Earning Potential For Assessment Focused Practitioners?

[Pragma]

Yeah, but you can bill 90791 in place of 96116, depending on your documentation and which side you are credentialed on, and then use the 96136/7 and 96132/3 codes.

Right, not sure how obvious that is to everyone though. I do it that way whenever possible for obvious reasons but also know people who never have thought to. The documentation guidance from APA does not make that clear.

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[ThatPsyGuy]

I know a psychologist who focuses on this population. Had the opportunity to occasionally pick up an assessment case or two from the practice. While there isn't a ton of referrals, these private schools cost $20-40K a year (high school). I was amazed one time a parent showed up with an envelope of cash to "just pay in full from the start" for , I think a $5,500 evaluation. And that wasn't even the most expensive option.

But you have to have tough skin while also having a keen ability to read the room and present your findings in a way that are accurate but also "agreeable." The nuances in wording and presenting results is something you notice real quickly with this population if you chose the "wrong" way to phrase it. Same with if there's a waiting list or any kind of delay. Many of these parents are CEOs, business owners, other top level "corporate types." Some tend to treat the psychologist like another person on their payroll. Sadly there's also a "fix this problem" mentality too; sometimes you discover a big factor in the poor kid or teen's presenting problem is the "throw money at the problem parenting."

In my city, I can see this being a big possibility. But what exactly are they assessing for in Private Schools?

 

[WisNeuro]

Right, not sure how obvious that is to everyone though. I do it that way whenever possible for obvious reasons but also know people who never have thought to. The documentation guidance from APA does not make that clear.

I agree, most people are terrible about knowing codes and documentation necessities for different codes. That's pretty standard across healthcare as well. My spouse was also notoriously undercoding at her old job.

 

[WisNeuro]

In my city, I can see this being a big possibility. But what exactly are they assessing for in Private Schools?

Wealthy parents that are willing to buy a diagnosis to fit whatever need they have.

 

[PsyDr]

In my city, I can see this being a big possibility. But what exactly are they assessing for in Private Schools?

If you're a complete jerk, live in a wealthy area, and are only "kinda" wealthy: You hire a psychologist to find a diagnosis, and write a report that the "least restrictive environment" is a (insert whatever you want here).

I've literally seen well known neuropsychologists write reports stating that the kid has a disorder of written expression, and the least restrictive environment is a boarding school in Switzerland.

$5-10k for a report is cheaper than $40-90k/yr in tuition and fees for 12 years.

 

[WisNeuro]

Bottom line, if you have no scruples, you can make a lot of money in assessment while being incompetent. But, if you are competent, you can still make a lot of money without having to sell your self-respect or professional integrity.

 

[Sanman]

In my city, I can see this being a big possibility. But what exactly are they assessing for in Private Schools?

So, I think you got the negative side of that coin from the other responses. I trained in doing this work. The more scrupulous way of doing it is providing a proper assessment and making recommendations to wealthy parents who have the means to acquire the actual best learning environment for their child. Money fixes a lot of problems. For example, you find a kid has a disorder of written expression and are familiar enough with the private schools in the area to know which one has the best resources to help their kid then some parents are happy to pay for the info and the guidance to try and get their kid in there.

 

[ThatPsyGuy]

Nice, well thank you all for the info.
Hope others who are interested in assessment get as much out of this thread as I have

 

[allantois]

I've seen a few BS autism reports from psychologists that charge 3k+ for those and are booked months in advance FYI

 

[m1ntyfresh]

If one wanted to focus on assessments career-wise would it be advisable to go for a clinical psychology PhD? Are there better options?

 

[WisNeuro]

If one wanted to focus on assessments career-wise would it be advisable to go for a clinical psychology PhD? Are there better options?

What kind of assessments? That will determine the optimal path.

 

[m1ntyfresh]

The kinds mentioned in this thread that seem to make the most money - trauma/PTSD for forensics/WC, and/or autism/ADHD etc. for private school kids.

 

[WisNeuro]

Probably the PhD path. You really need to have a very good foundation in evaluating and talking about research, psychometrics, and statistics. Much more likely to get that solid foundation in a clinical PhD in terms of the assessments we do. However, those of us in the field also appreciate the providers out there who are clueless about research and psychometrics. Makes us look very good at times going against those types of "experts."