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What level of care do I need?

Clinically reviewed by Jillian Lampert, PhD, MPH, RD, LD, FAEDLast reviewed September 29, 2026

Eating disorder treatment comes in levels: outpatient, intensive outpatient (IOP), partial hospitalization (PHP), residential, and inpatient, with outpatient and day programs also offered virtually in some states. Which one you need depends on your medical status, your symptoms, and how safe and supported you are at home. The first step toward the right one is a screening with our admissions coordinator.

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Talk with our admissions coordinator · No referral needed · Insurance verified at no cost

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Our Levels of Care

Each level differs in hours a week, where you live during treatment, and how much medical and meal support surrounds you. Most levels happen while you live at home. Residential and inpatient care are the exceptions, for when home cannot safely hold recovery yet.

Two things that trip people up. “Day treatment,” “PHP,” and “IDP” are the same level of care: a full-day program you go home from each evening, with IOP as the shorter day. And how long any level lasts is set by progress, not a calendar: four to eight weeks is typical for day programs, and your team recommends the next step when you are ready for it.

The Emily Program has treated eating disorders for more than 30 years. We are CARF accredited and affiliated with the University of Minnesota Medical School.

How the Right Level of Care Is Determined

Level of care depends on your medical status, your eating and exercise behaviors, your mental health, your treatment history, and the support you have at home. Weight alone never decides it. The first step is a screening with our admissions coordinator; your preferences are part of that conversation, and your safety comes first.

A young person talks with a staff member who takes notes on a clipboard

A screening is not a test you pass or fail. It is a conversation with our admissions coordinator about what you are going through, what you have tried before, and the support you have at home, so you can be pointed toward the level of care that fits. No referral is needed.

A common worry

Do I need a higher level of care if I am not underweight?

Possibly, yes. Weight is one data point among many. People at any weight can have dangerously low heart rates, electrolyte imbalances, or purging that damages the body, and atypical anorexia, in which every feature of anorexia is present except low weight, is treated at every level of care, including residential and inpatient. If you have been telling yourself you are not sick enough for treatment, that thought is a common symptom of the illness, not an accurate reading of it.

Can I decide my own level of care?

You decide whether to seek treatment, and you should have a say in how it fits your life. What you cannot reliably do is see your own medical risk from the inside; people with eating disorders are often the last to know how serious things have become, because the illness blunts that perception. That is why it helps to talk it through with someone who can see the whole picture, starting with a screening with our admissions coordinator.

Do I need eating disorder treatment at all?

If food, weight, exercise, or your body is taking up more of your thinking than you would choose, and it is affecting your health, relationships, or daily life, a screening with our admissions coordinator is a good next step. You do not need a diagnosis first, you do not need to be underweight, and you do not need to be sure. Signs it is time: restricting, bingeing, or purging in any pattern; food rules that keep growing; exercise that feels mandatory; avoiding meals with other people; dizziness, fainting, or feeling cold all the time; a heart that races or drags; or people who love you saying they are worried. Eating disorders rarely resolve without professional treatment: behaviors become automatic, the body adapts in ways that make change physically harder, and the thinking that drives the illness gets louder the longer it runs. That is a fact about the illness, not a failure of willpower.

Not sure yet? The free eating disorder quiz takes a few minutes and can help you decide whether a screening makes sense. Calling for someone else? We talk with parents and partners every day.

The first step toward the right level of care is a screening with our admissions coordinator. No referral needed.

Schedule a Screening

Can an Eating Disorder Be Treated at Home? And Where Virtual Care Fits

Most eating disorder treatment does happen at home. Outpatient care, IOP, PHP, and virtual programs all let you sleep in your own bed. What cannot safely be done at home is treating an eating disorder without professional care. The honest question is which kind of at-home treatment fits, and whether home is safe enough right now for any of them.

Wanting to stay home is reasonable. Home is where your people, your work or school, and your routines are, and leaving it is a real cost. But “at home” can mean self-help, family support, or professional treatment you attend from home, and those are very different things. Self-help and family support build motivation and, for adolescents in family-based treatment, put parents at the center of refeeding under a clinician’s guidance. What they cannot do on their own is monitor your heart, correct your electrolytes, or see what you cannot see about your own risk.

When staying home is not safe

Fainting, chest pain, a very slow or irregular heartbeat, blood in vomit, confusion, rapid weight change, or thoughts of harming yourself call for urgent medical attention; the decision is no longer about preference. Short of an emergency, home is not enough when behaviors continue despite outpatient support, meals are becoming a fight you are losing, or the home environment, through no one’s fault, keeps the illness fed.

How are eating disorders treated, and can they be cured?

With medical care, nutritional rehabilitation, and evidence-based therapy, delivered by a team and matched to a level of care. Treatment works. Many people recover fully, meaning they eat freely, think about food the ordinary amount, and get their lives back; others reach a lasting recovery they maintain with ongoing support. Whether you call that a cure is a matter of language. The outcome is real and reachable, and the first step on that path is a screening with our admissions coordinator, not trying harder alone.

What are my options for living at home while in treatment?

If home is safe and you are medically stable: outpatient care, IOP, and PHP in person at one of our locations, or virtually in Georgia, Minnesota, Washington, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Virtual care is professional treatment at home, with a team, supported meals by video, and medical oversight. A screening with our admissions coordinator is where finding the right fit begins. Parents searching for how to treat ARFID at home will find that ARFID has its own considerations; our ARFID programs describe them.

Is virtual eating disorder treatment right for me?

Virtual treatment at The Emily Program delivers PHP/IDP (30 hours a week), IOP (12 hours a week), and outpatient care by video, plus the CARE IOP for binge eating, for children, adolescents, and adults in Georgia, Minnesota, Washington, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. It is a good fit for many people and the wrong fit for some.

A woman on a couch at home using a laptop
A good fit

Who virtual care works for

People who are medically stable, whose home can support structured meals, who have privacy for video sessions, and who live in a state where the program they need is offered. Often the right step down after residential or PHP, and the right step up from weekly sessions when travel or scheduling would otherwise get in the way.

The honest limit

Who it does not fit, and why that matters

Virtual care cannot provide continuous medical monitoring or staff at the table when a meal falls apart, and it keeps you inside the environment where the illness has been living. For some people that environment is part of what needs to change. Choosing virtual care because it is easier to say yes to, when a clinician has recommended a higher level, tends to mean repeating treatment later. We say this plainly because we offer both, and because long-term recovery is the goal.

Virtual treatment, by state and program  |  Support for families

Not sure whether home, virtual, or in-person care fits? Start with a screening with our admissions coordinator.

Call 888-364-5977

Questions You May Have

Cost, insurance, work, school, and what the first day looks like decide this as often as the clinical picture does. Short answers here; the full detail is one call away.

What does each level cost, and how does insurance work?

Most people pay through insurance. The Emily Program is in-network with most major insurers in the states where we have locations, so you typically pay your plan’s deductible, copay, or coinsurance rather than the full cost, at every level of care. No program can honestly quote a single price upfront, because your cost depends on your benefits and the level you need. One call to 888-364-5977 starts a free benefits check. Insurance and payment details.

What if insurance denies the recommended level of care?

It happens, and it is not the end of the road. Insurers sometimes approve a lower level than the one your clinician recommended. Our admissions and utilization teams handle authorizations and appeals every day, and a clinical recommendation backed by medical findings is the strongest case for coverage. If you have been denied elsewhere, tell us; a screening with our admissions coordinator starts the process fresh.

Can I keep working or going to school?

At the outpatient level, yes, and often at IOP, which fits around a partial day. PHP takes most of the day. For residential and inpatient care, adults may use the Family and Medical Leave Act, which can provide up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave for a serious health condition, and school-age clients receive academic support at several of our locations.

What happens on the first day?

Admission day at any level begins with orientation, meeting your team, a medical check, and your first supported meal or snack. For day programs and virtual care, the first day is a full program day. For residential and inpatient care, admissions walks you through what to bring and what to expect before you arrive, so the first day is not a surprise.

What happens when I step down, and how do I choose a program?

Discharge planning starts at admission, and because The Emily Program offers every level, including virtual care in five states, stepping down often means staying with the same team. When you choose any program, ask whether eating disorders are its specialty or one service among many, whether it treats your diagnosis and age group, what a typical day looks like, how it involves family, and what happens when you step down. The higher levels of care are the scarcest; if the level you need is not available near you, traveling for treatment is a common and reasonable choice. All locations.

What Happens When You Call

  1. A screening, not an intake form

    Our admissions coordinator listens, answers your questions, and talks through what is going on, what you have tried, and the support you have at home. No referral needed. Calling for someone else is common; we talk with parents and partners every day.

  2. Insurance checked at no cost

    We verify your benefits before anything begins, so you know what your plan covers.

  3. A plan you understand

    Which level of care and program fit, where, when it starts, and what your plan covers, before you commit to anything.

Find out what your plan covers before you decide anything. The verification is free.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Comparing levels of care

What are the levels of care for eating disorder treatment?

Outpatient, intensive outpatient (IOP), partial hospitalization (PHP/IDP), residential, and inpatient, in order of intensity. Outpatient, IOP, and PHP are also delivered virtually in some states. Each level differs in hours per week, where you live during treatment, and how much medical and meal support is provided.

What is the difference between residential and outpatient treatment?

Residential treatment means living at the treatment center, with support at every meal and staff available around the clock. Outpatient treatment means living at home and attending one to three sessions a week. Residential is typically the fit when behaviors cannot be interrupted at home or medical monitoring needs to be continuous; outpatient fits when you are medically stable and can practice skills between sessions. Many people move through both, residential first and then a planned step down.

What is the difference between inpatient and residential treatment?

Both provide 24-hour care. Inpatient care is hospital-level medical and psychiatric stabilization for people whose vital signs, labs, or safety require continuous medical management. Residential care is for people who are medically stable but still need round-the-clock structure and support. Inpatient stays are usually shorter and often step down to residential.

What is the difference between PHP and IOP?

Both are day programs you go home from each evening. Partial hospitalization (PHP, also called IDP) runs about six hours a day, five days a week, with several supported meals and daily medical oversight. Intensive outpatient (IOP) runs three to four hours a day, three to four days a week, and is the common step down from PHP. Both are offered in person and virtually.

What is the difference between outpatient and intensive outpatient treatment?

Outpatient care is one to three appointments a week with your therapist, dietitian, and medical provider. Intensive outpatient (IOP) is a structured program of several hours a day, several days a week, with group therapy, supported eating, and a team working together. If weekly sessions are not changing behaviors, IOP is usually the next step.

Are day treatment, PHP, and IDP the same thing?

Yes. Day treatment, partial hospitalization (PHP), and intensive day program (IDP) name the same level of care: a full-day program, about six hours a day, five days a week, that you go home from each evening. Some of our locations use the IDP name. Intensive outpatient (IOP) is a shorter day at a lower intensity.

How many hours a week does each level of care involve?

Outpatient care is typically one to three sessions a week. Intensive outpatient runs about 12 hours a week and partial hospitalization about 30 hours a week, in person or virtually. Residential and inpatient care provide support around the clock.

Is virtual treatment as effective as in-person treatment?

For many people who are medically stable and have support at home, virtual IOP, PHP, and outpatient care work well. For people who need medical monitoring, meal support in person, or distance from a home environment that is feeding the illness, in-person or residential care gives recovery a better chance to hold. A screening with our admissions coordinator is a good place to start weighing which applies to you.

When should parents consider inpatient or residential care instead of online options?

For a child or adolescent, the threshold for a higher level of care is often lower than parents expect, because growing bodies are less able to absorb the medical effects of restriction or purging. If your teen is losing weight, has abnormal vital signs, is refusing meals despite your best efforts, or has not improved with outpatient or virtual care, ask for a screening with our admissions coordinator now rather than waiting to see.

Do I need residential treatment if I am not underweight?

You might. Medical risk, behavior severity, and safety at home determine level of care, and people at any weight can meet the criteria for residential or inpatient care. Atypical anorexia is treated at every level of care.

Getting started and what to expect

How is my level of care determined?

Level of care depends on your medical status, behaviors, mental health, treatment history, and home support. Weight alone never decides it. At The Emily Program the process starts with a screening with our admissions coordinator, with no referral required.

What happens during a screening with our admissions coordinator?

A conversation with our admissions coordinator about what you are experiencing, what you have tried before, and the support you have at home. From there, our team helps you find the level of care and program that fit.

Can an eating disorder be treated at home?

Most levels of care, including outpatient, IOP, PHP, and virtual programs, are attended from home. What cannot be done safely is treating an eating disorder without professional care. A screening with our admissions coordinator is the first step in finding out whether home is a safe base for treatment right now and which program fits.

Is family involved in treatment?

Yes. Family involvement is part of treatment, especially for children and adolescents, and family sessions can happen by phone or video when family cannot be there in person.

What if insurance denies the recommended level of care?

Denials can be appealed, and a clinical recommendation backed by medical findings is the strongest case. Our team handles authorizations and appeals and verifies benefits at no cost before treatment begins.

How long does each level of care last?

Length is set by progress. Day programs typically run four to eight weeks; residential and inpatient stays vary with medical and clinical need. Your team reviews progress continuously and recommends transitions as you are ready.

You do not have to decide this alone.

A screening with our admissions coordinator is the first step. It starts the conversation about level of care and answers the practical questions behind it, from insurance to timing.

888-364-5977
Call 888-364-5977
Schedule a Screening