Swift Creek Mental Health Services prioritizes providing the highest quality of care through clear and consistent practice policies. Our guidelines are designed to ensure smooth, efficient, and effective interactions between our patients and providers. We aim to create a supportive and organized environment from appointment scheduling to medication refills. We believe that transparency in our policies helps foster trust and collaboration, ensuring that each patient receives the best possible care tailored to their needs.
Please complete your New Patient forms within 48 hours of booking your New Patient appointment; otherwise, your appointment will be canceled. If we cannot verify your benefits before your appointment and you do not respond to resolve this issue, your appointment will be canceled and rescheduled when benefits are verified unless you choose cash pay.
If appointments are not canceled within 48 business hours, there is a no-show/late cancellation fee. You will be charged the self-pay rate for the appointment you booked.
Please call with any questions about this policy.
New Patient appointments are the most commonly missed appointment type. Reasons for missing a New Patient appointment may include:
Please consider this when making a New Patient appointment and provide us with appropriate notice if your plans change.
Please complete the New Patient Registration and all applicable forms. Your appointment is not confirmed until registration is complete and insurance is verified.
The safety of our patients and staff is our top priority. For early morning appointments that may be impacted by weather, you will be notified at least 1 hour before your appointment if our office is closed. Please assume the office is open if we do not contact you before your appointment. If the office is open but you need to reschedule because of weather concerns, please call as soon as possible. Reasonable weather-related requests will not incur a No-Show or Late Cancel fee.
We ask that you arrive or log on 10 minutes before your appointment time. This gives adequate time for check-in. If you are late and your provider does not have adequate time to see you, you will be asked to reschedule, and a No-Show fee will be charged. We provide generous appointment times for our patients, but we recognize that some people need more time to process information and ask questions. If you have been scheduled for a brief follow up (15 minutes) this is for stable patients, not emergency, or urgent need patients. If you have an urgent appointment request and do not see a 30 min follow up appointment available, please contact the office so we can try to accommodate you and not inconvenience other patients in their appointment times.
PATIENTS MUST REQUEST THEIR OWN REFILLS FROM OUR OFFICE. WE DO NOT ACCEPT REFILL REQUESTS FROM PHARMACIES.
Please check the label on your container to see if you have a refill available. If you don’t, check with your pharmacy to see if they have a new prescription for you. Please do not use the pharmacy’s automated telephone system. Instead, speak directly with the pharmacy and specifically ask if a refill or new prescription is available.
Prescription refills are not automatically given during appointments. Please ask if you need a refill at the start of your appointment.
Refills require 5 business days’ notice. Otherwise, a $25 urgent refill fee will apply.* We suggest requesting a refill when you have about 10 days of medicine remaining. Refills will not be provided if requested too early, if the patient often cancels appointments, or if the patient is overdue for a 3-month follow-up appointment.
*Please note: ADHD stimulants cannot be urgently refilled after business hours or on the weekends.
Routine refills can be requested by using the medications tab in your portal, the portal can be accessed from the main page of our website. You must use the information that matches the patient, their email, their dob to register if you have not done so. You may call the front desk and speak with the staff or leave a message if you need assistance.
Urgent refills can be requested by calling 919-424-0062 option 2 and speaking to the receptionist.
All prescriptions will be sent to the pharmacy on file. Please notify us of pharmacy changes at the time of your refill request.
ADHD medication will only be provided with a thorough evaluation. If you would like to continue ADHD medication prescribed by a former provider while you are transferring to Swift Creek Mental Health Services, it may be possible to provide a refill while medical records are being obtained, depending on the situation, only after you have had your first appointment with a provider at Swift Creek Mental Health Services licensed to prescribe medication.
Other Providers
Patients do not need to sign a release of information for other active providers to share basic medical information that affects the patient’s treatment plan. However, for more in-depth patient treatment information, such as treatment notes and evaluations, the patient must sign a release of information form. Swift Creek Mental Health Services requires a release to collaborate on the treatment plan if a patient sees another therapist.
Young Adults
When a patient reaches the age of 18, they no longer require a parent to make medical decisions. However, many young adults are financially dependent on their families. If a young adult over 18 does not assume financial responsibility for their care, we require them to sign a release of information so that their care can be coordinated with their family if needed. Patients unwilling to provide this release will be asked to find another provider. Concerns about this policy should be raised as soon as possible.
If parents have questions about their young adult child’s treatment plan, they should attend the appointment(s) or arrange to speak with the provider directly (if a release of information has been signed). Diagnoses, treatment plans, and medications can be complex, and we encourage patients and family members to bring concerns or questions directly to their providers.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4008301/
Inquiries from Family/Friends
Families and supportive friends are welcome to participate in a patient’s care at the patient’s discretion. We encourage patients to bring concerned family or friends to their appointments.
However, patients must sign a release of information form to share their information with others, including a spouse or other family members. Swift Creek Mental Health Services will not share patient information without a signed release of information on file (with certain exceptions made for other providers). For example, we will not discuss a patient’s care by phone with a spouse unless the patient has signed a release of information for the spouse.
Phone conversations with individuals authorized to discuss a patient’s treatment will be charged to the patient.
We may request that you include a support person in your care plan if deemed medically necessary. This may be a spouse, a parent, or a close friend. The necessity and purpose of the support person will be explained during the development of the treatment plan. A release of information will be required for a support person.
Swift Creek Mental Health Services provides treatment at the time of the appointment with the parent in attendance. If a parent is absent at an appointment but wishes to discuss their child’s treatment plan, they will be asked to schedule a self-pay appointment. All disputes between parents about the treatment plan must be resolved before the appointment. Unless documentation is available to state otherwise, parents have a right to their child’s notes and treatment plan regardless of who attends the appointment.
After an appointment, if you have questions and wish to discuss your treatment plan in depth before starting it, then you can self-pay for a phone appointment (not covered by insurance), or you can schedule another appointment with the provider.
The foundation of mental health services is the provider’s relationship with the patient. As unique human beings, all providers have their own style and expertise. If you do not click with your provider’s healthcare style, we can help you find another provider. After evaluation, if we cannot provide the services you need, we will do our best to make a referral to another provider or organization better suited to assist you.
If we feel discharge is necessary for established patients, we will provide an explanation in writing. Immediate discharge can occur if a patient blatantly lies to the provider, withholds important information about any symptoms or issues that may affect the treatment plan, or acts in an abusive or excessively rude manner to the staff. The most common reasons for discharge are refusal to follow the treatment plan, not coming to appointments, and frequent late arrival for appointments.
The financial responsibility for services is the sole responsibility of the patient or their guardian/conservator. Although efforts are made to verify insurance coverage, the patient should verify that their specific provider at Swift Creek Mental Health Services is a contracted and active provider for insurance coverage for their mental health benefits. Regardless of what a patient may be told by an insurance carrier, the patient is ultimately responsible for all charges.
Common problems include (but are not limited to):
Phone calls are not covered by insurance and will be charged at $50/15 minutes.
Any account unpaid over 90 days (including non-visit-related fees) will result in discharge from the practice.
Refill requests will not be honored unless account is paid in full or arrangements have been made to pay outstanding charges.
We do not contract with Medicaid and cannot see patients with this form of payment. For Medicare, we are in-network and will be able to see patients soon. Further information about Medicare status will be updated here when available.
A credit card with name, account number, expiration date, and CVV must be held on file. The patient’s responsibility will be charged to this card at check-in before the appointment. Any changes to the payment method on file should be made the day before the appointment by calling the office.
