Policies

Initial consultations are scheduled following a brief, 10-minute, phone consultation (no charge).  A deposit via credit card will be charged to reserve time for your initial tele-health or in-person consultation, that is typically 90 minutes in length.  This consultation consists of a medical and psychiatric history.  Your provider may request, with your permission, collateral information from medical providers, family or significant others, to aid in the formulation of diagnosis.  Following consultation, you and your provider will decide together if you will continue in care or be referred elsewhere.  Continued appointments can be either medication and/or therapy focused (50 minutes) or focused on medication alone (20 minutes), depending on your specific individual needs.  If you have a therapist that you wish to continue to work with, this is encouraged with the understanding that the provider and therapist can collaborate on your care.  Patients must be seen at minimum once every 3 months.

All fees are due at time of service and payable by credit card or Zelle. You will be required to keep an active credit card on file utilized for appointment fees, missed appointment fees, phone calls, and letters/forms if that is your preferred payment method.  If you miss more than 2 appointments, you will be required to pre-pay for your next appointment before scheduling.

Serene Mind Psychiatry is a out-of-network for all private medical insurance companies.  You will be supplied, upon request, with a superbill, which you can submit to your insurance carrier to receive out-of-network reimbursement benefits.  Patients are responsible for submitting their own claims if they choose to do so.

Charts may be “closed” for a variety of reasons including a patient voluntarily terminating care (such as when moving), violation of controlled substance agreement, a patient not following their treatment providers recommendations, the provider determining that the patient requires a higher level of care, non-payment for services rendered, a patient failing to follow-up at regular intervals as required by the provider or missing/late canceling  3 appointments in a calendar year.

If a patient is not seen in 3 months time, the provider will contact the patient via letter or e-mail requesting that the patient schedule follow-up within a specified period of time.  If the patient fails to do so, their chart will be “closed.”  Patients with closed charts will not be able to receive prescription medications, schedule follow-up appointments, or request assistance during 

crisis.  The patient is responsible for ensuring that they are seen once every 3 months and keeping contact information up to date.  If your chart is closed, we cannot guarantee prompt availability for new appointments.

Our office utilizes Charm Health which provides automatic text reminders.  This is not a requirement or guarantee, nor does not receiving text reminder excuse need for prompt cancellations. 

If you are unable to keep an appointment, please allow 24 hours advanced notice, otherwise you will be charged in full for the time that was reserved.  Insurance companies do not reimburse for missed appointment charges.  You may cancel your appointment by calling or emailing your provider (or through the use of charm EHR).  If you are late for your appointment, you will be seen for the remainder of your appointment time for full charge.  If you miss more than 2 appointments, the provider reserves the right to discharge you from the practice.

Patients may message via Charm app to request refills.  Refills are called in during normal business hours, Monday through Friday.  If you have not been seen in 3 months, you will be charged a fee and be required to schedule your next appointment.  If the prescription is a controlled substance, it will not be refilled until you are seen by the provider.

Patients have access to phone, email, and messaging via the Charm app.  Email /messaging can be used to schedule appointments, prescription refills, and administrative requests only.  Clinical questions should be requested via phone call.  There will be no charge for brief phone calls.  However, phone calls lasting more than 5 minutes will be charged on a prorated rate of $300 per hour (5$ per minute).

If you have an emergency (allergic/severe reaction of medication, suicidal thoughts with plan to act, suicide attempt) you must call 911 or go to your local Emergency Department.  This is a requirement for treatment as we are not available at all times and as emergencies require immediate, in-person attention.  After calling 911 or presenting to the Emergency Department, please call your provider to inform them of the emergency.

Your provider will not always be available to immediately answer calls.  We do not have hospital admitting privileges, a dedicated support line, or staff answering calls on weekends/holidays.  All urgent phone calls will be returned in a reasonable and appropriate amount of time.

These policies are subject to change at the discretion of Serene Minds Psychiatry