Neustart Psychiatry & TMS - Portland — Ketamine Clinic in Portland, OR

I use CareOregon and found Neustart in Portland because I needed an emergency fill on my prescriptions after moving from another state. I do telehealth and only have to visit my provider once a year in person. They have expedited my prescriptions multiple times and worked well with Oregon Health to ensure I have continuous coverage. Even when CareOregon had me on another insurance and the prescriptions didn't get covered as usual, the office gave me sound advice to work through CareOregon to get my prescriptions reimbursed. They have kept on top of my appointments and insurance, reminding me ahead of time so that I can avoid any issues that have happened. They can improve their communication system which is more complicated than I've seen from other providers. I get a few emails from NeuStart before every session, a reminder email, a virtual link email, and psychiatric forms for me to fill out. Then, I also have a secondary platform where I communicate with my specific provider to message her directly if I need help with my prescriptions. I wish everything was together in an integrated system, but I am ultimately happy to have more communication vs poor communication.

So grateful to have found Neustart after several years of trying to help my daughter with no success. We had a great experience with Dr. Christman and would recommend her to anyone who needs/wants a psychological evaluation. She was supportive, warm, knowledgeable, and made my daughter feel comfortable.

Neustart actually TRIED to find solutions and fought for me in the 2+ years they've been helping me, and their fight to get my TMS treatment approved is infinitely appreciated. All the staff have treated me with professional courtesy and respect while providing me options (and answers!) for years of problems that countless other doctors basically just shrugged at and threw medication at without a further thought.

I have had two providers at this clinic over the last few years , I have always found them easy to work with and responsive. I was initially very reluctant to try any medication, mainly because how I was raised. I did not like the way the first medication made me feel , we switched it and almost 5 years later it would be impossible without writing a small novel all the improvements in my life , both my mental state and what I have built and accomplished. Sometimes you never realize how sick you are until you get better , I had no idea this concept was so relevant to mental health as well. A bit late on my review , but at almost 5 years in and its all positive. Thanks again guys

Do not bother going here unless you have experience in billing and health records management due to their lack of education in those areas. They will incorrectly bill you multiple times despite you contacting them about the initial bill until you loop in your insurance to contact them to remind them that CO-45 adjustment codes can not be billed to patients. And when you decide to request records, they will tell you that your records request has to be approved which is a direct violation of Oregon law about medical records which state all medical records must be provided to patients without payment or delays. This clinic is disgusting in how they take advantage of clients who may be vulnerable and unaware of their insurance and the law regarding medical records

I got a much needed diagnosis here for my medical records. However, staff pushed transcranial magnetic stimulation since the moment we made first contact. The nurse in charge of the procedure lacked the humility to accept that several weeks of TMS several days per week was not helping me. In fact, the overstimulation and pain that accompanied the procedure left me distressed and unsteady to the point of stumbling in the hall almost every time we did it. Despite this and communicating my pain, I was continuously encouraged to give it time. Needless to say, I ignored the dismissive comments from the nurse and ended my treatment. The medication manager assigned to me was nice, but confusing to work with. As someone that didn't study medicine, I was asked a lot of questions on which medications were best to continue, increase, or lessen. I'm not sure how I would know that when I'm starting multiple medications at once. After a short few months, she quit Neustart, and I was referred out. Overall, while the diagnosis was helpful, it is not a steady, reliable place for treatment by any means and puts too much emphasis on the marketing of TMS.

If you have an actual need for medication management, can provide a detailed list of the current medications that have been kept you stable for the past 2 years with verifying records from your previous doctor this place is still too cowardly to accept you as a patient or for that matter to even provide any explanation at all. I am therefore for left to assume they are either committing insurance fraud or you have to be the CEOs daughter to actually get an appointment. Ps you aren’t even able to get scheduled with any one until a “ director “ of unknown credentials votes you in or out. What are their qualifications exactly? No one knows!

My experience with NeuStart was awkward from the beginning and didn’t improve over two interactions. It ended up badly and even insulting. Initially I needed to fill out multiple forms, which seemed logical, but then was asked to give consents for them to contact all current and previous medical providers. Positively dunned for those, insisting on them, specifying exactly how to fill them out, requiring them before doing anything else… and I’m not sure exactly why, because after a month of them having the information at least two of the three providers hadn’t been contacted (I checked). Not sure on the other. The first appointment seemed off. First, it was a virtual appointment to Salem when I live 4 blocks from the Portland office. I’d not recommend going to a psychiatrist who you have never met in person. The relationship that needs to be established cannot be made virtually. That said, I did accept it, despite misgivings. In the first virtual appointment there was a “scribe” required to be accepted. A person never seen. Who never talked. Who was just there to??? It was creepy and later revealed as pointless. It distracted from open communication with the provider. Every other psychiatrist I’ve seen has managed to take an appointment without a scribe. The first appointment was a bit disjointed (practice counting down from 100 by 7s if you decide to use them!) but seemed as though it was getting somewhere. At the end of the meeting the provider indicated there might be a CNS issue and they would follow up with their colleagues to come back to the next meeting with medication suggestions. That did not happen. At the second appointment it was like starting all over. They had not consulted with their peers on medications. They didn’t have the labs they’d requested I send, even though I sent a set from November and a new set from February (to the scribe, so that scheme doesn’t seem to work?) The supposed CNS issue wasn’t even mentioned.

They didn’t remember the main concerns expressed in the previous appointment, which is inexplicable given the ‘scribe’ who should have at least provided useful cliff notes. Then there was an extended time of dithering and watching someone peruse perhaps wikipedia to determine some medication to prescribe, coming back with suggestions of pharmaceutical products that do not treat the issues I was presenting and discussed as previously tried and ineffective. The one suggestion they did come with was that I change my LCSW, which was completely unsolicited and unjustified. I assume that had I taken that suggestion they’d have tried to steer me to a provider in their practice for more business. Their billing is really aggressive. They take payment before the appointment which is annoying. My LCSW doesn’t do that. The really aggressive bit came when my insurance paid out their portion and informed NeuStart of my copay. They immediately sent an extremely rudely worded message saying they would be billing my card to “resolve” the bill. “Resolve” is for a bill overdue months not for a copay of a patient who had paid everything even before it was due. Where trust is already strained by virtual appointments and unfulfilled commitments, the text message about billing really cemented this business as being one to which I would not return.

Fantastic treatment. Understanding and compassionate