Confidentiality

• Confidentiality in a mental health setting is crucial for creating a safe, trusting environment where patients feel comfortable sharing personal information. While confidentiality is a key ethical principle, there are important exceptions based on laws and safety concerns. Mental health professionals are bound by ethical guidelines and legal standards (such as HIPAA) to maintain confidentiality and protect patient privacy, ensuring the integrity of the therapeutic process.

• Mental health providers often encourage their patients to talk with parents, especially if there are things that you can do at home to support them. We always try to work in partnership with families, and we can discuss how to balance their privacy and keeping you informed.

• While confidentiality is generally maintained, there are several situations where a mental health professional may be required or permitted to break confidentiality if a patient expresses:

• • Risk to Harm to Self or Others (Duty to Warn and Protect)
  • Child abuse or neglect
  • Legal proceedings

Late Cancellation/No-Show Policy

• No show/late cancellation fees for mental health providers function in the same way as they do for other healthcare providers. These fees are applied when a patient misses an appointment without providing sufficient notice to cancel or reschedule, or if an appointment is canceled less than 48 hours before their scheduled appointment.

• When you schedule an appointment with a mental health provider, they set aside dedicated time to meet with you. If you are unable to attend without advanced notice, the provider is unable to use that time to see another patient. This is especially true for therapy or psychiatrist, where appointments are scheduled in advance and can be difficult to fill on short notice.

• Most insurance companies do not cover no-show or late cancellation fees, meaning you would be responsible for paying this fee out-of-pocket

• No-show fees can vary depending on the length and type of appointment.

• Mental-Health Specific Considerations:

• • Mental health care, particularly therapy or psychiatry services, often involve ongoing treatment and progress. Missing an appointment can disrupt care and delay progress in managing mental health conditions

• • For therapy, regular attendance is a key factor in building trust and rapport with your provider. Chronic no-shows or cancellations could harm the provider-patient relationship and may lead to issues with continuing care, especially if you miss appointments repeatedly without notifying the provider in advance

• How to avoid No-Show/Late Cancellation Fees:

• • Always try to give at least 48 hours notice if an appointment must be canceled.

• Emergency Situations:

• • Communicate clearly with your provider. If you miss an appointment due to an emergency or unforeseen circumstance, it is important to communicate this as soon as possible. Our mental health providers understand that emergencies or crises can arise. If these do, please complete the dispute form.

Financial Information

• We are currently credentialed with the following insurance companies: CareFirst, Aetna, Cigna, and United Healthcare. Your visit will be subject to specialist copays, deductibles, and/or coinsurance per your individual policy. Practice policies regarding copays and deductible deposits due at the time of service will apply. Please note that we can’t guarantee benefit coverage for primary care psychiatry services and it is the patients’ responsibility to verify if their policy offers mental health benefits.

• • Once claims are processed to your insurance and received back you will receive a statement in your child patient portal account for any additional balances due or your credit card will be refunded any account credit minus any copay, deductibles, or coinsurance that is assigned to patient responsibility.

• Please be advised that some plans have a specific behavioral health network associated with their benefits. We can’t guarantee that our primary psychiatry provider will be considered in-network. If your claim is processed out of network, you will be responsible for the balance due per your out of network benefits.

• Patients who do not have mental health benefits will be considered self-pay and payment will be due upon check-in.