Insurance/Income/Training ?'s for Private Practice

[NHGN]

Hi All!

I will be graduating and sitting for boards (in psych) in August. I am looking at jobs and had an introductory phone call with a private practice. They have several physicians and psychologists but have not hired an NP before. They seemed very welcoming but a little clueless to the NP role ("we need more help with medications and we hear you can do therapy too and may be a little cheaper than a physician").

While I think being a new grad and going into a position that hasn't had experience with NPs (therefore no tried-and-true NP role or new grad training), is a bit risky/complicated/stressful, I still think it is worth looking into.

The business owner could not quote me an average income (since its based on the amount of clients that one sees) -- the best he could do was "well even if you are reimbursed for half of what the physicians get, you'll still be comfortably in the six-figures". My question for you all is, how can I figure out what the different insurance carriers reimburse NPs for?

Second, and I know this comes with a complicated and time-consuming answer, is: can anyone offer any advice or resources on what to ask for in terms of training/supervision? Hypothetically, if the physicians and psychologists were welcoming and open to giving me as much on the job education as I required, what would I ask for?? Every professor or established NP has said "look for a job with good supervision" but nobody actually explains this! Could I not take on patients of my own for a month (3 months? 6 months?), and instead shadow the physician and go over every thought/action they make with their patients (still hypothetical here!)? What's the standard here??

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for any thoughts on this! Getting some answers on these matters feels pretty vital but I'm having a tough time finding resources to help with them.

Eliza

[tnfnp]

Reimbursement will depend on what exactly you are billing for? I am not a PMHNP but it sounds as if they will have you doing therapy in addition to assessment, diagnosis, treatment etc. I would assume a therapy only visit will be billed much differently than a mental health eval visit. I have worked in a integrated health system with both mental health and medical, we had a PMHNP and she did not do any therapy. We had social workers who did all the therapy with the clients. I would be sure to get specifics about what you willl be doing and what is expected before the job. I would also be sure you have a concrete salary agreement to protect yourself.