Scheduling Your First Visit

Before calling for an appointment, please read this website’s home page (regarding conditions that I treat, and those that I do not treat) and the insurance and fees page.

If you would like an appointment, please call 206-729-2622, and (unless the message says that I am “full”) leave a voicemail with the following information:

• Your name
• Your phone number
• Good times to call you back
• What you are looking for help with
• What insurance, if any, you will be using (you only need to leave the name of the plan, not the numbers)
• When are you available for appointments.
• The general area where you live and work. (I encourage people who live and work south of the Lake Washington Ship Canal to seek a psychiatrist closer to downtown Seattle, where there are many psychiatrists. I am near Northgate, and traffic makes getting to appointments difficult.)
• Whether or not you were referred to Dr. Alexander, and by whom.

If my practice is “open” to new patients, I will have at least some availability within four weeks (and often much sooner). Either I, Dr. Alexander, or my scheduling assistant, Cindy, will call you back within two business days. Before making an appointment, we will gather more information to determine whether my practice is likely to meet your needs.

If the voicemail says that my practice is full, we will not call you back unless I have an unexpected opening and you have left a message with contact and other information.

I open and close my practice frequently based on my availability for new patients. I prefer to do this rather than schedule appointments in the distant future. So if I am “full,” you are encouraged to seek a more timely appointment with another provider, but you are also welcome to call back and see if my practice has opened up.

The initial visit is a consultation, in the sense that I cannot promise to provide ongoing treatment until I have met you and personally assessed your needs. Please note: this is the policy you will encounter for every small private practice that I am aware of.

If you schedule an appointment:

• Read the Privacy Practices page of this website
• Download, print and complete the following six initial visit forms as soon as possible. It may take one to two hours to complete these forms. Bring them to your visit. (Forms are provided in Word format and PDF format for your convenience.)
1. Patient Registration Word - PDF
2. Office Policies Word - PDF
3. Acknowledgement of Receipt of Notice of Privacy Practices Word - PDF
4. Health History Questionnaire Word - PDF
5. Symptom Screening Questionnaire Word - PDF
6. Waiting Room Form Word - PDF

Please bring the following things to your appointment:

• The six completed forms
• A method of payment for your share of the fee - cash or check. I am not set up to accept debit, credit or health savings account cards.
• Your insurance card
• Any medical records that might be helpful

Unless you are extremely close to the office and are very familiar with the area, please allow plenty of time to travel, deal with traffic, and arrive a few minutes early to your appointment. See the directions page.

Be sure you bring the completed forms to your visit. (If an appointment is made, you will be provided with an email contact, but do not email these forms back to me, as I do not use email for confidential information.)