Painting of woman in red dress reclining.
Friday Leisure (detail), Kim Frohsin © 1998. Used with permission of the artist

Dr. Palmer sees patients age 18 and over in her private practice. For patients under 18, please see the Resources page for clinical resources at Johns Hopkins.

Insurance

Dr. Palmer does not participate with any insurance plans. She will provide a statement for fees paid at each visit that you can submit to your insurer for reimbursement.

Payment

Payment of fees is due at the time of service, preferably by Zelle, a service offered by many banks. Venmo and credit cards are also accepted.

Appointment Fees

Initial evaluation: $700

Follow-up appointments with medication management and psychotherapy:

  • 30 minutes: $200
  • 50 minutes: $300

Please note that Dr. Palmer does not schedule sessions in less than 30 minute increments, or more than one patient per hour, allowing for some time flexibility within appointment slots.

Extended appointments, generally for crisis or family sessions:

  • 75 minutes: $400
  • 90 minutes: $500

Fees may also apply to telephone conversations with family members, therapists and other doctors. There is no charge for emergency calls or discussions about routine matters such as appointment scheduling. Please note that while there are billing codes for telephone sessions, most insurers do not honor them.

Administrative Fees

Dr. Palmer is a solo practitioner and does not employ staff for tasks such as billing, obtaining pre-authorizations and calling in refills. Therefore, she may need to spend a significant amount of time between visits attending to these matters on your behalf.

  • Billing for appointment fees not paid at the time of service: $30
  • Calling in refills between sessions (including changing orders per pharmacy or insurance company request): $100
  • Copying and faxing (rates for copying medical records as endorsed by The Maryland Board of Physicians): $0.76 per page, plus postage if mailed. A handling fee of $22.88 will be added for documents sent to a third party. These rates are updated periodically and therefore subject to change.
  • Authorizations and paperwork: In most cases, Dr. Palmer prefers to obtain insurance authorizations, write letters and fill out paperwork during appointments when you are present to answer questions. However, when it is necessary or preferable to perform these tasks between visits the time will be billed at the hourly rate of $300, with a minimum charge of $100 payable in advance.

Late Arrivals and Missed Appointments

If you arrive late for an appointment, you will be seen for the remaining time and charged for the full session as scheduled. You will be charged the full fee for appointments that you miss or cancel with less than 48 hours (2 business days) notice. This means that Monday appointments must be cancelled by the previous Thursday. National holidays that fall on weekdays are not considered business days. The fee for a missed first appointment is $300.

Prescriptions

Appointments are required for new prescriptions. Refills are ordered during follow-up appointments. You are responsible for keeping track of remaining refills and scheduling appointments accordingly. As noted above, an $100 fee will be charged for refills called in between sessions, or re-orders requested by pharmacies or insurers.

Insurance companies engage in an increasingly abusive practice of requiring prior authorization for generic medications. Please be prepared to pay out of pocket using a coupon from GoodRX or other similar service.

Emergencies

If you experience an emergency, call Dr. Palmer at 410-929-1311. If she is not available to speak with you immediately, especially after hours and on weekends and holidays, leave a detailed message and call 988 or go to the nearest emergency room.