Our providers offer both in-office and telemedicine appointments at the convenience of our patients. Upon contacting us for an initial evaluation we will inquire as to which type of appointment you desire.
We have several medication management providers who focus on prescribing medications to reduce symptoms experienced by patients to include but not limited to depression, anxiety, difficulty focusing, mood swings, anger, nightmares, and panic attacks. Every client’s experience is different, and the role of our medication management providers is to identify the symptoms which are causing discomfort and prescribe medication which serves to reduce or remove the symptoms present.
We specialize in “individualized care” whereby each patient receives treatment unique to their specific history, symptoms present and goal of treatment. As a specialized practice we understand the importance of treating each patient uniquely since everyone’s genetics are vastly different along with the symptoms experienced, response to treatment and history of any previous treatments.
Patients will be scheduled with a provider according to the needs for which they seek treatment. During the initial evaluation, the provider will gather all pertinent information valuable to developing the individualized care plan. The areas and identifying information gathered to aid with the most effective outcomes will be developed with understanding the patient’s presenting symptoms, psychiatric history and subsequent details, family and medical history, current and past medication treatments, and contributing factors. We encourage our clients to ask questions regarding treatment recommendations while providers give thorough education related to medications, diagnosis, and treatment options. The medication regimen will be discussed including the rationale for the medication(s) prescribed, education provided about any unwanted side effects and desired outcomes they can be expected, or a possibility and this regimen will be guided, initiated, continued or modified based upon the patient’s approval.
Medication compliance is vitally important for continued success in reduction or elimination of the symptoms that warranted the need to establish care initially. We support the continued compliance by immediately scheduling follow up assessments to ensure the patient is being monitored effectively as to eliminate any gaps care, delays in symptom relief should there be a need to make an adjustment(s) and to identify any challenges prohibiting the best outcomes. Our intent on removing the step of scheduling follow up appointments for the patients further demonstrate our support for success studies have shown this measure, if left up to the patient to complete, is the number one contributing factor to poor outcomes and failed success due to lack of compliance because follow up care was not established by the patient. All patients will and are provided continued medication management sessions to assess for success of the current treatment plan and continue to provide support, education and guide treatment based off the patients; subjective report of symptoms/outcomes and objective assessment, from the provider, of progress made since the initiation of care.
Medications are submitted electronically to the pharmacy selected by the patient. This provides convenience to each patient by eliminating the responsibility of the paper prescription being provided to the pharmacy, in person, by the patient.
We offer both in-person and telemedicine appointments or combination thereof to meet the patients’ specific needs.
An equally important aspect of psychiatric treatment is engaging in therapy whereby patients may discuss concerns, life circumstances, relationship and family challenges, financial struggle, loss of loved ones, symptoms experienced, etc. During these sessions a client can expect to receive strategies in dealing with situations and symptoms along with processing difficulties experienced by the patient both current and past. Depending on the needs of the patient, psychotherapy is typically offered on a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly basis though the treatment plan and frequency is based upon your unique need.
Some clients may be referred to one of our medication management providers for additional assessment and potential recommendation of medication. As with all our services, we do not require a patient receive both psychotherapy and medication management though it may be recommended. We understand every patient has a different level of comfort with psychiatric treatment and our goal is to present options to you while respecting your decision on which treatments you wish to engage in.
In effort to bridge the gap in mental health treatment needs across the Baltimore area we accept most insurance policies to include:
BCBS, Carefirst, Cigna, Aetna, Medicaid, Medicare, Advantage MD, EHP, Allegiance, Allegeant, Meritain, Coresource, Puritan, Humana, AARP, Mutual of Omaha. This is not an all-inclusive list so please contact the office with any questions regarding accepted insurance plans. We also offer competitive self-pay rates for insurance plans not covered or uninsured patients.
Due to recent shortages of certain medications for Attention Deficit Disorder, call volumes have been exceedingly higher than usual. Though we have hired additional staff to meet the increased call volumes, if you are calling during peak times and in need of assistance more readily, please utilize our email: centeredcs@gmail.com or patient portal as they are checked regularly throughout the day. As a reminder, you may access the patient portal by responding directly to the text message reminder you receive for your appointments. Our staff receives these messages and can readily respond and/or pass along requests to your provider.
If needing to have your same prescription electronically sent to a new pharmacy due to your current pharmacy being out of stock, the fastest methods are:
Due to a drastic increase in both access to care via telemedicine and patients applying for disability, record requests have surged massively. We receive 5-10 record requests daily which each require the provider to sign off for the admin staff to prepare and send. As a result of the increase, we ask that any patients requesting a release of record please be patient. Requests currently take anywhere from 1-3 weeks to process.
There is a $20 Fee for each e-scribe resent due to shortage per 12 months (1st request free)
Contrary to what many patients think, sending medication from one pharmacy to another due to a shortage takes a provider approximately 8 min, which is not reimbursed and done on their own time. Here is breakdown to give more understanding: first the admin staff must write up the medication request, the provider then reviews the national database to ensure the original prescription hasn’t been filled, upload the new pharmacy which involves inputting the info then searching and selecting the correct one, input the medication and go through the various prompts and passwords while inputting a unique 6 digit pin for each and every medication sent, then documenting time, date, medication, dosage, quantity with signature. On top of regular messages from patients or other professional offices, providers receive approximately 8-10 medication re-send requests a day due to shortage. We have encouraged our clients to speak with their pharmacy in the morning or afternoon prior to the appointment to inquire if their medication is in stock. We have some clients who have had their medication sent to 2-3 different pharmacies for more months than not. It has led to significant time spent by providers sending medication, well beyond their normal hours and substantial time from the front desk via calls and messages, sometimes 20 calls and 3 voicemails from the same patient in one day. As a further result, providers have had to decrease their schedules to accommodate this.
For the reasons mentioned above, there will be a $20 e-prescribing fee for each time a provider needs to re-send medication due to shortage. All of us have remained extremely patient, resending medications without cost to the detriment of the office staff time and providers for the last year. The number of requests and time taken for this has required additional staff while reducing provider schedules. We will provide the first e-prescribe to a new pharmacy due to shortage for free every 12 months and all after that will require the fee to send.