the new provider and I get an email that my bill is ready. Talkiatry does take my insurance, so I expect a small bill but to pay one nonetheless. But imagine my surprise when I open the bill and it's $416 even after insurance! I looked at the explanation of charges and they billed me for "Additional supportive therapy - 90836 During your visit, in addition to medical services, your clinician uses psychotherapeutic techniques (like supportive psychotherapy, psychoeducation, or cognitive behavioral therapy) to help you explore your emotions, understand your mental health, and develop strategies for feeling better. " So, if you remember, I didn't get a diagnosis and I certainly did not receive any therapy or medication. So this charge is completely false and is $140 after insurance. So I immediately write Talkiatry's billing department a very polite email asking them what's going on and to please remove this false charge from my bill before my next appointment or I'll have to cancel it. I don't do business with entities that falsify documents or practice unethical billing. And I get the most condescending email back the next day. Here's what they said: "Thanks for getting in touch with our Billing Support Team. Apologies for the inconvenience this has caused you. Your initial visit is not for free and not a guarantee of treatment and/or prescription of medications, but rather an assessment that allows the provider to get a better understanding of your history and needs so that an appropriate treatment plan can be devised. Without this appointment, and the time spent asking you these questions, your provider would not be able to tailor your treatment plans to your needs. For a mental health visit, it’s normal to see more than one code. We are not charging you twice for the same visit. During your visit, your doctor will generally provide more than one type of care. One is for medical evaluation – usually that includes checking in on your medications. The other is for therapy, which goes beyond medication management. This could include talking about how a medication works, how to manage side effects, coping strategies, or making any kind of lifestyle change, such as sleep or diet. One of the things that sets our clinical approach apart is the focus on building a therapeutic relationship with patients. That’s covered in the second code as well. Hope this helps!" They blatantly did not understand or read my email and were rude and condescending. So I wrote back with even more clear language and reminded them that they have until the end of the week to resolve the issue or I'll cancel my appointment and get an attorney. So the long and short is that if you're suffering from poor mental health and want help, this is not the place for you. The process from start to finish is designed to break you and cause you the maximum amount of stress possible while not providing you any care and charging you for what you should have gotten. I know telehealth is convenient, but you'd be much better off going to a licensed psychiatrist in your area so there's at least some accountability.

Before my first appointment, I sent copies of my insurance card. I was informed that my insurance was accepted and I was "good to go ". My appointment was about 10 days later. I thought the appointment went well and I felt I was on the path to something good for me. Until 7-8 days later. It was then that I received an email stating they were no longer "in network" with my insurance and included a bill for almost $400. I set up with a payment plan that they offered. Since then it has been a literal HELL. I have an email stating my account is paid yet I continue to receive PAST DUE emails demanding money! I cannot get through to talk to an actual person in the billing department. This ordeal has made my issues considerably worse. The doctor was great. The concept is fantastic! In actuality, the process does NOT work until someone who knows billing can take care of those issues and customer service that can provide answers and real service. Edit: I have tried calling and emailing. It came to writing this review. Next, I'm considering contacting an attorney if they don't stop harassing me with letters and emails threatening to send my account to collection!! I have emails from them as receipts and one email that states my account is paid in full. 2nd edit: They did finally contact me and have adjusted my account. I'm sad that it took coming here for this result.

Stay far away from this company. Their billing is a complete fraud. Initially they will tell you that they accept your insurance only to come back a couple of weeks later and say they do not. They will also say that they have attempted to bill your insurance company when it reality they haven't had any contact with them. Since there are so many negative reviews here with similar complaints, we are considering consulting with an attorney to see if a class action suit is warranted.

They waited until after my first visit to tell me my insurance wouldn’t pay. Then sent me a $355 bill

My wife and I were seeing different doctors; mine was late to the first and second appointment and prescribed me medicine that raised my blood pressure when I have high blood pressure, so I fired him. The one my wife was seeing almost caused her to need actual detox from the levels of Cymbalta they prescribed (120mg!!! - NOT SAFE), and they messed her up; she's at least 5x worse than she was before speaking to these idiot doctors and now we're getting her proper care locally. I wouldn't suggest you use these people at all. Find a local psychiatrist and just go. Don't waste time with these clowns.

I came to Talkiatry for an ADHD assessment. The psychiatrist that I was matched with didn’t understand late diagnoses, especially women who are often misdiagnosed with bipolar, depression, and/or anxiety. She admitted to seeing the symptoms, but blamed everything on an old diagnosis and referred me to therapy. Talkiatry requires you to be under the care of a psychiatrist in order to be seen by a therapist. The psychiatrist that I’d seen said there was nothing else she could do for me. When a rep called to schedule a therapy appointment, I asked him about this requirement. He didn’t understand at first that the psychiatrist has basically discharged me, and I had to walk him through this problem step-by-step. I explained that I wanted to be matched with someone else for a second opinion. Another problem - the new doc would be able to see notes from another doc. Absolutely no doctor is going to take a new client’s words over another psychiatrist. So this means that I cannot get a fair, unbiased second opinion through Talkiatry. Again, the rep needed some help in understanding this problem, but eventually said he’d try to find a way around it. I was on the phone for 20 minutes with this guy, explaining how pointless it would be to see a second psychiatrist if they can see the notes from the first. No further communication except for an email - telling me I’m being matched with a new psychiatrist. And of course I only have 15 days once they find a match - I haven’t even received my first bill and they’re trying to pile more on. Edit to Talkiatry’s reply - I’ve already spoken with a customer service rep, the same one that I spoke with in the above review. It resolved nothing.