An intervention, properly done, serves to raise the bottom, create a crisis, break through the denial system and lead the dependent person to the help that they need to begin recovery. The structured team approach is the most effective form of intervention and while there is some risk involved, the process itself and the work that leads up to it are acts of love, courage and hope. For more information on structured interventions, please visit our Intervention page. You may also contact our Inquiry Call Center for information on interventionists.
Patients will be on telephone restriction for the first seven days they are at COPAC. This period allows us to give them time to bond with the community. Their initial reaction will always be to run away from their disease. Any threat to their disease (i.e., treatment, therapy, structure, rules, or medication) will not be easy for them to handle. They will probably call you in an attempt to get you to play an adversarial role with the staff, which makes treatment more difficult or encourages you to take them out of treatment to end their perceived pain. This is your first opportunity to help them in the treatment process. If you give in to their wishes, they cannot get better. Always remember that if the patient had made good decisions and taken appropriate actions, they would not be here in the first place.
Tell the patient that you are going to wait 24 hours before making any decision about their treatment. This allows you time to check things out and make appropriate arrangements for your actions. It also becomes a perfect time for you to find out if the patient is using their therapy group and counselor.
Patients are asked to put their family on their Authorization to Release Information form. This is a form that meets the Federal Guidelines CRF-42-R which enables us to acknowledge that the person is here and to talk with people about the patient. If the patient refuses to sign the consent form (and this does happen!), the Federal Law governing confidentiality does not allow us to speak with you. We will work with the patient in order to get them to consent to your knowledge of their progress. Failure of the patient to consent to your knowledge of their progress is cause for grave concern.
Please call your patient’s counselor every other week for an update. Progress is made in small increments and calling more often will not be beneficial to you, and keeps the counselors from having time to work with the patients. Telephone calls should be made to the counselor between 2:30 and 4:30 p.m. Central Time.
The appropriate counselor should contact you within the first week of the patient’s stay. If a counselor does not contact you, please call the Clinical Director of the appropriate program. There is a Clinical Director for the Men’s Program, the Women’s Program, Phase III and the Intensive Outpatient Program.
We want the patients to bond with each other and bring issues to group and to their counselors. If you talk to them too much, it makes their feelings go away and makes it harder on us to do our job. Three calls per week (incoming and outgoing) are the rule at COPAC.
The patients live together in groups that are designed to function as families. While they may not function as normal families (Mom is certainly not there to pick-up after them), they function as we see an ideal family would. Chores are divided among the “family members.” Someone sweeps, mops, cleans toilets, washes dishes, prepares meals, and cooks. As a group, they plan a weekly menu (approved by our Dietician) and a grocery shopping list. They even do their own shopping!
They are required to make up their bed daily and wash their clothes weekly. Patients learn responsible sober-living skills during their treatment. These daily tasks aid in their transition when they leave COPAC and again are living on their own.
We expect the patients to be responsible for their behavior. Recovery is a personal responsibility, and as much as they would like it, we can’t get sober for them and neither can you. The normal patient at COPAC has avoided taking any personal responsibility for his/her actions. They often blame others, situations, life, family members, authorities, anyone, or anything rather than looking at their own behavior.
At COPAC, we use the “honesty board” as a method of personal growth. Patients who break the rules are asked to put their name on the honesty board. Every week they are required to do consequences for their rule violations. This may include: picking up cigarette butts, sticks, paper, or other clean-up activities. The patients are required to prepare weekly budgets while they are in the program. If you send them food, cigarettes, personal items or extra money, they cannot learn to live “within their means.”
Days are full at COPAC and begin with wake-up at 6:30 a.m. The first activity is making up the bed and family chores. Daily exercise follows breakfast and the patient then does morning meditation. The patients attend an educational class on the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, which is the basic text.
COPAC is a 12-Step oriented program based on abstinence. We believe that people who stay sober and happy do so in 12-Step programs, i.e., Alcoholics Anonymous. Group therapy is next and then lunch. After lunch, the patient experiences a number of educational programs and group therapy on a variety of topics. The patients have an exercise period in the afternoon and participate in group games. Meal preparation begins at 4:30 p.m. and dinner is served at 5:30. From that time until 8:00 p.m. is free time to work on assignments. The patients attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings every evening at 8:00.
All medication will be approved and prescribed by COPAC physicians. Some patients will be given medication as a part of their treatment. Medication compliance has been a relapse issue for many chemically-dependent patients. COPAC uses a system of self-administration of medication to help patients be personally responsible for their medication. This is how it works: 1) the physician orders the medication, 2) the medication is placed in the locked medication cart, 3) A nurse observes each patient retrieve his/her medication from the cart and take it. This occurs four times daily. Patients with general health complaints will see the Medical Director. The nurses schedule appointments for both physicians on a daily sign-up sheet. The patient is responsible for signing up for medical care.
A COPAC physician will give patients at COPAC a history and physical. Part of this process will be to rule out any underlining psychiatric problems the patient may have.
No. Our fees are all inclusive except for medications and standard lab fees. Of course, these can be filled on insurance.
We accept most major insurance policies but there are so many insurance companies with thousands of policies, each written differently. The best way to determine if your insurance coverage is valid for COPAC is to have it verified by our Business Office. Sometimes when coverage is denied, we can work out a one-time contract with your insurance company. We do not accept Medicaid or Medicare.
Like any other kind of inpatient hospital help, treatment is expensive. For your self pay dollar, Copac provides a staff to patient ratio of nearly 2:1. That is one of the highest ratios for the treatment of addiction in the country. Our medical team is comprised of four full-time physicians: three internists and one psychiatrist. They are supported by a physician assistant. All have specific training in addiction. Our nursing staff provides care for patients 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We have one of the best detox units in the business. Please call our Inquiry Call Center and a staff member will gladly give you our self pay rates.
Yes. COPAC will do everything we can to assist in securing insurance reimbursement for your treatment.
This is a complicated process for the patient, the treatment center, and the insurance provider. COPAC maintains agreements with a number of insurance carriers but each one has different rules and standards for what services it will pay for. Just because COMPANY X says it covers residential care it may have a variety of policy options and only one of these options will cover COPAC or any other residential program. Consequently, your specific policy options may not cover you.
COPAC wants you to understand that our agreement for services is between You and COPAC, not your insurance carrier and COPAC.
The first step is to contact your insurance carrier about an admission to COPAC. Alternatively, if you provide COPAC with your information, we will contact them and pre-certify the policy. This does not guarantee payment - it will only let us know if the criteria can be met. If the patient is in the hospital it may be helpful for a social worker or discharge planner to contact the insurance company for you.
The second step is at admission. Upon admission we will contact your insurance company and try to get authorization for admissions. We will provide your carrier with the pertinent clinical information and make a case for medical necessity. If the authorization is granted, we will do the updates necessary to continue coverage.
We often find that even if you have coverage it will probably only cover a portion of the patent's stay. You will be responsible for costs of the care we provide, not the insurance company. For more information, we invite you or your insurance provider to call our Accounts Manager at 1-800-446-9727.
The Family Program helps educate the family members about the illness of addiction and helps the family begin the healing process. It usually takes place in the third or fourth week of the treatment process and lasts for 5 days starting Monday at 8:30 AM. The Family Program is held at our outpatient facility.
Our program is usually 30-60 days. Each person is different and it is very hard to determine beforehand how long someone needs to be in treatment. We like to say that "we don't want you to be in treatment one day longer than you need to be, but we don't want you to leave a day early either."
Yes, supervised by our Medical Director. Please contact Courtney Milan with additional questions about detoxification.
All medication will be approved and prescribed by COPAC physicians. Some patients will be given medication as a part of their treatment. Medication compliance has been a relapse issue for many chemically-dependent patients. COPAC uses a system of self-administration of medication to help patients be personally responsible for their medication. This is how it works: 1) the physician orders the medication, 2) the medication is placed in the locked medication cart, 3) A nurse observes each patient retrieve his/her medication from the cart and take it. This occurs four times daily. Patients with general health complaints will see the Medical Director. The nurses schedule appointments for both physicians on a daily sign-up sheet. The patient is responsible for signing up for medical care.
A COPAC physician will give patients at COPAC a history and physical. Part of this process will be to rule out any underlining psychiatric problems the patient may have.
The term Dual Diagnosis Treatment is often misunderstood. This term means that a patient has been diagnosed with chemical dependency and a psychiatric disorder. These patients, as a general rule, require a great deal of extra support and care. This care can consist of psychiatric visits, medications management, specialized groups, or any combination of these services. A Dual Diagnosis does not mean that a patient requires or needs to have daily or even weekly visits with the psychiatrist.
Hurry Up and Wait! This is a group of individuals who want what they want when they want it. A part of their treatment is to get what they get when they get it. We will take excellent care of them, but we will not cater to them. We want them better, not entitled.
An intervention, properly done, serves to raise the bottom, create a crisis, break through the denial system and lead the dependent person to the help that they need to begin recovery. The structured team approach is the most effective form of intervention and while there is some risk involved, the process itself and the work that leads up to it are acts of love, courage and hope. For more information on structured interventions, please visit our Intervention page. You may also contact our Inquiry Call Center for information on interventionists.
Recovery is an ongoing process and a strong foundation is built in treatment through working the twelve steps. As long as a patient fully utilizes the tools they are given in treatment, we believe alcoholics and other drug addicts can completely recover from the obsession to use. Our last internal study showed that 63% of our patients were still sober a year later.
Like any other kind of inpatient hospital help, treatment is expensive. For your self pay dollar, Copac provides a staff to patient ratio of nearly 2:1. That is one of the highest ratios for the treatment of addiction in the country. Our medical team is comprised of four full-time physicians: three internists and one psychiatrist. They are supported by a physician assistant. All have specific training in addiction. Our nursing staff provides care for patients 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We have one of the best detox units in the business. Please call our Inquiry Call Center and a staff member will gladly give you our self pay rates.
We accept most major insurance policies but there are so many insurance companies with thousands of policies, each written differently. The best way to determine if your insurance coverage is valid for COPAC is to have it verified by our Business Office. Sometimes when coverage is denied, we can work out a one-time contract with your insurance company. We do not accept Medicaid or Medicare.
We offer a 5-day Family Week that is an incredible experience.
A COPAC physician will give patients at COPAC a history and physical. Part of this process will be to rule out any underlining psychiatric problems the patient may have.
The patients live together in groups that are designed to function as families. While they may not function as normal families (Mom is certainly not there to pick-up after them), they function as we see an ideal family would. Chores are divided among the “family members.” Someone sweeps, mops, cleans toilets, washes dishes, prepares meals, and cooks. As a group, they plan a weekly menu (approved by our Dietician) and a grocery shopping list. They even do their own shopping!
They are required to make up their bed daily and wash their clothes weekly. Patients learn responsible sober-living skills during their treatment. These daily tasks aid in their transition when they leave COPAC and again are living on their own.