New Patient Telepsychiatry Scheduling

This page will walk you through the process of scheduling an initial psychiatric evaluation with medication management. Once you have completed this process you will meet with a board-certified psychiatric provider via an encrypted video chat from the comfort of your own home or office.

Step One: Review Eligibility

To ensure we can provide the service you are seeking please click on the statements below to review further details.

I. Basic Eligibility Criteria

Please make sure each statement applies to you:

I am 18 years of age or older
I am a Maryland state resident or will be in Maryland for all appointments
I am not enrolled in Medicare
I want to start medication or want to learn more about whether medication may be appropriate for my mental health
I am not seeking documentation or support for any legal matters. For example, we do not participate in or provide support with custody disputes, competency determinations, FMLA, disability, etc
If seeking (potentially addictive) controlled dangerous substances (CDS) in my treatment, I will read the CDS policy below

II. A Brief Overview of What We Treat

We treat any of the following, with the exception of severe cases:

Anxiety
Depression
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Insomnia
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

We can treat the following with some limitations and exceptions:

Eating disorders*
Tobacco, Alcohol, and Substance Use Disorders*
Bipolar Disorder*

*Please see our Diagnoses page for in-depth details on the diagnoses we can treat and the severity of cases we can accept.

III. Controlled Dangerous Substances (CDS) Policy

Controlled substances are medications with special federal and state scheduling due to their addictive potential and risk. We require a CDS contract and drug screening for all patients before starting any of these medications.

Benzodiazepines and Hypnotics: These are not first-line treatments for anxiety or insomnia and are usually not indicated at all in any given case. In the rare instances they are prescribed, they are limited to short-term (1 to 2 week) use. Want to know why? Click here to read an article outlining some of the many reasons. We want to help our patients and these medications typically cause far more problems than they solve.

Stimulants: If you receive a new attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosis here, we require new patients to trial (FDA approved) non-controlled medications for ADHD for an adequate length of time before trying stimulants. If you are currently taking stimulants or have already trialed non-stimulants, we simply require records from a previous provider to confirm this.

Opioid Maintenance Medications: We fully support the use of maintenance medications for opioid use disorder when prescribed and taken appropriately. Unfortunately, it is not logistically feasible for us to provide these medications at this time.

IV. Signs That Someone Needs a Higher Level of Care Than We Provide

This private, outpatient telepsychiatry practice provides treatment remotely with a level of availability and resources that is simply not appropriate to treat severe cases or emergencies. Although the provider has experience caring for individuals with severe psychiatric illness in various settings, we do not treat severe psychiatric illness here or provide emergency services of any kind. Here are some signs that an individual is not appropriate for treatment here:

Unable or unwilling to complete intake documentation independently. Please do not schedule an appointment or complete intake documentation on behalf of another individual.
Psychotic or delusional
Medically unstable
Severe, and/or chronic treatment-resistant illness
More than one psychiatric admission, including partial hospitalization programs
More than one suicide attempt or any suicide attempt within the past year
Current or recent suicidal thoughts AND has either a plan or intent to act on these thoughts. Please seek help immediately by calling 911 or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255

Step Two: Request An Appointment & Complete Documentation

Within 24 hours of requesting an appointment you will receive an email from our electronic medical record provider “Simple Practice” providing access to our secure, encrypted, HIPAA-compliant portal. Inside the secure patient portal you will be asked to review and electronically sign our policies and complete a history questionnaire. A psychiatric provider will then review the information you submit and confirm your appointment request if they believe you are appropriate for care here. Please note: If the chosen appointment time states that you need to “call to schedule” the appointment slot is already taken, so please select another.

Still need Help?

If you are having difficulties with the process please email us and we will be happy to help! We are not currently accepting new patient requests or scheduling via phone. Baltimore Psychiatry is a niche private practice focused on efficiency and affordability for our patients. Instead of hiring administrative staff to schedule appointments over the phone and working this cost into our pricing, we have created a completely automated, convenient, private, secure, and efficient way to schedule independently. We also offer a consultation service if you would like to speak directly to a provider before scheduling.