Practice & Policies FAQ

Insurance, Scheduling & Getting Started — Everything you need to know about insurance, fees, scheduling, communication, and how to become a patient at Abide Psychiatry. Have a clinical question instead? Visit our Sleep & Insomnia FAQ.

Getting Started as a New Patient

  • Abide Psychiatry will officially open for clinical care in July 2026. We are currently actively pre-scheduling new patient intake evaluations so that your care begins the moment we launch.

    Spots are intentionally limited. We keep our patient volume small so that every patient receives the unhurried, personalized care this practice is built around. If you are interested in becoming a patient, we encourage you to secure your spot now.

    📌  You can pre-schedule by completing our secure clinical intake form. Once submitted, your spot will be held for our July 2026 opening and you will receive a confirmation.

  • No referral is required. You can schedule directly as a self-referred patient by completing our secure clinical intake form. It takes approximately 10–15 minutes and asks about your health history, current concerns, and insurance information so that your first appointment can focus entirely on your care.

    If your primary care physician, therapist, or another provider referred you to us, that is wonderful — but we do not require a formal referral letter. If your provider would like to send clinical notes or records before your first appointment, they are welcome to do so through our secure provider channel listed on the For Clinicians page.

  • Your first appointment is a 60-minute comprehensive psychiatric and sleep evaluation. This is not a brief check-in — it is an unhurried, thorough conversation in which Dr. T takes the time to understand your full story.

    During this appointment, Dr. T will:

    • Review your psychiatric and medical history, current medications, and any prior treatment

    • Conduct a detailed sleep assessment — even if sleep is not your primary concern

    • Discuss your goals, your values, and what kind of care feels right to you

    • Begin building a collaborative, individualized treatment plan

    • Answer all your questions about diagnosis, medication, therapy options, and what to expect going forward

    You will leave with clarity — a concrete sense of what we are treating, what the plan looks like, and what the next steps are.

    Before your appointment:  You will complete intake paperwork, consent forms, and a clinical questionnaire through your Secure Patient Portal at least 48 hours before your scheduled time. Please complete these thoroughly — they allow Dr. T to prepare for your session and use your 60 minutes on care, not paperwork.

  • We treat:  

    • Chronic insomnia and circadian rhythm disorders (CBT-I)

    • Obstructive Sleep Apnea — including CPAP management and CPAP mask anxiety desensitization

    • Major Depressive Disorder

    • Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, Social Anxiety, and Health Anxiety

    • Bipolar II Disorder

    • PTSD and trauma-related conditions

    • OCD

    • Adult ADHD — recent neuropsychological testing from a licensed psychologist required for diagnosis

    • Burnout, chronic occupational stress, and life transitions

    Outside our scope:  

    • Patients under 18 (we treat adults only)

    • Severe substance use disorders and medically supervised detox

    • Acute psychiatric crises requiring emergency evaluation or inpatient care

    • Complex sleep-disordered breathing requiring BiPAP, ASV, or respiratory specialists

    • Medicaid-enrolled patients (state regulations prohibit private-pay services)

    📌To protect sleep architecture, we do not prescribe long-term, daily benzodiazepines. We also do not prescribe opioids.

Insurance, Fees & Billing

  • We currently accept the following insurance plans as in-network providers:

    • Commercial Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) — PPO and EPO plans for NC, TN, and FL

    • Commercial Aetna — PPO and EPO plans for NC and FL

    (Please note: We do not accept HMO, POS, or ACA/Exchange Marketplace plans.)

    How does Out-of-Network coverage work?
    For all other commercial plans, we operate as an out-of-network provider. After each session, we will provide a detailed Superbill (an itemized medical receipt with billing codes) that you can submit to your insurer for potential reimbursement. Many PPO plans reimburse 40–80% of out-of-network costs. We cannot guarantee any level of reimbursement and do not communicate directly with out-of-network insurance panels.

    📌 Have questions about your specific plan? Your insurance company's member services line can tell you what your out-of-network mental health benefits are before you schedule. Ask them: 'What are my out-of-network outpatient mental health benefits, and what is my deductible?'

    Do you accept Medicare or Medicaid?
    We do not accept Medicare or Medicaid. We have formally opted out of Medicare, which means Medicare-eligible patients may still receive care on a strict private-pay (cash) basis. This requires signing a brief agreement acknowledging that Medicare will not reimburse these visits.
    To maintain compliance with state regulations across all states where we practice, we strictly do not accept Medicaid, nor can we offer private-pay services to patients currently enrolled in Medicaid.

  • Because we limit our patient volume to provide highly personalized care, each appointment time is reserved exclusively for you. We require a minimum of 48 hours (2 business days) notice for all cancellations or reschedules.

    Appointments canceled with less than 48 hours' notice and missed appointments (no-shows) will be charged the full private-pay session rate. Insurance cannot be billed for missed appointments.

    We understand that genuine emergencies happen. If you are facing an unexpected situation, please reach out through your Secure Patient Portal as soon as possible and we will do our best to work with you.

  • All communication — including clinical questions, scheduling adjustments, refill requests, and billing inquiries — is handled through your Secure Patient Portal. This protects your privacy, keeps your health information HIPAA-compliant, and ensures your message reaches Dr. T directly.

    Please allow up to 3 business days for responses to portal messages and refill requests. We do not maintain a live phone line, and clinical questions sent through standard email will not be processed for your safety and privacy.

    ⚠️  If you are experiencing a medical or psychiatric emergency, do not wait for a portal response. Call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, call 911, or go to your nearest emergency room immediately.

  • Please route your inquiry to the appropriate channel:

    • Referring Providers (physicians, NPs, PAs, therapists):  

      • Visit our For Clinicians page for our clinical scope, referral instructions, and secure provider communication channel. We accept clinical referrals and records via secure, HIPAA-compliant eFax at 1-609-418-4045.

    • Medical Records & Release of Information — Law offices, insurance companies, external clinics:  

      • Submit a completed, signed HIPAA Release of Information to our secure eFax: 1-609-418-4045. We do not process third-party record requests via standard email. Please allow up to 10 business days for processing.

    • Media, Vendors & Business Inquiries:  

      • For non-clinical, administrative business only, please use our General Inquiry form. Any patient-related inquiries submitted through that form will not be processed, to protect patient privacy.

  • We are a 100% digital-first, paperless clinic. All appointments are conducted via a secure, HIPAA-compliant video platform — no office visits, no waiting rooms, no commute. To legally receive care, you must be physically located within the state of North Carolina or Florida at the time of your appointment.

    You do not need to be a permanent resident of these states. College students, temporary visitors, and new residents all qualify, provided you are physically in either NC, TN, or FL when we meet.

    Because geography should not be a barrier to high-quality care, our telehealth services cover the entirety of both states, including but not limited to:

    • North Carolina: Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill (The Research Triangle), Charlotte, Asheville, Wilmington, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and Fayetteville.

    • Tennessee: Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Clarksville, Murfreesboro, and Franklin.

    • Florida: Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, Fort Lauderdale, St. Petersburg, Tallahassee, Boca Raton, and West Palm Beach.

    Whether you are in a major metropolitan center or a quiet rural community, as long as you have a reliable internet connection and a private space, you have full access to our practice.

READY TO GET STARTED? →