NYC Psychiatric Associates — Local services in New York

Update: although it took writing a google review to get in contact with a higher up, I was contacted directly by Dr. Mekles (the practice owner). He heard my concerns and reviewed all of my communications between me and the billing department. He was very kind and was able to have this issue and the charges resolved very quickly.

If you value transparency and financial safety, avoid this practice. Their administration and billing are some of the worst I’ve ever experienced in healthcare. I want to be clear that my prescriber, Paula Simpson, was absolutely incredible — the best prescriber I’ve ever had. Paula was attentive, compassionate, and thorough, even researching my health conditions between sessions to better understand me. Working with another queer provider who was so affirming meant a lot. This review is not about Paula, but about how the practice mishandled my care and finances in ways that were negligent, harmful, and ongoing long after I stopped being a patient.

I first began here with a different provider who frequently canceled sessions — often absolutely last second — even while I was dealing with side effects from her medication. She also repeatedly misgendered my partner despite acknowledging in my intake that I was gay. Feeling unsupported, I asked to switch providers. The practice arranged an internal transfer to Paula.

When I started here, my insurance benefits were reviewed and confirmed in-network. Because the change to Paula was internal, I had no reason to assume my new provider would somehow be out-of-network. No one told me this was even a possibility.

Months later, I began receiving confusing and unexpected large charges. I reached out to billing with simple questions: Was Paula in-network? Why was I being billed? Instead of clear answers, I was ignored for weeks, forced to follow up repeatedly. When billing finally replied, responses were short, dismissive, contradictory, and evasive. They refused to escalate my concerns to a manager, director, or the practice owner.

I appealed multiple times, but billing never acknowledged that this issue happened because the practice failed to disclose that switching providers could affect coverage. That was their responsibility, not mine.

Now it has been almost a year since my last appointment, and I am still harassed with texts and emails about new charges that randomly appear — even after billing told me the issue was figured out. As time goes on, more surprise bills show up. This ongoing pattern has been truly exhausting and unethical. Patients should not have to live in fear of random charges months after ending care.

As a mental health professional myself, I find this wildly unacceptable. I would never subject one of my own clients to this kind of negligence and lack of transparency. Rather than own their mistakes, this office continues to pursue collections from a former patient.

To the practice owner: I repeatedly asked to escalate my concerns but was barred by billing from ever speaking to anyone higher. I would still like the chance to speak with you directly, as the person ultimately responsible for this practice. Patients should not be punished because your office failed to communicate clearly.

To potential patients: Double-check your provider’s network status independently, because you cannot rely on this office for accurate information. Paula provided excellent care, but the administration and billing practices here have been some of the worst I’ve encountered. Even nearly a year after leaving, I am still being contacted with surprise charges & large bills — which says everything about how unsafe their...

EDIT: they sent me an email terminating my care as a patient less than a week after posting this negative review… they do not care about patients! stay away!

EDIT #2: they are straight up lying at this point in an attempt to salvage their reputation. i was a patient for over 2 years, and a random provider terminated me abruptly without a valid explanation while my ACTUAL provider of over 2 years was on paternity leave. they wouldn’t even let me say goodbye to my provider upon his return. this is unethical, regardless of any other circumstances. mind you, i didn’t threaten ANYONE, and i have no idea where the “soliciting substances” stuff is coming from, but sure! continue blaming patients and deflecting responsibility! scum of the earth. i’ll keep editing my responses, so please do keep responding and blaming me! i have time🥰

Despite finding a decent provider at NYC Psychiatric Associates, I have ultimately been very disappointed with my care here. Much of this disappointment relates to the fact that returning patients don’t have access to any sort of patient portal and are unable to schedule follow-up appointments independently, making it virtually impossible to communicate with your provider—or any provider for that matter—between visits (which are often a month apart due to sparse availability). For example, I’ve contacted the office no less than 5 times between 10am-5pm to have a prescription sent to my pharmacy, but since my provider is currently on leave, it seems nobody at the office cares enough to even attempt to connect me with a different provider so that I can address this highly urgent request. Speaking from experience as someone who works in the field of mental health, NYC Psychiatric Associates must recognize that psychiatry/medication management is something that often requires a timely response, as even a single missed dose can gravely impact patients’ ability to function and fulfill day-to-day responsibilities. In order to provide adequate mental health care, NYC Psychiatric Associates must critically evaluate how their organizational structure causes glaring lapses in care, ultimately having a detrimental impact on the patients they serve; NYCPA should work to determine appropriate solutions, such as the implementation of a patient portal and online scheduling options for returning patients. While psychiatry—like any other field of “medicine”—is profit-driven, that doesn’t mean psychiatric providers should get away with the bare minimum for the sake of efficiency....

Edit:

NYCPA has been very diligent in solving this issue with me. They've been accommodating and have resolved this very quickly once it was brought to their attention. Thank you, Dr. Mekles and team, for your cooperation and for listening!

Old post below:

Billing department with NYCPA has been terrible!!!

I went to see Dr. Mekles a few times after the office told me that Dr. Ngyuen was out of network for my insurance and told me that Dr. Mekles would be covered.

My first issue with the billing department came a few weeks after my initial visit -- they sent me a ~$330 bill after a month despite my copay only being $25 for my plan. I only saw him 4 times in the month, meaning I should have been paying $100.

I emailed them about this and called. They said they would get back to me on the issue so I cancelled my next appointment until we got the billing stuff sorted out. The next week, they called me over the phone and told me they sorted it out with insurance and to continue seeing Dr. Mekles while they revise my bill and update it for my appropriate copay. I continued to see Dr. Mekles.

A month later, once again they ask me to resend them my insurance as they had trouble processing it. It was still the same AETNA insurance I had from the beginning. I resent it and didn't hear anything for a while.

At the end of December, they tell me that they actually no longer took my insurance and stated that I would have to pay out of pocket?!!? $150 per session compared to my $25 copay and then sent me a bill for $600??? If I had known all along that they didn't take my insurance, I wouldn't have come to this practice. They confirmed Dr. Mekles took my insurance TWICE! Once over text (see photos) and once over the phone!

Dr. Mekles was very nice, however I really think the billing department needs to get their act together! I cannot pay $600 (and counting -- this is up from a $450 bill they sent me yesterday) out of pocket!!! The billing department / admin team TOLD me Dr. Mekles took my insurance and then after 2 months of sessions, told me that he didn't...