Practice Policies

Privacy and HIPAA 

Please follow the link below to view Privacy Policy and HIPAA information

Appointment Cancellation/No-Show

Consistency is a vital part of the therapeutic process. When we schedule an appointment, that time is reserved exclusively for you.

• 24-Hour Rule: If you need to cancel or reschedule, you must provide at least 24 hours' notice. Appointments cancelled with less than 24 hours' notice will result in a $75 late cancellation fee.

• No-Show Policy: If you fail to attend a scheduled session without any prior notice, it will be considered a No-Show and will result in a $75 fee to compensate for the un-billable clinical hour reserved for you.

• Late Arrival Policy: If you are running late, please notify me. To maintain compliance with insurance billing guidelines, if you do not arrive or log into the telehealth platform within fifteen (15) minutes of our scheduled start time, the session will be considered a No-Show, the appointment will be cancelled, and you will be charged the $75 fee.

• Fee Avoidance Exception: Late cancellation or no-show fees may be waived or avoided if scheduling permits us to successfully rebook and complete the missed appointment within the same calendar week (Monday through Friday). However, please note that same-week openings are limited and cannot be guaranteed. 

• Payment of Fees: These administrative fees will be automatically charged to the credit card on file. Insurance companies do not reimburse for missed or late-cancelled appointment fees; payment is your sole responsibility.

Payment

• Payment is due at the time of service. 

• Payment Method: A valid credit, debit, or HSA/FSA card must be kept on file in your secure client portal. Cash payment is accepted.  

• Out-of-Network (OON) Reimbursement: For individual private pay therapy, Wildwood can provide a monthly Superbill upon request. Clients are responsible for verifying OON benefits with insurance providers.

• Exclusions: Superbills are not provided for Couples Therapy or KAP Dosing sessions.

• HSA/FSA Disclosure: Using HSA/FSA funds or requesting a Superbill requires the documentation of a formal mental health diagnosis (ICD-10 code) to justify medical necessity. This diagnosis will become part of your record with the third-party payer.

Referrals & Coordination of Care

Wildwood Licensed Clinical Social Work, PLLC, is a solo private practice operated independently by Alyssa Swatkowski, LCSW. It is important for clients to understand that this practice does not maintain any formalized or legal partnerships, joint ventures, or professional affiliations with outside entities such as primary care physicians, nurse practitioners, psychiatrists, hospitals, or inpatient rehabilitation programs. While collaboration with other providers is often beneficial for holistic care, this practice remains a distinct and separate legal entity from any other medical or mental health facility.

In alignment with professional social work ethics and standards, a commitment is maintained to stay informed about available community resources and support systems. When it is clinically necessary or requested, information regarding external referral sources will be provided to help bridge gaps in care. This practice serves as a resource for navigating the broader mental health landscape, though the final choice of provider and the management of those external relationships remain the responsibility of the client.

To ensure the highest standard of clinical safety, certain high-needs situations may require a transition to a more intensive setting. If a client experiences active suicidal ideation with plan, method, or intent, significant self-harm, intense substance use, or other behaviors that create a level of risk exceeding what can be safely managed in an outpatient private practice, a referral to a higher level of care will be initiated. This policy is in place to prioritize client well-being and to ensure that every individual receives the appropriate intensity of support required for their specific circumstances.

Social Media & Electronic Communications

Due to the importance of your confidentiality and the importance of minimizing dual relationships, I do not accept friend or contact requests from current or former clients on any social networking site (Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, LinkedIn, etc). I believe that adding clients as friends or contacts on these sites can compromise your confidentiality and our respective privacy. It may also blur the boundaries of our therapeutic relationship. If you have questions about this, please bring them up when we meet and we can talk more about it. 

I cannot ensure the confidentiality of any form of communication through electronic media, including text messages. If you prefer to communicate via email or text messaging for issues regarding scheduling or cancellations, I will do so. While I may try to return messages in a timely manner, I cannot guarantee immediate response and request that you do not use these methods of communication to discuss therapeutic content and/or request assistance for emergencies.

Services by electronic means, including but not limited to telephone communication, the Internet, facsimile machines, and e-mail is considered telemedicine. Telemedicine is broadly defined as the use of information technology to deliver medical services and information from one location to another. If you and your therapist chose to use information technology for some or all of your treatment, you need to understand that:
(1) You retain the option to withhold or withdraw consent at any time without affecting the right to future care or treatment or risking the loss or withdrawal of any program benefits to which you would otherwise be entitled.
(2) All existing confidentiality protections are equally applicable.
(3) Your access to all medical information transmitted during a telemedicine consultation is guaranteed, and copies of this information are available for a reasonable fee.
(4) Dissemination of any of your identifiable images or information from the telemedicine interaction to researchers or other entities shall not occur without your consent.
(5) There are potential risks, consequences, and benefits of telemedicine. Potential benefits include, but are not limited to improved communication capabilities, providing convenient access to up-to-date information, consultations, support, reduced costs, improved quality, change in the conditions of practice, improved access to therapy, better continuity of care, and reduction of lost work time and travel costs. Effective therapy is often facilitated when the therapist gathers within a session or a series of sessions, a multitude of observations, information, and experiences about the client. Therapists may make clinical assessments, diagnosis, and interventions based not only on direct verbal or auditory communications, written reports, and third person consultations, but also from direct visual and olfactory observations, information, and experiences. When using information technology in therapy services, potential risks include, but are not limited to the therapist’s inability to make visual and olfactory observations of clinically or therapeutically potentially relevant issues such as: your physical condition including deformities, apparent height and weight, body type, attractiveness relative to social and cultural norms or standards, gait and motor coordination, posture, work speed, any noteworthy mannerism or gestures, physical or medical conditions including bruises or injuries, basic grooming and hygiene including appropriateness of dress, eye contact (including any changes in the previously listed issues), sex, chronological and apparent age, ethnicity, facial and body language, and congruence of language and facial or bodily expression. Potential consequences thus include the therapist not being aware of what he or she would consider important information, that you may not recognize as significant to present verbally the therapist.

Telehealth & Telephone Accessibility 

To ensure administrative efficiency and maintain high-quality clinical records, this practice utilizes Google Gemini AI as an operational tool to assist in analyzing, organizing, and formatting clinical documentation, treatment plans, and professional summaries. This technology is strictly used post-session to process clinical data inputted by the clinician; this practice does not utilize any audio recording, video recording, or automated transcription features during your sessions.

Your privacy is protected under strict data security standards. This tool is operated exclusively within a secure enterprise account under a signed, legally binding HIPAA Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with Google. All data is fully encrypted both at rest and in transit, remains entirely isolated within this practice’s private account, and is contractually prohibited from being used to train public models, improve Google's products, or be shared with outside parties. The AI serves solely as an administrative drafting assistant; all final documentation, clinical diagnoses, and medical justifications are strictly reviewed, edited, and verified by me to ensure clinical accuracy. The utilization of this secure operational tool is a standard administrative policy of Wildwood Licensed Clinical Social Work, PLLC, and is required for the management of clinical records within this practice.