What is a referral?
A referral (or request for care) can be generated by a parent, therapist, or physician. It is a formal and documented request for therapy services by Elite Therapy Center. The referral has HIPPA protected information about your child including their name, date of birth, diagnosis, insurance and physician information. When a referral is received, the child’s physician is sent a copy to sign. Upon receiving the signed copy from the child’s doctor, an evaluation is scheduled with the child’s family.
Why do you have to send a referral to my doctor?
Elite Therapy Center is required to work under a doctor’s plan of care therefore we must send a referral over to your doctor in order to treat your child.
What is the difference between a screen and an evaluation?
Elite Therapy Center provides FREE screens at private schools, pre-schools, mother’s day or parent’s day out programs, daycares, and after-school programs. These are short timed question and answer sessions running 5-7 minutes with a trained therapist to determine if there are any necessary suggestions for treatment. Our screens are done only with a signed permission letter from the child’s parent and provide a quick snap shot of development so the therapist can follow up with the teacher and parent.
An evaluation is a formally scheduled session to determine a plan of care for a child in a specific discipline (example: speech, occupational or physical). Running 45 minutes to one hour in length, they are scheduled only after a written referral has been processed and signed off on by the child’s physician. The evaluation is scheduled by our Office Manager and provided by a trained therapist. The therapist evaluates the child based on a diagnosis from the child’s physician and will provide information on what type of treatment is needed and how often. The evaluation is not free and the parents is provided with cost and scheduling time prior to the scheduled visit. No treatment plan can be provided without an evaluation. Each discipline requires it’s own evaluation so if your child needs multi-discipline treatment, they will have an evaluation for each discipline.
Do I have to have insurance to receive therapy?
No, Elite Therapy Center accepts many forms of payment to cover therapy. We accept private/cash pay, Medicaid, and can also assist you in applying for financial grants. If need any additional help filling out a grant application, please contact our office and ask for our authorization specialist, Kalyn Morgan.
Insurance has already approved this, why do I have to wait to start?
Some Medicaid and managed care programs approve us doing an evaluation or re-evaluation. Elite Therapy Center is required to submit our report to the doctor first and when the plan of care is approved, we submit to the insurance company for treatment approval. (This is only specific to some Medicaid plans, not all.)
My child already receives therapy at school. Can I get more?
Yes they can! We work with your child’s medical physician which is separate from the academic plan. Our therapists also work to help support any treatment your child is receiving through the school to provide a strong continuity of care. If you would like to request additional care, click here!
Where do we go for therapy?
Elite Therapy Center has FIVE convenient clinic locations in Central Texas. Our clinics are in Waco, Gatesville, West, Temple and Killeen. Our Killeen clinic is located inside Oak Creek Academy/Education Connection and located approximately five minutes from Fort Hood Army base. We also offer home health and treatments at private schools, daycares, and after-school programs.
Can I choose my therapist?
Elite Therapy Center staffs over 45 certified and licensed therapists. If you know one of our therapists and would like to work with them, you can ask specifically or visit with the therapist to accommodate you. Clients will be assigned a therapist and if a therapist is unavailable or out, they will work with the parent to reschedule or work with another therapist on an interim basis.
What is a co-pay? What is co-insurance?
If filing with insurance, a co-pay is a fixed amount due at the time of treatment. This amount is determined by your insurance plan and does not count against your deductible. Co-pays are applied to each discipline. If you are a multi-discipline client, you will owe a co-pay for each.
Co-insurance is an amount due once you have reached your deductible. Each co-insurance will be determined by your insurance and the rates will be dependent upon the specific therapy provided.