Online Cognitive Assessment With a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner

An online cognitive assessment lets you complete standardized memory, attention and reasoning tasks on your own computer and then go over the results with a clinician by video. At Willow & Stone that tool is Creyos, a computerized cognitive assessment whose tasks can be delivered through a remote link (the Creyos guide explains the tasks and the science). Below: how the remote format generally works, where the practice can see you, how payment differs by state, and what is still confirmed when you book.

Free online tests versus a clinician-reviewed assessment

Search for "online cognitive test" and you will find many free quizzes. Some are fun, a few are built on real research tasks, and almost none tell you what your score means for you. They are not normed against a large age-matched sample, they do not check whether your result was valid, and nobody with your history reads them. Our guide to free online cognitive tests covers what those quizzes can and cannot tell you.

A clinician-ordered assessment is different in three ways. The tasks are standardized, so everyone sees the same rules and timing. The scores are compared with people your age (Creyos draws on norms from more than 85,000 people). And the result goes to a clinician who interprets it alongside your sleep, mood, medications and medical history. Creyos no longer offers a consumer self-test; patients reach it only through a clinician.

How remote Creyos links generally work

Creyos is designed so that a practice can either sit you in front of a computer in the clinic or send you a secure link to complete from home. In the remote format, the steps usually look like this:

1. Your clinician sets up the assessment and the platform sends you a link, usually by email.
2. You open it in a web browser on a laptop, desktop or tablet; there is nothing to install.
3. Each task starts with short instructions and a practice round, then the scored part. Most take about 2–3 minutes.
4. When you finish, results go to your clinician’s account, not to a public website.

According to Creyos, remote links expire after 45 days, so it is worth finishing soon after you receive one. The tasks and questionnaires are available in English, Spanish and French. A support person, such as a parent, may be present at home.

Whether Willow & Stone will send you a remote link, ask you to take the assessment in the Arlington office, or let you choose is something to ask our team when you book. If you do take it at home, our step-by-step guide to preparing for Creyos covers the room, device and timing.

Equipment and setting for an at-home assessment

Because a remote test replaces the controlled clinic room with your living room, the setup matters more than people expect. Creyos’s help center recommends:

• A laptop or desktop computer, ideally with a wired mouse or keyboard, or a tablet with a screen of 8 inches or more.
• Not a phone. Creyos says mobile phones are not recommended; small screens and touch targets change how the tasks feel.
• A current web browser and a stable internet connection.

On top of that, common sense from any timed test applies: a quiet room, notifications silenced, glasses on if you use them for screens, and a time of day when you are not exhausted. If something interrupts you, the report includes validity checks your clinician can see, so tell them what happened rather than worrying about it.

Where Willow & Stone can see you by telehealth

Telehealth visits are available to people who are physically located in one of the states below at the time of the visit; your mailing address does not decide it, your location does.

The 90-minute first evaluation is $300 and follow-ups are $150 (see pricing). The Creyos fee, and whether it is folded into the evaluation, is confirmed when you book. For a fuller picture of how video psychiatry works at the practice, see telepsychiatry at Willow & Stone.

What the video visit adds

The assessment is only half of an online cognitive evaluation. The other half is the conversation. Our online psychiatric evaluation with Dr. Stacey Forbes, PMHNP-BC, covers your symptoms, history, sleep, substance use, medications and medical conditions — the context that decides what a score means.

Take processing speed as an example. A slower-than-average result could reflect attention problems, depression, poor sleep, a sedating medication, a thyroid issue, or simply someone who works carefully. The task cannot tell those apart. A clinician who has heard your history often can, or can order the labs and follow-up that would.

When the results review happens after you complete the tasks — in the same video visit or a later follow-up — is something to ask our team. Either way you see the scores with Dr. Forbes rather than receiving a report with no explanation.

Privacy and where your results go

Creyos says it meets or exceeds standards such as HIPAA. Its privacy policy explains that patient health information collected through a clinic is governed by that clinic’s notice of privacy practices and by Creyos’s contracts with the clinic, not by the general website policy. In practice, that means your Creyos results become part of your medical record at Willow & Stone and are handled under the practice’s privacy notice.

Creyos describes itself as a tool that supports clinical judgment, and the regulatory wording matches: it is registered and listed with the FDA as a Class II, 510(k)-exempt computerized cognitive assessment aid; it is not FDA-cleared or approved and does not diagnose any condition.

Is online testing as good as testing in the office?

It depends on the setting you create. Creyos says it has not detected systematic differences between in-person and online scores, but the evidence it cites is a review rather than a head-to-head trial, and an independent study of older adults testing at home found that individual task reliability varied widely while combined scores held up better. Remote testing is convenient and generally workable; it is also more exposed to distractions, a slow connection or a cramped tablet screen.

That is why a clinician looks at the validity flags and asks how the session went before leaning on any single score. If a result looks off and the session was rough, the honest answer may be to repeat it in better conditions.

Getting started

1. Book a free consultation and mention that you are interested in an online cognitive assessment.
2. Confirm you will be physically in one of the seven states at your visits.
3. Ask our team whether Creyos will be remote or in the Arlington office for you, and what it costs.
4. Check that you have a computer or a tablet of 8 inches or more, and a quiet hour.
5. Complete the assessment and review the results with Dr. Forbes by video.

Common Questions

Sources & Further Reading

• Creyos — ADHD assessment protocol (remote or in-clinic FAQ)
• Creyos Help Center — Device recommendations
• Creyos Help Center — Patient FAQ (duration, link expiry)
• Creyos Help Center — Available languages
• Creyos — How it works (privacy and HIPAA statement)
• Creyos — Privacy policy
• Sternin A, Burns A, Owen AM. Thirty-five years of computerized cognitive assessment of aging. Diagnostics, 2019 (PubMed 31489940)
• Kochan NA et al. Reliability of an unsupervised at-home cognitive battery in older adults. J Alzheimers Dis, 2022 (PubMed 36314208)

This article is general education, not a diagnosis or advice for your situation. Creyos results support, and never replace, a clinical evaluation; only a clinician who has evaluated you can diagnose a condition or recommend treatment. Do not start, stop, or change a medication without talking to the clinician who prescribes it.