Psychiatric evaluation, Tempe
Psychiatric evaluation in Tempe, and what it actually costs
A psychiatric evaluation in Tempe is an hour with a prescriber that ends in a diagnosis and a treatment plan, delivered by video anywhere in Arizona. Coverage is verified before you commit to anything. Orange Pacific Mental Health keeps its Arizona office on East Baseline Road.
This page is for adults in the East Valley who want to know what an evaluation costs before phoning somebody to find out.
Reasons to book one
When adults in Tempe book an evaluation
What is usually going on by the time someone searches this.
Managed alone for years
Long enough that the cost of not getting assessed has quietly overtaken the cost of the appointment.
A diagnosis from a long time ago
Made during college or a hard year, never revisited, and still shaping what every clinician since has assumed.
Refills without review
A prescription has continued for years without anyone reassessing whether the medication or the diagnosis underneath it still fits.
Getting worse rather than staying level
What used to be manageable is taking more out of the week than it did, and the trend rather than the worst day is the reason to come in.
Getting evaluated in Tempe
What the free assessments on this page actually are
Two of the questions Google lists as commonly asked alongside a psychiatric evaluation in Tempe are about money: whether Arizona offers free mental health services, and how to get help if you cannot afford it. In a city built around a university that is not a surprising thing to be asking.
Page one answers it with the word free, attached to two different things. A behavioral health hospital offers a free assessment through a 24 hour line, which is an admissions screening: its job is to work out what level of care you need, including whether you need theirs. Several outpatient practices offer a free consult, which is a short call about whether you want to become a patient. Both are legitimate services. Neither one is a psychiatric evaluation.
The evaluation is the hour with a prescriber that produces a diagnosis and a plan, and it is a billable medical appointment everywhere. What varies is whether your insurance covers it and what you pay out of pocket, and that is knowable before you book rather than discovered afterwards.
The age group most likely to be priced out is also the least likely to be in treatment. The National Institute of Mental Health, using the 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, reports that among US adults with any mental illness, 49.1% of those aged 18 to 25 received any mental health treatment in the past year, the lowest of any adult age band.
Inside the appointment
What the hour actually covers
The first part is history. What the symptoms are, how long they have been there, what they are stopping you doing, and what has already been tried. Anything a previous clinician concluded matters here, including diagnoses you disagree with, because part of the job is working out whether the existing label still fits.
The second part is ruling things out, and it is the part people do not expect. Thyroid conditions, sleep apnea and chronic sleep debt, heavy caffeine intake, alcohol and substance use, and the side effects of medication you already take all produce symptoms that look psychiatric. Treating the wrong one of those is the most common reason someone concludes that treatment did not work for them.
The third part is the conclusion, and you get it in the appointment rather than in a letter weeks later. A working diagnosis, the reasoning it rests on, and the options that follow from it. Where the honest answer is that psychiatric treatment is not warranted, that is said plainly, and it is a legitimate outcome of an hour rather than a wasted one.
Brief techniques such as CBT and motivational interviewing happen inside the same appointment. Standalone talk therapy without medication management is not offered here, so where ongoing therapy is the right addition you will be told that rather than sold something else.
What to expect
From booking to a diagnosis, in four steps
Scheduling and appointments both run through Headway, which verifies your coverage and hosts the visit. Registering is free.
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Check coverage and book
Open Headway, confirm what your plan covers, and self-schedule. No callback queue and no eligibility surprise afterwards.
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Bring what you already have
A list of medications and doses, any previous diagnoses, and roughly when things started. Nothing needs to be formal and no records need to be requested in advance.
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The evaluation
About an hour by video. History, what the symptoms are interfering with, and the conditions that imitate psychiatric illness get checked rather than assumed away.
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The diagnosis and the plan
You leave with a working diagnosis and the reasoning behind it, then the options that fit. Follow-ups are with the same prescriber, closer together at first.
Why patients choose this practice
What you know before you book
Coverage checked first, not billed later
Headway verifies what your plan covers before the appointment, so the number you are told is the number, and there is no eligibility surprise afterwards.
The self-pay price is published
It is further down this page rather than behind a phone call. A practice that will not tell you the price before you call is telling you something.
An hour, by video, anywhere in Arizona
Tempe, Mesa, Chandler, Scottsdale or the rest of the state. No drive across the Valley and no waiting room.
A prescriber licensed in Arizona
Tim Korm is a board certified psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, licensed in Arizona, California, Oregon and Washington.
Cost, coverage and waiting
The answers most practices make you call to get
Self-pay is $280 first visit, $130 follow-ups. In Arizona the practice accepts Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, Carelon, Cigna, and eligibility is verified through Headway before you commit to anything.
Under a week to a first appointment. Appointments run Mon to Thu 8am to 7pm, Fri to 5pm, Sat 10am to noon (Pacific). More about psychiatry in Arizona or the Tempe office.
Questions
Evaluation questions we get from Tempe
How much does a psychiatric evaluation cost in Tempe?
Self-pay is published on this site as $280 for the first visit. If you use insurance, Headway shows your cost before you book.
Does Arizona offer free mental health services near Tempe?
Some hospital and community lines offer free crisis assessments. Those are not the same as a full outpatient psychiatric evaluation for ongoing care. This practice is paid outpatient care by video.
Is a free assessment the same as an evaluation in Tempe?
Usually not. A free crisis or triage line decides urgency. A full psychiatric evaluation builds a diagnosis and treatment plan over a longer appointment.
Can a psychiatrist give a psychological evaluation in Tempe?
Psychiatric and psychological evaluations are different tools. This practice does psychiatric evaluation for adults, not neuropsychological testing batteries.
Book an evaluation
Coverage is checked before you commit, the wait is currently under a week, and every appointment in Arizona is by video.