appointments

In office appointments

If you are ready to schedule your first in office appointment, please call, email, or chat with us. We have appointments to fit your schedule including; same-day, early morning, evening, and Saturday appointments.

In Office/Face-to-Face visits are required for all initial consultation or establish care appointments.

• Initial intake appointments/consultations are 45-60 minutes.

• Follow up appointments can be either Face-to-Face OR via Tele-medicine depending on patient preference.

MORE DETAILS AVAILABLE REGARDING OUR MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES, CAN BE FOUND ON THE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs) PAGE.

After you schedule your first appointment, you will receive a welcome email with a new patient packet. We encourage you to read through the packet which provides helpful information to get the most out of your first appointment at CP.

Your doctor will be waiting to see you at your scheduled appointment time so if you arrive late for your appointment it decreases the amount of time you will have to speak with your doctor.

What is the average wait time until I can get my first appointment?

Carolina Psychiatry currently averages ONLY 2 WEEKS ! Since Carolina Psychiatry is currently not requiring any primary care physician referrals to establish care, we are currently averaging a waiting period of only 10-14 days from time of booking until date of the first establish care appointment. Our waiting period is drastically less than the current North Carolina Outpatient Psychiatry current waiting period of 6+ months. The brief waiting period before establishing care is one of several benefits to a new practice, however with growing popularity and increased demand, we are uncertain how long new appointments will be available, so please make sure to ESTABLISH CARE SOON !

Please plan to arrive 5 minutes before your appointment so you don’t waste any of your time with your doctor!

When is it helpful to consult with a psychiatrist regarding Psychiatric treatment?

• When you have noticed a change with your mood, your nerves, your thought processes, or your behavior and you are not sure why ?

• When you have been taking psychiatric medications from your primary care doctor but your symptoms don’t seem to be getting better or are not resolved.

• When you have been taking psychiatric medications but wonder if they are necessary, if they are causing side effects, or whether there are better choices for you .

• When you have been seeing a therapist or counselor and they recommend a psychiatric consultation.

• When you wonder if you have a problem with alcohol, pain pills, or other substances.

• When you need a second opinion following a psychiatric evaluation.

How Long will I need to continue to follow up for regarding my Psychiatric treatment?

• Follow up care will depend greatly on the several factors including the condition, acuity of episode, time since last hospitalization or last appointment, as well as overlapping psychiatric co-morbidities as well as other medical conditions. Generally speaking, once symptoms are stabilized and medications dose(s) are no longer being adjusted, typically follow up is everything 2-3 months months. However, patients that have achieved long term stabilization are generally only seen 1 - 2 times per year dependent upon the patient’s level of comfort.

Remote/Telehealth appointments

 We are now ow offering televideo appointments for our patients! Here are some frequently asked questions about televideo services:

What is TelHealth / telePsychiatry / Telemedicine? 

‘Tele-health’ is a technology that allows people to work together remotely using the internet with a live video and audio feed. People can use a computer, a tablet, or a mobile device to conduct televideo meetings. When it comes to healthcare, sometimes you hear the terms telemedicine or telepsychiatry, these terms describe the specific types of services that are being conducted via televideo.

When would I want to schedule a televideo appointment with my doctor?

You can think about a televideo appointment when you cannot get into the office to see your doctor.

Why doesn’t CP use Facetime or Skype for appointments?

We have chosen to use a more secure (higher level of encryption) service that is considered to be compliant with HIPAA regulations. This ensures you have the maximum privacy to discuss your personal health information through an online connection.

How much does a tele-psychiatry appointment cost?

At CP, there is no cost difference between an in-person and in-office appointment. Remember that you are billed for the doctor’s time, regardless of where the service occurs. You can do either a long appointment or a short appointment via televideo if it is deemed clinically appropriate by your doctor.

Will my insurance pay out-of-network benefits for a televideo appointment?

This depends on the insurance provider. If you are unsure, please contact your provider directly and ask them about reimbursement for out-of-network televideo appointments.

In what ways is a tele-Psychiatry Video appointment different than an in-person Psychiatry appointment?

At CP, we believe that an in-office appointment remains superior to a televideo appointment because there is an important part of the doctor-patient relationship that happens when you are face-to-face. If you are meeting via televideo, depending on your connection, there will be some loss of information in terms of body language, direct eye contact, and subtle social cues. Also, if you are doing a televideo appointment you are responsible for your own privacy – you must ensure that you are in a quiet, private place where others cannot hear your conversation.

What if I don’t have technological capabilities or know how when it comes to tele-psychiatry appointments?

Don’t Worry. If a patient is not comfortable with setting up for a telepsychiatry appointment, we can exchange this for a standard telephone appointment. Please note though, that video implementation via a telemedicine appointment is preferred, but we understand outstanding circumstances where this is not a present option.