Customer ReviewsforPattison Professional Counseling Center

I am writing today to report insurance fraud committed by Pattison Professional Counseling and Meditation Center. There is currently a lawsuit in the Okaloosa County Circuit Civil Court because Pattison terminated the contract of an employee after she acted as a whistleblower. The plaintiff was fired after she confronted owners Susan Page and Rebecca Bortnyik about committing insurance fraud. Pattison falsified who treated patients to charge insurance companies such as BlueCross BlueShield, Medicare and TRICARE. The companies only pay out if the client is treated by a licensed mental health counselor. Interns without licenses treated clients each week and Pattison filed claims under Page and Bortnyik’s names because they are licensed mental health counselors. One of the intern’s clients provided me with claims showing Bortnyik was incorrectly listed as the rendering provider and that TRICARE paid anywhere from $95.97 to $207.66 per claim. The client also provided me documents showing she was billed for couples therapy when her husband accompanied her to sessions. He did not participate in the sessions. A licensed social worker who worked at Pattison through December 2020 confirmed all of this to be true and said Bortnyik listed her as a rendering provider when filing claims for clients with Medicare. She explained that Medicare only pays for visits with licensed social workers and Rebecca Bortnyik does not have that license. She said Susan Page made the same false claims under another social worker’s name. Medicare audited Pattison Counseling and in preparation, Bortnyik contacted the licensed social worker and asked her to sign notes for clients she never met with. The licensed social worker refused to sign the notes and reported the illegal activity to Medicare. Please look into these matters. I will gladly share documents and contact information for my sources. Pattison Counseling, and specifically Page and Bortnyik should pay for breaking the law.

My experience with this place has been extremely triggering and traumatizing. I originally sought out assistance in 2015 and received adequate care and responsiveness. I have seen several professionals here based on recommendations by each of them. I would like to note that there had been no substantial negative encounters thus far. Upon receiving my monthly processed ins. claims, I noticed the rendering provider was not my therapist. I brought this to their attention and they nervously said it was because she is an intern so her supervisors license is used to bill my insurance. I found this odd and because of the lack of licensure coupled with billing as if it were a licensed provider. I reported this to my insurance and now all of said claims have been denied, meaning this place has committed fraud. I have requested my records over a month ago in order to be seen by a new facility and have been told several different excuses as to why they cannot be produced, including that they do not have them, they cannot email them, etc. After reporting these things, Rebecca Bortnyick(supervisor that made fraudulent insurance claims) asked that I make an appointment with her. I declined her obvious attempt tomanipulate me. It’s very apparent they are only interested in money. I sought care in Niceville ready to move past this stress and receive the help that I had originally needed. I was called by that same therapist the next morning and told that she couldn’t see me due to a conflict of interest. PPC also told me that none of my prior counselors have availability nor do the have a waitlists. I feel that they are not only denying me care, but also preventing me from care anywhere else. This establishment has injured my mental health, traumatized me, and has the audacity to gaslight me and refuses to provide me my records. This is disgraceful and dehumanizing. I could go on and on about their unethical practices. This is not what I anticipated when seeking mental help.