Frequently Asked Questions

* Birth to One Year * One to Two Years * Two to Three Years * Three to Four Years * Four to Five Years

While we primarily work with the pediatric population, we will be accepting adult patients with orofacial myofunctional disorders beginning in April 2025! Please note: We are not currently in-network with Medicare.

Appointments can be made through our website contact page, by emailing admin@centraloregonspeech.com, or by calling us directly at 541-728-3494. If you reach our voicemail, please know we are often working with children, but will always return your call as soon as possible. Our website contact page or email are the most efficient ways to contact us regarding setting up your first appointment.

If your child has not had a recent speech and language evaluation, the first appointment will be an evaluation. Your child will participate in a standardized assessment of their communication skills so that we can obtain normative information to create their individual treatment plan. Following the evaluation, we will provide you with a written report and specific goals for therapy. If your child has had a recent evaluation from their school or another clinic/program, we will use that information and parent input to create our own plan of care to share with parents at the start of treatment. Our therapy is always developmentally appropriate and play-based. We provide intensive and structured sessions, but always incorporate fun, play and positive reinforcement. At the end of each session, we briefly speak with parents to summarize the goals that were targeted and what can be done at home to reinforce what was worked on in therapy. We always run our appointments on-time and will meet you at the door at the time of the appointment.

Our office is centrally located, right off the parkway. Our office building looks like a large home which adds a feeling of comfort for our young clients. Many children we work with often think we live here! Parking is almost always available right outside our front door or across the street. We have additional parking for our building that can be accessed through the back alley if necessary.

Although we prefer to have parents attend therapy sessions to ensure that they know the skills and strategies that are needed in order to carryover the skill into the child's home environment, we recognize that parents may need to bring siblings to the appointments. As a result, parents and siblings are welcome to wait in our waiting room during the session. We always save a few minutes at the end of each session to discuss the focus of the appointment and suggestions for how parents can work on specific skills at home. Communicating with caregivers is an important part of our treatment philosophy. If additional time is needed for discussion, we ask that parents inform their clinician so that those conversations can be done during your scheduled time to avoid running into the next child's appointment.

Any appointment that needs to be cancelled can be done by texting or calling our office manager or your clinician. We require 24-hour notice to cancel, but we understand that children may sometimes go to bed feeling just fine and wake up sick. For this reason, we offer the option of doing the session via teletherapy or rescheduling the session during the next week in order to avoid our late cancellation fee. Our financial and attendance policies are outlined in detail prior to the first session.

We are incredibly lucky to live in beautiful Central Oregon; however, we realize that our winters can be harsh! Our policy is based upon the fact that we do not want you to risk life or limb in order to avoid a cancellation fee. In case of inclement weather, we ask that you reach out to your clinician (or 541-728-3494) as soon as possible to discuss the option of doing teletherapy or rescheduling your session.

Central Oregon Speech & Language is in-network with PacificSource Health Plans, PacificSource Community Solutions (OHP), Moda Health, Providence, and Regence/BCBS. Please note that we are not in-network with Oregon Health Plan (Open Card). If we are not in-network, we offer a reduced "pay at the time of service" rate. Should parents decide to private pay, we can provide a "superbill" that parents can submit directly to their insurance company for out of network reimbursement as specified in their insurance plan. Should you choose to have us bill your insurance (if we are in-network), we will provide you with a verification of benefits form so that you know your specific deductible amount and copay/coinsurance responsibility. Deductible payments and coinsurance/copays are due at the time of service and can be paid by check or credit card.

Some insurance plans require a deductible to be met prior to the member being responsible for a coinsurance. A deductible is the amount you pay out-of-pocket for healthcare services before your insurance begins to cover some or all of the associated costs. For example, if your insurance plan has a $1,000 deductible, you will need to pay $1,000 for eligible healthcare services, including our therapy sessions, before your insurance covers the remaining costs. Having to meet a deductible does not mean that services are not covered. It simply means that you are responsible for 100% of the cost per session until your deductible is met. It's important to check with your insurance provider to understand the specifics of your plan and coverage. We recommend contacting consulting with your insurance provider to clarify how your deductible works and what services will be covered under your policy. This way, you can make informed decisions about your child's therapy needs without concerns about unexpected costs.

A coinsurance is the percentage of costs you share with your insurance company after you've met your deductible. For example, if your health plan has a coinsurance rate of 20%, you would pay 20% of the cost of a service, while your insurance covers the remaining 80%. We are here to answer questions you may have regarding your financial responsibility for services; however, to avoid unexpected costs, we recommend that you contact your insurance provider to verify your benefits prior to your first appointment at Central Oregon Speech and Language.

A copay, short for copayment, is a fixed amount that you pay out-of-pocket for healthcare services at the time of the visit. At Central Oregon Speech and Language, your copay amount will depend on your specific insurance plan. It is important to check with your insurance provider prior to your appointment to understand your financial responsibility.