Here at NCX Brain Recovery we receive many calls and questions about Cognitive FX. While we don’t know everything, and Cognitive FX is constantly growing and improving, most of our team formerly worked at Cognitive FX. We thought we would answer some of the Frequently Asked Questions that we get about Cognitive FX. Keep in mind that these are only our observations over the years.
Cognitive FX provides intensive treatment for Post Concussion Syndrome that they call the EPIC treatment and provide a proprietary functional MRI scans that they call an fNCI. They use the fNCI scan to help inform the intensive treatment and also do a final scan to help show the results of therapy. Cognitive FX also provides traditional MRI’s, both cervical and cranial, to check the boxes on any structural damage that might be present.
By and large, the feedback and reviews are great. Cognitive FX has 4.8 Star Average on Google Reviews among 329 reviews. That is amazing.
Here is a link to some of their top and most relevant reviews: https://g.co/kgs/RCTwyH5
Cognitive FX has a huge foothold in the Netherlands and sees many patients come for treatment. We found this article from a Dutch university following 64 patients: https://umcgresearch.org/w/pilot-study-results-about-much-discussed-american-cfx-treatment-require-further-research
Here are some of the perspectives of those who maybe didn’t have the best experience: https://g.co/kgs/BTMXDdU; https://g.co/kgs/BHn6oVV
There are lots of concerns about the cost, which is understandable. $24,700 is a boat load of money. There is a general feel that Cognitive FX has not taken good care of people after completing the EPIC Treatment.
Frankly, the results are great. Even with independent studies, Cognitive FX’s results are wonderful and help MANY people heal and lead better lives every single year because of their services.
No, It is not a hoax. They have cutting edge research and have a great track record of showing good results in treating Post Concussion Syndrome. The Functional MRI that they use is their own intellectual property and is a bit controversial, but they have made many breakthroughs in therapy to show the kinds of intensive, cognitive treatment that is necessary to heal from Post concussion Syndrome. We believe so much in the results of the applied therapy and multi-sensory integration that we even go further and provide even more of that intensive therapy at NCX Brain Recovery’s intensive program.
For details on the cost of Cognitive FX, prices range from $13,000 – $26,000, you can find more details here. As for whether it’s worth it, you may want to consider these questions: is your brain important? Is your quality of life valuable to you? It is a tough question to put a price tag on health, and without a healthy brain it’s hard to imagine having the quality of life that we all strive for. So we would say YES, Cognitive FX is worth it! Their track record and reviews are so highly rated and the results speak for themselves. Their program is highly effective in helping people heal from PCS.
With that being said, NCX Brain Recovery opened its clinic primarily because the price at Cognitive FX started to get prohibitively expensive for many people who need to overcome PCS. We see the need for concussion rehab and believe it is a very under-served area of healthcare. So, we happily provide high-quality therapy for less than half the price of Cognitive FX.
It is not exactly the same. We do not do fMRI’s and we focus much more on multi-sensory integration through occupational therapy while also increasing the hours of therapy per week. At NCX Brain Recovery, we feel that multi-sensory integration through occupational therapy is the most effective intervention for healing from PCS. With that being said, if money is no issue, we would not discourage anyone from going to Cognitive FX if they have PCS. It’s worth the opportunity to heal.
Cognitive FX’s model is a Cash Pay model. You pay up front cash and then Cognitive FX will give you a Super Bill with the information about treatment for you to submit to your Insurance. This is not great for the patient. Insurances are notoriously difficult to deal with and to get reimbursements from. It takes a lot of time and headache to get payment. The functional MRI(fNCI) is specifically not covered by insurance. Cognitive FX is not contracted with insurances, so they will always be out-of-network if you are to submit the bills. Something unfortunate is that if your provider is not contracted with the insurance, you’re in-network deductible will not apply to the expense. So, if you know how to battle insurance companies, and if your out-of-network deductible is met, and all the codes line up and you can prove the necessity of the services, you MIGHT get some reimbursement. The trick is that Cognitive FX does not and will not send your bills directly to insurances for you. And they won’t help fight the battle to get things paid for or reimbursed.
Yes, from our perspective, Cognitive FX’s use of the functional MRI(named the FNCI by Cognitive FX) is a good tool for giving a snapshot of the brain’s functional blood flow. It highlights when certain areas of the brain are receiving more or less blood flow than is normal in a non-concussed brain. With that information, their treatment team can have an informed perspective as to whether someone is experiencing Post-Concussion Syndrome (PCS).
Many people say that fMRI’s are worthless and do not help. While we can see how people and doctors come to that conclusion, and why insurances won’t cover fMRI’s, we still have seen first-hand the value of the fMRI. It helped to inform therapy developments in the early days at Cognitive FX and continues to do so. It allowed for the therapy team to experiment and receive feedback as to what things truly make a change in the brain. After thousands of scans and patients, we believe the before and after fMRI’s helped crack the code to overcoming PCS. Through the years, this informed approach shaped the philosophy for therapy at Cognitive FX and subsequently at NCX Brain Recovery. We are so grateful for Cognitive FX’s years of research and believe it is one of the most impactful research developments in the world with regards to concussion rehabilitation.
Cognitive FX stands strong that the fMRI is a necessary part of recovering from PCS. Good data helps inform and provide direction. Cognitive FX’s fMRI has value and does support an informed approach to therapy. While there isn’t an MRI or test that can tell you if you have a concussion or Post Concussion Syndrome, the fMRI at Cognitive FX can help give direction and a good idea as to the state of the brain and possible causes of the concussion symptoms that people experience. Cognitive FX uses the information from the fMRI to produce the therapy protocols for each patient. The fMRI highlights possible issues that correlate to the thousands of fMRI’s that Cognitive FX has performed. If you want to see the change in your brain function presented on paper with data-points to show improvement, the fMRI is a great way to go.
Because the fMRI is a snapshot of the brain’s function at a given time, it isn’t perfect or foolproof, nor does it provide real-time analysis and adjustments while a patient is experiencing therapy. For our team at NCX Brain Recovery, we feel that the therapist’s ability to recognize symptom triggers, understand the patient’s performance thresholds, and to provide the “just-right-challenge” during therapy give the best outcomes towards overcoming PCS. The fMRI provides a starting and end point snapshot, but what happens in the middle is the most important part of the process.
We see healing and freedom from PCS symptoms through quality therapy and are able to inform our therapeutic approach through continual real-time symptomatic and performance-based evaluations. The healing that our patients experience at NCX Brain Recovery without the need for the fMRI data suggests that the fMRI is not necessary to achieve the therapeutic outcomes that patients want. Cognitive FX’s use of the fMRI in their program is a great way to start and end the therapeutic process if the data is important to the patient.
The short answer is no. Cognitive FX’s policies have changed over time, and could very well have changed as of this article, but by and large Cognitive FX focuses on cash-pay patients. While we’ve heard of a few cases where Cognitive FX accepted auto insurance claims (also known as auto liens), it appears that the pricing for those cases may be significantly higher than their standard cash-pay rate. Because of this, only certain auto cases with larger settlements may be eligible or practical for their program. At NCX Brain Recovery we do take Auto Liens and work with auto insurances on a case-by-case basis. They can be complex and not every case can support the cost and amount of therapy that is necessary to overcome PCS.
Cognitive FX will provide a super bill with billable insurance codes to the patients to submit to their health insurance in an attempt to get reimbursed. They are not credentialed with insurances, and therefore none of the treatment goes towards in-network deductibles or in-network services. Generally, health insurance plans have in-network as well as out-of-network deductibles. So, with the total cost of therapy being very high at Cognitive FX, and with the multi-disciplinary team, Cognitive FX is able to bill many different billable codes. It is possible that even with a high out-of-network deductible that some patients are able to receive some amount of reimbursement. Insurances are very good at denying, disallowing, and discounting services especially when they are out-of-network and not bound by any contract with the provider. This makes it very difficult to receive any reimbursement. If I went to Cognitive FX, I would not plan on receiving any reimbursement from my personal health insurance, though it isn’t impossible.
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