Admissions at The Recovery Village Atlanta

One sentence on The Recovery Village Atlanta’s own page decides whether the rest of this is worth your afternoon. The campus says it accepts most major insurance plans except Medicare and Medicaid [10]. Establish that before anything else.

The campus is at 11725 Pointe Place, Roswell, Georgia 30076 [10]. Its page describes a suburban, 31,000-square-foot facility with 58 beds, serving adults with substance use disorders and co-occurring mental health disorders [10]. Under Admissions, it lists Same-Day Admission Available and Walk-Ins Accepted [10].

Five levels of care appear on that page: medical detox, inpatient treatment, partial hospitalization programming, dual diagnosis treatment and aftercare planning [10].

From here: the call, the assessment, money, packing, arrival, the first day, work, and the fit question.

What Happens on the First Call

Nothing gets booked in that conversation. It is a screening, and it runs about as long as a doctor’s appointment.

Substance and quantity come up early, then how many months or years that has been true, what earlier treatment there was, which prescriptions are current, and how the rest of your health looks. Somewhere in there sits a question about paying for care, and another about your whereabouts as you speak.

Round nothing down. Clinicians take those amounts and build a withdrawal plan out of them, which makes understatement the single reply in that conversation with a physical consequence.

Coverage belongs early on too, given the sentence opening this page. Where a caller has Medicare or Medicaid, this campus says its team will still check what the policy covers, will help locate other facilities that may take it, or will work through private pay [10]. Awkward to hear, but far better in minute three than in week one.

Any of that can come from somebody else’s mouth. Parents ring, partners ring, employers and clinicians ring. The reply they get is limited, for reasons set out near the end here. Our guides to how to get into rehab and what the rehab process is like describe the sequence across every campus.

The Clinical Assessment and How the Level of Care Is Decided

Clinicians choose the level, working from criteria that are published rather than private.

Three essential components make up detox in SAMHSA’s consensus-panel definition, and they may take place concurrently or as a series of steps: evaluation, stabilization, and fostering the patient’s entry into treatment [1].

Matching people to settings is a different exercise again. The treatment settings and the five adult detox levels used across the field are laid out in TIP 45’s placement chapter [2]. That chapter does not oversell them either, noting that the ASAM criteria are only guidelines and that there are no uniform protocols for determining which patients are placed in which level of care [2].

Urgency comes from medical danger, and the danger is drug-specific. Seizures and delirium tremens appear in TIP 45’s list of outcomes in severe alcohol dependence that can lead to fatal consequences [3]. Where the syndrome is alcohol, sedative-hypnotic or opioid, that guidance holds that hospitalization or some form of 24-hour medical care is generally the preferred setting [3]. This campus makes the same point without the jargon: certain substances, such as alcohol and opioids, require targeted medications in order to withdraw from them safely [7]. Opioids then reverse the order. Withdrawal reduces tolerance, MedlinePlus says, so those who have just gone through withdrawal can overdose on a much smaller dose [4].

If someone is having a seizure, is unresponsive or has trouble breathing, call 911. For a mental-health crisis call or text 988.

Nothing agreed by phone is final. Roswell calls its pre-admission acceptance a preliminary determination that you are appropriate for admission, and says your presentation on arrival, or later in the stay, may show a different facility suits you better [7]. Our explainer on levels of care covers the five treatment levels, and the rehab intake process covers the paperwork.

Insurance, Verification and What It Costs in GA

Start with the exclusion, because it is the one that ends conversations. The campus says it accepts most major insurance plans except Medicare and Medicaid [10]. Everything below assumes a commercial policy.

The campus says its team can work with you to verify what your insurance may cover [10]. Ask them to run it rather than reading your own benefits booklet.

Then the bill, which the campus publishes. Many plans require out-of-pocket costs before benefits apply, and those may include deductibles, co-pays, coinsurance and maximum out-of-pocket expenses, gathered under the heading Patient Responsibility [7]. A staff member reviews yours at the time of admission, or as soon as possible once you are medically stable [7].

Two federal floors sit under a commercial plan. A Marketplace plan must include substance use disorder treatment as an essential health benefit. It cannot refuse enrollment over a pre-existing condition. It cannot cap that benefit in dollars annually or for a lifetime [5].

The second is parity. Under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, a plan that covers mental health and substance use care may not apply harsher limits to it than it applies to medical and surgical care, and that reaches prior authorization and step therapy as well as visit and day caps [6]. The scope is worth knowing: it applies to non-federal governmental plans with more than 50 employees, to group health plans of private employers with more than 50 employees, and to the individual market [6]. Plans from small employers are not covered directly; they get comparable protection through the Affordable Care Act’s essential health benefits requirement.

Our guides to insurance coverage for rehab and what rehab costs explain how a check runs and what ranges look like.

What to Bring and What to Leave at Home

Luggage is limited to a single piece here, and whatever will not fit inside it is stored until discharge [7].

Paperwork earns priority. Photo identification from a state or the government, so a driver’s license or passport [7]. Travel documents where you need them [7]. Medical records, or the names and numbers of the people treating you [7]. Plus a handwritten list of relatives and how to reach them [7].

Money has a rule that is unusual, and it is worth reading twice. Alongside a debit card, credit card or checkbook, the campus asks for a prepaid Visa gift card, and says only that card will be used for any purchases staff make on your behalf [7]. Bring one.

Medication is decided at intake rather than in advance. The campus says medication-assisted treatment is an important part of its model and that its necessity is individually determined [7]. Our page on medication-assisted treatment explains how it sits alongside the rest of a plan.

Smoking here is the tightest policy of any of our campuses, so do not assume. All smoking happens in designated areas at designated times by level of care, and everything must arrive in unopened, sealed cartons [7]. Bring enough for the whole stay [7]. Chewing tobacco, loose tobacco, vapes, e-cigarettes, black and mild’s, cigars, pipes and pipe tobacco, zyn pouches and nicotine gum are all excluded [7]. The campus also says it cannot purchase or provide smoking products for patients under 21 and must confiscate them under Georgia law, though its medical provider can prescribe smoking cessation patches or lozenges for people over 18 [7].

Housekeeping cleans common areas, rooms and linens, while laundry and your own space are yours [7].

Getting Here: Travel, Arrival and Who Can Come With You

Arrival starts with a search. You will be asked to consent to a search of your person and belongings so the team can keep you and your peers safe [7].

Now the rule that catches people with a diary. During detox and residential care, the campus cannot accommodate offsite appointments, including court visits and medical appointments, unless staff determine there is a medical emergency [7]. It adds that letters of admission can be provided to validate missing an important appointment [7]. If there is a court date in the next six weeks, say so on the first call and ask for that letter early.

Family contact runs through the phone rather than the front door at first, and the campus publishes that rule. Visitors may only enter during designated visitation times, and a patient’s treatment team must approve any visitor [7]. Patients in the medical detox or inpatient programs do not have in-person visitors [7]. The campus adds that the treatment team may discourage contact with friends or family if they believe it could disrupt recovery and progress [7]. That is a clinical judgment, not a blanket rule, and it is worth discussing with the therapist rather than the switchboard. The campus’s what to expect page on this site describes daily life rather than the admission.

The First 24 Hours on the Roswell Campus

The phone goes into storage on arrival, and it stays there until discharge [7].

What replaces it is published in detail, and it changes with your level of care. After a safety call and an initial 72-hour phone-free stabilization period, patients in detox may use the facility line for half an hour at designated times daily [7]. Patients in residential care get the facility line for one hour at designated times daily [7]. At the partial hospitalization level, cell phones are returned and can be used at any time outside group therapy sessions [7]. So the answer to “when can I call?” depends on where the assessment put you.

Rooms are straightforward. Each bedroom contains two beds and a private bath, and the number of residents in a room may vary with your stage in treatment and personal needs [7].

The amenity list runs to a fitness center, a half-court basketball court, foosball, shuffleboard, video games, a computer lab, art and music therapy, and offsite visits for people at the partial hospitalization level [10].

Progress gets measured rather than guessed. The campus says it tracks patients through assessments completed each week, focused on four domains: depressive symptoms, anxiety levels, sleep quality and substance cravings [7]. Ask to see yours.

Where withdrawal needs supervision, medical detox is the first stage and carries the real medical risk. Our inpatient rehab page describes residential care in general terms.

Telling Work and Family

Two separate problems, and the campus addresses the first itself.

It points at two federal laws, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act, and it is careful to say the protections have limits that could mean you do not qualify [7]. The FMLA half is specific: eligible employees of a covered employer may take job-protected, unpaid leave for up to a total of 12 workweeks in any 12 months [9]. Send that request to whoever administers leave where you work.

Disclosure has the firmer answer of the two. Where a facility is publicly identified as somewhere only substance use disorder treatment happens, federal confidentiality rules let staff acknowledge an identified patient’s presence only with that patient’s written consent, or under an authorizing court order [8]. Answering an inquiry, a program may not affirmatively reveal that an identified person has been or is being treated for a substance use disorder [8]. The caller can be told the regulations restrict disclosure generally, and cannot be told they restrict the records of an identified patient [8]. Someone phoning to find out whether you are there leaves with nothing.

This is where the handwritten contact list pays off. Once the phone is in storage, the names on that page are who a facility line can reach [7].

If This Campus Is Not the Right Fit

Being routed elsewhere is the assessment doing its job.

The commonest reason at this campus is the one at the top of the page. If your coverage is Medicare or Medicaid, the campus says so plainly and offers to help you look elsewhere or discuss private pay [10]. The second is clinical: the picture may fit a different setting, which is what its pre-admission wording anticipates [7]. The third is travel.

Length of stay is published, and the two places it appears agree. Most people stay in treatment for about 45 to 60 days [7], and the campus says people typically attend treatment for between 45 and 60 days [7]. Its own campus FAQ breaks that down further, saying most medical detox stays take 5 to 10 days, that inpatient programs usually last at least 45 days, and that outpatient programs can last three months or longer [10].

Aftercare starts earlier than people expect. The campus says planning for what happens after treatment begins as soon as someone arrives, and that it creates a relapse prevention plan and prepares recovery resources for the transition back into daily life [10].

Where something lighter is advised, our outpatient rehab page sets out the shape of it. Our treatment centers page is built round a map you click by state, and the campus’s own site describes its programs.

None of that changes the closing point. TIP 45’s consensus panel took special care to note that detoxification is not substance abuse treatment and rehabilitation [1], and most people need long-term treatment after detox [4]. Which is exactly why this campus starts aftercare planning on day one.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

1. Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. (2006). Detoxification and Substance Abuse Treatment, Chapter 1: Overview, Essential Concepts, and Definitions in Detoxification. Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series No. 45. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK64119/
2. Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. (2006). Detoxification and Substance Abuse Treatment, Chapter 2: Settings, Levels of Care, and Patient Placement. Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series No. 45. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK64109/
3. Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. (2006). Detoxification and Substance Abuse Treatment, Chapter 4: Physical Detoxification Services for Withdrawal From Specific Substances. Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series No. 45. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK64116/
4. MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia. Opiate and Opioid Withdrawal. National Library of Medicine. https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/000949.htm
5. HealthCare.gov. Mental Health and Substance Abuse Health Coverage Options. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. https://www.healthcare.gov/coverage/mental-health-substance-abuse-coverage/
6. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). https://www.cms.gov/marketplace/private-health-insurance/mental-health-parity-addiction-equity
7. The Recovery Village Atlanta. What To Expect at The Recovery Village Atlanta. The Recovery Village. https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/locations/atlanta/what-to-expect/
8. Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School. 42 CFR § 2.13 — Confidentiality restrictions and safeguards. https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/42/2.13
9. Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School. 29 CFR § 825.100 — The Family and Medical Leave Act. https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/29/825.100
10. The Recovery Village Atlanta. The Recovery Village Atlanta. The Recovery Village. https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/locations/atlanta/

This page is for general information and is not medical advice. Only a licensed clinician who knows your history can tell you what is right for you. If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, call 911. For free, confidential support 24/7, call or text 988.

Author

Kevin Wandler, MD

Chief Medical Officer, The Recovery Village