For Patients

Our PATIENT INFORMATION page is designed to give an overview of the comprehensive patient care system offered by the Amen Clinics. The following information is available to help you understand our approach to you and your loved ones treatment and recovery.

• Patient Intake Forms – Click here for patient intake forms.
• 18 Ways SPECT Can Help You
• Intake Process
• Diagnostic Process
• Treatments
• Follow Up

Evaluation Process

How are Patients Referred to the Amen Clinics? Patients are referred to us by a variety of methods including by their private physicians, mental health professionals, web sites they have visited and by their own attendance at lectures and seminars given by Dr. Daniel Amen. Other times they have seen written literature by Dr. Amen or one of our staff members. And, although hundreds of physicians from around the world refer patients to us, we are proud to say that our largest referral source by far remains word-of-mouth referrals from satisfied former patients and family members. What if I Don’t Have a Doctor to Refer Me? Patients or parents of children who are self-referred to the Amen Clinics must first speak to the Amen Clinic Intake Coordinator. The Intake Coordinator is trained and supervised by Dr. Amen. The Intake Coordinator assists with the completion of the intake form which is reviewed by the physicians assistant. Sometimes a phone consultation with a clinic physician is recommended before an evaluation is scheduled or scans are ordered and other times, referral to professionals outside the Amen Clinics is deemed more appropriate for a particular situation. Comprehensive, Specialized Intake New patients go through a comprehensive intake process. The intake process includes completion of a written set of questionnaires, a detailed clinical interview with a historian, brain scans and an evaluation with a physician to discuss the finding of the scans. Together, the physician and person or family seeking help will then develop a plan for further diagnostic work-up or treatment.

The cost of a complete evaluation is $3,375 (includes concentration and baseline scans). The patients will need to allow 4 days of appointments, with each appointment running approximately 1-2 hours/day. For patients outside of California, a phone consultation is advised with one of the physician staff to determine if the Clinic is the appropriate place for an evaluation. A consultation by phone will cost $175.00 per half hour.

Offering Expert Diagnosis

The clinics uses a variety of diagnostic procedures to help us reach a deep understanding of our patient’s needs. Clinical history, questionnaires, tests of attention and mood are a standard part of the intake process. In addition, in complex cases or when an underlying neurological problem is suspected the doctor may order additional testing.

The clinic is well known for Dr. Amen’s work in brain SPECT imaging, a nuclear medicine study which evaluates blood flow and brain metabolism. Dr. Amen is one of only a handful of physicians worldwide who is both board certified in child, adolescent and adult psychiatry and licensed in nuclear brain imaging.

Treatments Utilized by the Clinic

Various treatment modalities are utilized by clinicians in the Clinic, including education, natural supplements, medication, dietary interventions, physical and mental exercise, and targeted forms of psychotherapy and learning. The treatments recommended depend on the individuals or familys need and circumstances.

Follow Up Visits

The Amen Clinics do follow up treatment for patients who live nearby or who can travel to the clinics on a regular basis.

Patient follow-up varies with individual’s need and situation. The time frame of follow-up visits ranges from once a week to every couple of months, depending on the clinical situation. Some patients, due to insurance coverage, distance or who were referred to us for an opinion by other professionals, continue their treatment elsewhere. When other professionals become involved, the patient may request a copy of the records generated by this Clinic.

Family Discount

1st member of the family pays full price and then a 10% discount for each additional family members being scanned.

Guidelines for Sending Outside Scans to the Amen Clinics, Inc.

We are frequently asked whether or not the Amen Clinics, Inc. is able to read outside scans and render a diagnostic second opinion based upon such readings.

In order for outside scans to be compatible with our software, database and reading protocols, strict criteria must be met. First, the scans must be performed with a Picker Prism 3000 camera (S or XP model). Low Energy High Resolution (LEHR) Fan Beam collimators are preferred, but Parallel Hole collimator are an acceptable substitute. In the absence of a Prism 3000 camera, a Picker Axis camera may be used.

The patient should receive 20-25 millicuries of Ceretec (dose calculated by weight). Neurolite is not a recommended substitute radiopharmaceutical for our protocol. Ceretec is not a dye and there are no known serious allergic reactions to this substance. When a concentration study is ordered, we perform the Connors Continuous Performance test. It is about a 15-minute test to focus the brain in one activity.

The study should be acquired with a Step and Shoot acquisition protocol (rather than a continuous acquisition protocol such as RAS). Patient motion should be minimized and the study should be performed to acquire a minimum of 10 million counts (see reference chart for setting stop conditions here). The raw, unprocessed, data  should be loaded onto an optical disk (2.3 GB M.O. disk, not a DVD or CD-ROM).

The patient or client will need to contact our Newport Beach office at (949) 266-3700 to arrange for payment of Dr. Amen’s reading fees of $400.00 per scan, to provide authorization for the release of medical information back to the referring physician so that we can send our scan report and then have the optical disk sent to the Newport Beach office at the address below (Attn: Scan Administration).

Dr. Amen will then be able to read the scans and provide a scan report for the referring physician.

Payment for the reading fee charges must be made in advance.

Thank you very much for your interest in the Amen Clinics, Inc.