The first step is to give us a call or send us an email! Our front desk staff will be able to answer most of your questions, we also offer free consultations if you are interested in TMS therapy. Typically we are scheduling 1-2 weeks out and are always accepting new TMS patients!

We are currently contracted with and accept these insurance providers:

Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna, Providence, Moda, Cigna, Pacific Source, and Tricare.

We are not currently accepting any form of Medicare, Medicaid, or OHP.

TMS Therapy has been shown to be well tolerated and has been demonstrated to be safe in clinical trials. Throughout over 10,000 active treatments performed in clinical trials, the most commonly reported side effect related to treatment was scalp discomfort during treatment sessions. This side effect was generally mild to moderate, and occurred less frequently after the first week of treatment. Less than 5% of patients treated with TMS Therapy discontinued treatment due to side effects.

In clinical trials, over 10,000 TMS treatments demonstrated its safety, with no occurrence of seizures. However, there is a small risk of a seizure occurring during treatment. This risk is no greater than what has been observed with oral antidepressant medications.

While TMS Therapy has been demonstrated to be effective, not all patients will benefit from it. Patients will be carefully monitored for worsening symptoms, signs or symptoms of suicidal behavior, and/or unusual behavior. Families and caregivers should also be aware of the need to observe patients and notify their treatment provider if symptoms worsen.

Most insurance providers cover TMS therapy as a treatment for treatment-resistant depression, though many have strict requirements that need to be met in order to receive coverage. The common requirements are:

Diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder, completed trials of at least 3 antidepressants in the last few years, completed at least 6 weeks of counseling/psychotherapy, and have no contraindications to TMS therapy.

After your initial consultation with Shauna, if you are a strong candidate for TMS she will ask you to collect records of the requirements listed above. We will compile everything and submit a prior-authorization request to your insurance. This request can take 2-3 weeks but once approval is received ,you can begin treatment right away.

Typically patients start to notice significant improvement around the 3-4 week mark of treatment. Most report mild incremental improvements in the first week weeks but most of the change happens in the latter half of the treatment protocol.

If you are wanting us to bill your insurance for treatment (TMS or psychotherapy) your cost would depend on your insurance plan and copay amount. TMS is billed as a Mental Health Office Visit so whatever your cost would be for an appointment with a Psychiatrist, you can extrapolate that for the cost of the 36 TMS sessions.

The FDA approved standard TMS protocol that we follow is 36 total sessions. This would involve 5 treatments a week (once a day) for 6 weeks and then a 6-treatment taper over a 3 week period.

As far as individual treatment length, the first session is 1 hour for the Motor Threshold Determination and the standard treatments can be completed in less than 30 mins.

Sticking to the FDA approved protocol is important both to follow the research guidelines but also to give you the best shot at remission from your depression. If you need to miss appointments during your TMS protocol that is OK, but remember that consistency is extremely important.

The most common side effect related to treatment was scalp discomfort during treatment sessions. This side effect was generally mild to moderate, and occurred less frequently after the first week of treatment.

If necessary, you can treat this discomfort with an over-the-counter analgesic. If these side effects persist, your doctor can temporarily reduce the strength of the magnetic field pulses being administered in order to make treatment more comfortable.

Less than 5% of patients treated with TMS Therapy discontinued treatment due to side effects.

Major depressive disorder is a condition which lasts two or more weeks and interferes with a person’s ability to carry out daily tasks and enjoyed activities that previously brought pleasure. This condition affects approximately 16 million American adults, or about 6.7 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older.

There is no way to know if TMS will significantly reduce your depression, but take comfort in the fact that 90% of our patients achieve a 50% or more reduction in their symptoms. Another encouraging statistic is that 60% of our patients achieve complete remission from their symptoms following a full TMS protocol.

We are always accepting new patients! Typically we are scheduling out around 1-2 weeks so give us a call or send us an email and we’ll get started!