What is an ARNP?
An Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner is a highly trained nurse with at least 6 years of post secondary education. An ARNP typically begins a career as a registered nurse and then completes graduate studies focusing on assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of conditions within his or her specialty. Following completion of this rigorous course of study, these nurses must pass a national certification exam to be eligible for licensure in their state. Although details vary from state to state, all 50 states allow ARNPs to write prescriptions and ARNPs are able to bill insurance companies for the services they provide.
About My Practice
I am a board certified psych mental health nurse practitioner with prescriptive authority. I have been a psychiatric nurse practitioner for about 11 years, and worked as a psychiatric RN for 6 years before that. I have a special interest in treating bipolar disorder and ADHD. I hold a Masters of Nursing with Honors from the University of Washington and am active in several professional organizations. I identify as female and my pronouns are she / her.
I believe that mental health challenges have biological, psychological, and social underpinnings that can be addressed through therapy and medication together. While I focus on pharmacological interventions, I will use any opportunity to use talk therapy to support your recovery and well being. This therapy may focus on improving insight or coping skills, challenging unhelpful behaviors or habits of thought, processing difficult situations that may come up, or reinforcing the work you are doing with your regular therapist. Change is a process best accomplished through repetition and reinforcement, so rigidly limiting our appointments to med checks only, would be doing you a disservice. Most people, at some point in their illness, will benefit from a period weekly therapy sessions. In those cases, I have developed a referral network of wonderfully talented individual therapists, and am happy to help you identify good options for your individual circumstances.
I believe that mental health challenges have biological, psychological, and social underpinnings that can be addressed through therapy and medication together. While I focus on pharmacological interventions, I will use any opportunity to use talk therapy to support your recovery and well being. This therapy may focus on improving insight or coping skills, challenging unhelpful behaviors or habits of thought, processing difficult situations that may come up, or reinforcing the work you are doing with your regular therapist. Change is a process best accomplished through repetition and reinforcement, so rigidly limiting our appointments to med checks only, would be doing you a disservice. Most people, at some point in their illness, will benefit from a period weekly therapy sessions. In those cases, I have developed a referral network of wonderfully talented individual therapists, and am happy to help you identify good options for your individual circumstances.
What About Insurance?
I currently am an in network provider for Premera, Lifewise, Regence Blue Shield, Healthcare Management Administrators (HMA), and Asuris Northwest Health, First Choice, Kaiser (PPO only, not CORE or HMO) and Aetna. Please be sure to call your insurance provider to verify that your mental health services provided by me will be covered. Several local employers seem to have BCBS, Premera or Regence insurance, but mental health benefits are actually through a different company. It is VERY IMPORTANT that you confirm the details of your mental health benefits, as you will be responsible for any services that are not covered by your insurance. When you call your insurance company to confirm that I am in network, you may need to provide my full name: Katherine Ko
I frequently see clients who are out of network. Payment is due at time of service, but I will provide you with the appropriate paperwork for getting reimbursed by your insurer for payments for services.
I frequently see clients who are out of network. Payment is due at time of service, but I will provide you with the appropriate paperwork for getting reimbursed by your insurer for payments for services.