Consultation Services for Mood and Anxiety Disorders
About Dr. Soskin
I am a Harvard-trained psychiatrist and educator, who received specialty training in psychopharmacology and treatment-resistant mood disorders at the Massachusetts General Hospital.
I provide psychiatric consultations for patients with mood and anxiety disorders using telemedicine. The platform I use, Zoom, is HIPAA compliant (meaning that it’s safe and private) and user-friendly (meaning that it feels like Skype but with better resolution and more user-friendly features).
For additional details about my training, clinical and research experience, you can view my curriculum vitae (CV) by clicking here.
What is a Psychiatric Consultation?
A psychiatric consultation means I will provide you with a diagnosis for your mental health condition. If I am uncertain about the diagnosis, I will provide you with a "working diagnosis” (= my best hypothesis).
I will also provide you with diagnostic and treatment recommendations. For example, if I diagnosed you with a new onset of depression, I might recommend that you get additional labs done through your current primary care doctor or psychiatrist. These labs might include Vitamin D levels; markers of thyroid functioning; and, if your depression has been resistant to multiple past treatments, C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of inflammatory levels, and, cytochrome P450 (CYP450) assays, a measure that can tell us if your body metabolizes psychiatric medications at an abnormally low or high rates.
I do not prescribe medications through this consultation clinic but will recommend medications with specific doses and titration schedules to your current psychiatrist or primary care doctor
How long does a consultation take?
Consultations take between 90 minutes and three hours depending on the patient. I then spend approximately 15 to 45 additional minutes documenting the consultation and will send you this consultation note within 24 hours.
How much does it cost?
I charge by the hour. My hourly rate is based on your income:
Patients with an income greater than $300,000 per year are charged my full cost of $450 per hour.
Patients with an income between $200,000 and $300,000 per year are charged 75% of my full cost, which is $337.50 per hour.
Patients with an income between $100,000 and $200,000 per year are charged 50% of my full cost, which is $225 per hour.
Patients with an income between $50,000 and $100,00 per year are charged 25% of my full cost, which is $112.50 per hour.
Patients with an income of less than $50,000 are seen for free.
I schedule one patient every Tuesday morning between 8 AM and noon Eastern Standard Time.
Every fourth Tuesday is reserved for patients with an income of less than $50,000 dollars.
After the consultation, I will send you an invoice and the consultation note. I accept all credit cards through PayPal (see below). I do not accept insurance but you may receive partial reimbursement from your insurer by submitting the invoice.
How do I schedule an appointment?
You can schedule your appointment using Zoom by clicking here.
If you're not familiar with technology like this, you can email me at my HIPAA compliant email address, dsoskin@protonmail.com. Note that Zoom is HIPAA compliant. However, the calendar for scheduling is through google. Although google is well-encrypted, you can also email me with an appointment request at dsoskin@protonmail.com to ensure HIPAA compliance. I check this email account weekly.
Are there any patients you won’t see for a consultation?
I do not provide consultations for children, defined as below age 18, or for elderly patients with neuropsychiatric conditions, such as dementia and delirium.
