For Patients

Find important information including practice policies, consent and intake forms, and access to our patient portal.

Become a New Patient

We are honored that you are choosing us for your care.

In order to ensure that our practice is an appropriate fit for you and your specific needs, we require you to fill out our online Intake Form.

    • By filling out our intake form, it will help us place you with the right provider(s). We will get in touch with you within 24-48 business hours but we always strive to get in touch within 24 hours.

    • If you have any difficulty with the online form, give the office a call at (843) 800-1303.

    • We also encourage you to have your psychiatrist/therapist/primary care doctor fax us a referral to (888) 316-7716, however this is not required.

    • We take our assessments and your care very seriously. Please note that our patients age 17 and under will require 2 sessions for their medication management/psychiatry intake appointment in order to spend ample time speaking with our adolescent patient privately in addition to the parent(s)/guardian and compiling necessary records.

    • If you are having a medical emergency, please contact 843-414-2350 to get immediate mental health support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week or call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room.

Are you a Current Patient?

Access our Patient Portal to directly communicate with your provider about clinical questions and medication refills.

    • The Onpatient Portal is a way to directly communicate with your provider about clinical questions and medication refills.

    • Call/text (843) 800-1303 to obtain access to your portal.

    • Our providers check portal messages each business day. If you do not receive a response after 48 hours, please call/message (843) 800-1303 and ask for the covering clinician.

Insurance and Fees

We accept most major insurance plans. We value providing affordable care to reach as many lives as we can.

    • New patient visit - $200-$300 depending on providers’ level of training/experience

    • Follow up medication management visit- $140-$250 depending on providers’ level of training/experience as well as length of session

    • New patient primary care visit - $200, primary care follow up - $150

    • Please refer to our current Practice Policies form to view our current out of pocket rates.

    • New patient visit: $120

    • 45 minute therapy: $120, $90 if seeing LPC-A

    • Master’s degree candidate graduate counseling interns: $70 per 45-60 min therapy

    • Group therapy (60 min): $40 per session (no insurance accepted but can provide a superbill)

    • Couples and family therapy (60 min): $120

    • We unfortunately are unable to accept any Medicaid products such as Blue Cross Blue Shield, United Healthcare, Cigna, Aetna, Humana, Medicare, Tricare.

    • Please be aware that if you have Medicaid or a Medicaid carve out plan, you will have to pay out of pocket/fee for service.

    • We are unable to accept employee assistance program (EAP), workers compensation, or single case agreements.

    • We are unable to provide Superbills for Tricare and United/Optum.

    • *Please call your insurance company to confirm your provider accepts your specific type of insurance as there are multiple carve out insurances. You are ultimately responsible for ensuring your own insurance benefits, deductibles, mental health coverage and eligibility but we are happy to assist with an eligibility check upon your request. You are responsible for payment if your insurance denies coverage after services are provided.

    • We highly respect our clinicians’ and administrators’ time as well as the importance of patient accountability. Therefore, we are very strict about no shows/late cancellations. Note that Monday appointments must be cancelled on Friday (24 business hours).

    • Therapist / MA/PhD level -$120; therapy intern - $70; LPC-A therapist - $90; Couples therapy - $120

    • MD/APRN/PA $140-$250 depending on appointment type/length for no show or if appointment is canceled or within less than 24 business hours. For Monday appointments, we require you to cancel the Friday prior to your appointment.

    • Group therapy: $40 if canceled less than 24 business hours in advance

    • If you cannot make your appointment in person, we always encourage you to have a virtual visit to avoid a no show/late cancellation fee.

    • Letters for school, court, disability, etc: will be billed to you at out of pocket rates based on time for your provider if not completed during scheduled appointments. Letters for emotional support animals: $50.

    • *Please note that for us to fill out disability paperwork, you must be established with our practice and consistent in treatment for at least 3 months and this must be completed during an appt session.

    • Credit card disputes / chargeback / bounced check: $50 fee

    • Portal message clinical response: Depends on time involved/refer to current practice policies

    • Fees for legal proceedings: Contact office for prevailing rates

    • Medication prior authorizations: $20 per medication out of pocket (unable to bill insurance)

Pay Your Bill

Call (843) 800-1303 and you can pay via Square over Onpatient, ClearGage over text, or over the phone. Our strict policy is to have an updated credit card on file and our billing staff charges automatically your copay or your deductible to cover the appt fee if you are being seen over telemedicine. Payment is due the day of service.

If you disagree with a charge, please contact our billing team prior to disputing it with your bank or there will be a $50 chargeback fee as outlined in our policies. We are charged this fee by our credit card processor, ClearGage.

Please send us a portal message if you require a detailed receipt or superbill.

If you require a short-term payment plan, please email billing@sweetgrasspsychiatry.com to be set up with our payment plan software, ClearGage.

We are sensitive to our patients’ financial constraints, however, patients who are unable to pay their bill/set up a payment plan will be referred to the Charleston Mental Health Center as a more affordable option.

Billing Questions

  • We use a 3rd party billing company. You can reach them directly at billing@sweetgrasspsychiatry.com. Kindly allow 72 hours for their team to carefully review all your transactions and ensure you have provided us with your up-to-date insurance information.

  • You may also message us over Onpatient via Sweetgrass Admin or call (843) 800-1303 but you will not be able to reach our 3rd party billing company directly through this number.

Practice Policies and Consent Forms

In order to provide you with the best treatment, bill insurance, and create clear expectations, we require all patients to fill out our online intake forms and consent forms prior to their first appointment and annually every year. Your appointment may be canceled and we cannot prescribe medications if you do not fill out these essential and legally required forms. If you choose to not fill out the forms, you will still remain accountable to the practice policies below. The easiest way to fill out these forms online is via ONPATIENT PORTAL. Please refer to our HIPAA Data User Agreement.

*Note that our practice follows a holistic treatment model and we are very conservative with controlled medications. We use controlled medications sparingly and do not go above FDA recommended doses. For new patients with concerns about ADHD, we may require neuropsychological testing, urine drug screens, as well as records from previous providers.

Medication Prior Authorizations

Yes, we hate them too. We do everything in our power to remove the insurance red tape so that you can access the treatment you need in the quickest and most affordable way.

If you receive a notice from your pharmacy that your medication requires a prior authorization, do not assume we received communication from your pharmacy - please follow instructions below to ensure we will work on your prior authorization within 24-48 business hours:

1. Message your provider via the Onpatient portal or call/text Sweetgrass Psychiatry administrative number (843) 800-1303 and indicate the name of the medication requiring a prior authorization, the number to reach at your insurance company for prescription benefits, as well as your preferred pharmacy.

2. Please allow 24-72 hours for a status update. Some approvals are quicker than others however some may take up to 72 hours depending on the insurance company guidelines.

3. Please note that due to increasing overhead and the time involved by staff to complete medication prior authorizations, we charge a $20 fee for each separate medication prior authorization you request. We can also find an alternative generic medication upon your request.