Why Do I Need a Psychiatric Evaluation Prior to My SCS Trial?

If you were already wondering if your pain practitioner thought you were crazy, and he or she just ordered a psychiatric evaluation before your SCS trial, we see that this might give you pause.

We do not, however, think you are crazy. Quite the opposite. We feel you are quite insightful to be considering this treatment option.

A psychiatric evaluation is a standard requirement by insurance companies for spinal cord stimulator trials and can be a good predictor of SCS outcomes. It will not result in denial of care. There are some individuals for whom, a spinal cord stimulator is not the best option. For this reason, it has become standard procedure for insurance companies to require this test to spare the few individuals who are not ideal candidates from going through a procedure needlessly.

Many of these evaluations are done telephonically or using telehealth tools and only take about an hour to complete. So, when your pain provider asks you to get a psychiatric evaluation, do not go bonkers. We are simply attempting to navigate through the insurance requirements and hurdles to obtain authorization for your treatment, which is at times enough to make you crazy.