In most states, you can run a free standing substance abuse facility with a medical director of any provider specialty. However the standards of care for both United Healthcare and Cigna state that initial psychiatric evaluations have to be done by a board certified psychiatrist or addictionologist. I have heard that Cigna also allows the initial psych evals can be done by a specialized psych ARNP.

So here are my questions. Would it be okay for a psych ARNP to provide the initial face to face psychiatric evaluation? If so, can they report to a medical director that has a scope of practice outside of Psychiatry or Addictionology?