PsychBright Health is a psychiatrist-led Los Angeles practice where board-certified psychiatrists and psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners treat opioid use disorder with medication and ongoing clinical care, with psychiatrist supervision and clinical oversight throughout. Care is delivered entirely by telehealth, so you are seen from home rather than in a waiting room, and new patients are typically scheduled within five business days anywhere in California. We accept Medicare Advantage, Medicare, Aetna, Anthem, Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Cigna and Evernorth, UHC, Optum, Health Net, L.A. Care Commercial, SCAN, Carelon, Tricare, and Triwest, along with most major commercial health plans. If your plan is not listed there is a strong chance we still accept it.
Opioid use disorder treatment is medical care that combines medication to control cravings and withdrawal with psychiatric support that addresses the reasons opioid use took hold. The opioids involved range from prescription medications such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, morphine, and fentanyl through to heroin, and treatment follows the same clinical path regardless of where the use started. It is not willpower coaching and it is not a 30-day program you graduate from. For most people it is an ongoing relationship with a psychiatric clinician who prescribes, monitors, and adjusts treatment over time. According to the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, of the 4.0 million people aged 12 or older with a past-year opioid use disorder, only 15.7 percent received medication for it. The gap is not a lack of effective treatment. It is a lack of access to a prescriber, and that is the gap this page exists to close.
Care here centers on medication-assisted treatment, the standard of care for opioid use disorder and the thing that makes long-term recovery realistic rather than white-knuckled. What follows is about getting that care started in Los Angeles, with a psychiatrist who takes your insurance.
The window when someone decides to get help for opioids is narrow, and a three-week wait for a first appointment is often enough to lose it. PsychBright schedules new patients within five business days for that reason. Consider the surgical nurse who was prescribed oxycodone after a spinal procedure, kept refilling it long after the incision healed, and now feels the first pull of withdrawal by mid-morning at work. She is not sleeping on a sidewalk. She is terrified that asking for help will cost her license, and every week she waits is another week the disorder deepens. Fast access is the point, not a marketing line.
If you are already in acute withdrawal, treatment does not require you to be fully detoxed before you start. In many cases the medication is what makes stopping tolerable in the first place.
The hardest part of getting opioid addiction treatment in this city is usually not the clinical care. It is finding a board-certified psychiatrist who accepts your plan and is taking new patients. PsychBright accepts Medicare Advantage, Medicare, Aetna, Anthem, Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Cigna and Evernorth, UHC, Optum, Health Net, L.A. Care Commercial, SCAN, Carelon, Tricare, and Triwest, along with most major commercial health plans. If your plan is not listed there is a strong chance we still accept it.
Medicare Advantage is where PsychBright stands apart in Los Angeles. Many addiction and psychiatry practices in the area do not accept it, which leaves patients over 65 and those on Medicare plans with almost nowhere to turn for opioid treatment in network. PsychBright does accept it. Patients who prefer to pay out of pocket, or whose plan is not covered, can check self-pay rates and superbill documentation alongside the full list of accepted plans. To confirm your specific plan before booking, call (213) 584-2331 or note your insurance when you request an appointment online.
Treatment begins with a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation. A board-certified psychiatrist reviews your opioid history, physical and mental health, prior attempts at treatment, and what you want out of care. That evaluation looks at the things that mark the disorder clinically: cravings, rising tolerance, loss of control over use, and withdrawal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and muscle aches when a dose is missed. It also weighs overdose risk, since opioids suppress breathing and that risk climbs sharply after any period away from regular use, when tolerance has dropped but the old dose feels familiar. That evaluation, not a questionnaire, sets the plan.
When it is clinically appropriate following that evaluation, your clinician may prescribe medication such as buprenorphine to reduce cravings and blunt withdrawal so that daily life becomes manageable again. Not every patient needs the same medication or the same approach, and treatment is individualized to the person. Alongside medication, care draws on approaches like cognitive behavioral therapy and relapse-prevention planning to address the patterns underneath the use. Recovery timelines differ from person to person and results may vary. If a medication is not working or its side effects are hard to tolerate, that is not a dead end. Your clinician adjusts the dose, changes the medication, or manages a safe transition, and monitors your progress at regular follow-up visits.
| Stage | When | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Request an appointment | Day 0 | Call or submit the online form. The team verifies your insurance benefits before you are booked, so cost is settled up front. |
| Comprehensive psychiatric evaluation | Typically within 5 business days | A board-certified psychiatrist reviews your opioid history, physical and mental health, prior treatment attempts, and goals. In person in Los Angeles or by video anywhere in California. |
| Treatment plan and prescribing | Same visit, when clinically appropriate | If indicated following the evaluation, medication such as buprenorphine is prescribed to reduce cravings and blunt withdrawal. The plan is individualized, never automatic. |
| Early stabilization | First few weeks | Closer follow-up while the dose is adjusted to the point where cravings and withdrawal are controlled and daily life is manageable again. |
| Ongoing management | Month 2 onward | Visits space out as things stabilize. Your clinician monitors progress, manages side effects, and adjusts treatment over time. Recovery timelines differ from person to person and results may vary. |
Telehealth is not a fallback here, it is how the practice works, and for opioid treatment it is often the better format anyway. Being seen from home removes the commute, the parking, and the fear of running into someone you know in a waiting room. PsychBright is based in Los Angeles and treats patients across West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Culver City, and Brentwood, and the same care reaches any California resident from San Diego to the Central Valley by video.
Buprenorphine is prescribed and managed by video when it is clinically appropriate following a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation. Your clinician will explain what your own treatment involves rather than leaving you to guess.
For someone whose job, custody arrangement, or professional license feels at stake, confidentiality is often the real question behind every other one. Your psychiatric and substance-use records are protected under HIPAA, and federal rules give substance-use treatment records additional protection. Your employer and your family cannot access them without your written consent. The narrow exceptions involve an imminent risk of serious harm, which the law requires clinicians to act on. Seeking treatment is a private medical decision, and it is treated that way here.
Care is delivered by a psychiatrist-led team of board-certified psychiatrists and psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners, working under a structured model of supervision and clinical oversight, rather than a national app matching you to whoever is available. New patients are typically seen within five business days. The practice accepts named commercial plans plus Medicare and Medicare Advantage, treats patients by telehealth throughout California, and offers bilingual care in Spanish. You stay with the same clinician, so your treatment history does not fragment across a rotating cast of providers. Call (213) 584-2331 and the team can verify your benefits and book your first appointment in the same conversation.
Daniel Duel, MD, is a board-certified psychiatrist and the founder and CEO of PsychBright Health, a Beverly Hills based virtual psychiatry practice serving adults throughout California. Dr. Duel completed his medical and psychiatric training at UCLA, where he gained extensive experience treating a wide range of conditions, including depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, psychotic disorders, and substance use disorders.
Throughout his career, Dr. Duel has been drawn to the importance of understanding the whole person, not simply treating a list of symptoms. His approach combines thoughtful diagnostic evaluation, evidence-based medication management, supportive therapy, and practical lifestyle interventions tailored to each patient’s needs.
Dr. Duel founded PsychBright Health to make high-quality psychiatric care easier to access while preserving the clinical rigor and personal attention patients deserve. Under his leadership, PsychBright has grown into a multidisciplinary practice in which psychiatric care is delivered by experienced clinicians, including board-certified psychiatrists, with an emphasis on compassion, collaboration, and meaningful long-term improvement.
PsychBright accepts Medicare Advantage, Medicare, Aetna, Anthem, Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Cigna and Evernorth, UHC, Optum, Health Net, L.A. Care Commercial, SCAN, Carelon, Tricare, and Triwest, along with most major commercial health plans. If your plan is not on this list there is a strong chance we still accept it. To confirm your specific coverage before booking, call (213) 584-2331 or note your plan when you request an appointment online, and our team will verify your benefits.
Yes. PsychBright accepts both traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans for opioid use disorder treatment, which is uncommon among addiction and psychiatry practices in Los Angeles. That makes it one of the few in-network options for patients over 65 and others on Medicare plans. Coverage details vary by plan, so call (213) 584-2331 to confirm your benefits before your first appointment.
New patients are typically seen within five business days. Because the decision to get help for opioids can be a narrow window, same-week scheduling is a consistent feature of how PsychBright operates. Because every visit is by video, there is no travel and no waiting room, which widens availability further. To confirm current availability, call (213) 584-2331 or submit a request through the contact page.
Yes, when it is clinically appropriate following a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation. Buprenorphine, the active medication in Suboxone, is a first-line treatment that reduces cravings and withdrawal. Not every patient needs the same medication, and the decision is individualized based on the evaluation. PsychBright’s clinicians hold prescribing authority to manage this treatment, with psychiatrist oversight behind it, and results may vary from one person to the next.
Yes. PsychBright prescribes and manages buprenorphine for opioid use disorder by video when it is clinically appropriate following a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation, for patients throughout California.
Usually not. You do not need to be fully detoxed before beginning opioid use disorder treatment, and for many people the medication is what makes stopping tolerable in the first place. Most patients are treated on an outpatient basis with medication and follow-up care rather than inpatient rehab. If you are in acute withdrawal, your clinician will help you determine whether medically supervised detox is needed first.
No, not without your written consent. Your psychiatric and substance-use treatment records are protected under HIPAA, and substance-use records carry additional federal protection. Employers and family members cannot access them on their own. The only exceptions involve an imminent risk of serious harm, which clinicians are legally required to act on. Treatment is a private medical decision.
Only a clinician can make that determination, and it is one of the things a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation is for. The patterns a psychiatrist looks at include cravings, needing more of the drug for the same effect, using more or longer than intended, difficulty cutting back, and withdrawal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and muscle aches when a dose is missed. This applies whether the opioid is a prescription such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, morphine, or fentanyl, or heroin. If any of this sounds familiar, that is a reason to book an evaluation rather than to reach a conclusion on your own.
PsychBright Health treats opioid use disorder by telehealth anywhere in California, with a psychiatrist-led team of board-certified psychiatrists and psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners, same-week availability, and insurance plans including Medicare Advantage, Medicare, Aetna, Anthem, Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Cigna and Evernorth, UHC, Optum, Health Net, L.A. Care Commercial, SCAN, Carelon, Tricare, and Triwest. If you are ready to start treatment with a physician who can prescribe and manage your care, call (213) 584-2331 or request an appointment online.
This page is for informational purposes and is not a substitute for medical advice. Speak with a board-certified psychiatrist about your specific situation.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.
