First Step Counseling and Medical

First Step Counseling and Medical, based in Sioux Falls, SD, is one of the SAMHSA-registered treatment programs operating in SD. The facility's programming is outpatient (IOP), not residential. What this page can help with is the frame — what to ask, what to verify, what to compare against.

Care levels at First Step Counseling and Medical

The care-level question matters because what a facility offers is what it can realistically treat well. First Step Counseling and Medical is an outpatient-focused program (IOP) — patients live at home or in sober living and attend treatment sessions. This level of care is clinically appropriate for mild-to-moderate substance use disorder, or for patients stepping down from residential. Before admission, an independent clinical assessment (from a primary-care doctor, licensed substance-use counselor, or addiction-medicine physician) can confirm whether First Step Counseling and Medical's offerings match the clinical need.

Insurance and payment

Payment and insurance specifics for First Step Counseling and Medical are not fully documented in the SAMHSA registry — a direct admissions conversation is the reliable way to confirm what forms of payment are accepted and at what network-contract level. The single most useful pre-admission move on insurance is requesting the facility send you — in writing, by email — the specific benefits verification for your specific plan product. That document is the answer to most post-admission billing disputes.

Before you call

Three questions to put to First Step Counseling and Medical before admission: the specific ASAM level the facility is billing; the written Verification of Benefits for your specific plan product; the MAT policy (continuation of buprenorphine or methadone during residential, specifically). If the clinical situation involves opioid use disorder, confirm explicitly whether First Step Counseling and Medical offers medication-assisted treatment — buprenorphine, methadone, or naltrexone. Programs that do not are operating outside the current standard of care. Getting answers in writing protects against the downstream surprises.