Ira Phillips, MD


Psychiatry with Psychotherapy




Please note, my practice is full, and I am not accepting new patients at this time.

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About:

If you feel stuck repeating ineffective actions in your life without making meaningful changes despite your best efforts, I may be able to help by working with you to understand what seems to be getting in the way. With this understanding, I find that people over time find solutions that seem right for them.  

  

I think an accepting stance is important in relationships, and I welcome patients from all backgrounds. While I work effectively towards a wide variety of treatment goals, I find I am most helpful for people interested in understanding the deeper origins of recurring life problems.  I use an integrative approach which combines psychotherapy, practical self-care (nutrition, exercise, sleep, etc.), and judicious use of psychotropic medications. 

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I also teach and supervise psychotherapy to psychiatry residents and other learners. I was an assistant professor at Vanderbilt Unversity for a decade and am currently on faculty at the Nashville Center for Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Psychotherapy.      

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Important Information and Policies:

Office visits are by appointment only.  I do not provide emergent and/or walk-in new patient psychiatric assessments or treatment. If you have a medical or psychiatric emergency, please call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.  

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Patient Communication and Accessibility:

I strive to make everyone feel welcome and supported.  As part of that, I make reasonable modifications to policies and procedures to ensure that people with disabilities have an equal opportunity to access my services.  This includes wheelchair accessibility, translation services, and other forms of assistance.  If you need support, please ask.   

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I have an integrated communication tool for all types of secure, HIPAA-compliant, and ADA-accessible communication.  If you have any questions about communication, please call or otherwise communicate with the contact information below.  If you have trouble calling/asking, please text or email me for an invitation to my secure messaging platform. Please await access to my secure messaging tool prior to communicating medical information.  (This website is designed to be consistent with WCAG 2.0.)

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Contact Information:

Office Address:

210 25th Ave N, Suite 601

Nashville, TN 37203

Phone 615.558.5768

Fax 888.501.4893

Email ira@iraphillipsmd.com


Mailing Address:

PO Box 92202

Nashville, TN 37209

 

Directions:

My office is located in Parkview Towers on 25th Ave North by Centennial Park.  It is between Ellison Place and Centennial Sportsplex.  There is plenty of (ADA-accessible) parking in the garage entrance off Reidhurst Ave.   

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Credentials:

Undergraduate:  

 

Graduate:  

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Medical:  

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Psychiatry Residency:

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Additional Psychotherapy Training:

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Board Certification:  

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General Clinic Policies:

Clinic Hours:

Office hours are by appointment only. Please call for general concerns (appointments, billing, non-urgent medications refills) from 8am-5pm Monday-Friday.

 

Emergencies / After Clinic Hours:

● For emergencies (significant worsening of symptoms and especially thoughts of harming yourself or others), please call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. Once there, please call me at 615.558.5768.

● If you have a concern that is not an emergency but needs to be promptly addressed, please call me at 615.558.5768.

● Other methods of communication including but not limited to email, text, fax, other clinic/cell phone numbers, and patient portal messages are not checked after clinic hours. Do not use these for emergent or urgent communications.

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Medication Refills:

If you need a refill of a medication, please communicate with me directly--ideally through Spruce during business hours.

 

Electronic Communications:

Email, text, and other means of electronic communication are not necessarily secure and could result in a breach of your privacy. Due to this vulnerability, I recommend that you use the secure messaging platform. If you choose to send or ask that I send other communication, I will respond and understand you accept and are aware of these risks. All messages will be saved as part of your medical record.

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Ending Treatment:

Patients are not obligated to continue treatment; however, if you decide to end treatment, you are encouraged to discuss your decision with Dr. Phillips first. Sometimes discussing this decision can be an important part of your treatment. While I take steps to avoid, in very rare cases, I may need to end treatment with you (examples include disruptive behavior in the clinic/pharmacy, frequent and/or especially dangerous nonadherence to treatment, doctor shopping for controlled substances, frequently missed appointments, repeated lack of payment, and other similar behaviors).

 

If you cancel your follow-up appointment and are not seen as planned, I will attempt to contact you. If I do not hear back within 30 days, I will formally close your case. You are welcome to return, though we will need to complete a new evaluation to open your case.

 

Insurance Policy:

I am an out-of-network provider for all private insurance coverage. You are welcome to submit your bill to your insurance company for out-of-network coverage; I do not submit to your insurance company.

 

Payment Policy:

Payment is collected at time of service. For patients seen multiple times per month, you may elect to be billed monthly. Payment is by cash, check, or credit/debit.

 

Returned Payments:

If you make a payment that is not honored by your financial institution, I will charge you a returned payment fee to recover the costs of the returned payment.

 

Late Payments:

While I understand that payments can be late from time to time, I reserve the right to charge a late payment fee for recurrently late payment. Details will be discussed as part of your treatment if this occurs.

 

Other Services:

All time spent outside of regularly scheduled appointment time including time extension of appointments is billed at my hourly rate. This includes but is not limited to phone calls (to you or other providers), paperwork to be completed, prior authorizations, refills between appointments if recurrent or time-intensive, emergency services, court cases, or any appearance on your behalf.

 

Disability, Court, and Other Evaluations:

As your treatment psychiatrist, my role is to help you make positive changes in your life. I do not provide formal (forensic) evaluations for long-term disability, courts, or other similar situations. Should you need such an evaluation, I will assist you in referral to a forensic psychiatrist (who will evaluate but not treat you) and provide a copy of your treatment records. Maintaining this separation is consistent with ethical guidelines and protects your treatment.

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Appointment Charges and Cancellation Policy: 

I do not overbook appointments, and your appointment time is reserved for you. Patients will be charged if they miss their appointment or do not cancel with more than 24 hours’ notice.

 

Confidentiality:

For more information, please see the Privacy Rights Notification.  Confidentiality is an important part of treatment; and I take many steps to keep your information private. However, I am required by law to report and/or take action to provide safety for certain situations (risks to self or others, child abuse, elder abuse, doctor shopping for controlled medications, reportable diseases). Also, I review my work with a psychotherapy supervisor and colleagues to improve the quality of your treatment; for this, I take steps to disguise your identity. If you have questions about confidentiality or other clinic policies, please ask.






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Privacy Rights Notification:  

Your Information. Your Rights. Our Responsibilities.

This notice describes how medical information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to this information. Please review it carefully.

 

Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Get a copy of your paper or electronic medical record

• Correct your paper or electronic medical record

• Request confidential communication

• Ask us to limit the information we share

• Get a list of those with whom we’ve shared your information

• Get a copy of this privacy notice

• Choose someone to act for you

• File a complaint if you believe your privacy rights have been violated

 

Your Choices

You have some choices in the way that we use and share information as we:

• Tell family and friends about your condition

• Provide disaster relief

• Provide mental health care

• Market our services and sell your information.

 

Our Uses and Disclosures:

We may use and share your information as we:

• Treat you

• Run our organization

• Bill for your services

• Help with public health and safety issues

• Comply with the law

• Work with a medical examiner or funeral director

• Address workers’ compensation, law enforcement, and other government requests

• Respond to lawsuits and legal actions

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Your Rights

When it comes to your health information, you have certain rights. This section explains your rights and some of our responsibilities to help you.

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Get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record

• You can ask to see or get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record and other health information we have about you. Ask us how to do this.

• We will provide a copy or a summary of your health information, usually within 30 days of your request. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee.

 

Ask us to correct your medical record

• You can ask us to correct health information about you that you think is incorrect or incomplete. Ask us how to do this.

• We may say “no” to your request, but we’ll tell you why in writing within 60 days.

 

Request confidential communications

• You can ask us to contact you in a specific way (for example, home or office phone) or to send mail to a different address.

• We will say “yes” to all reasonable requests.

 

Ask us to limit what we use or share

• You can ask us not to use or share certain health information for treatment, payment, or our operations. We are not required to agree to your request, and we may say “no” if it would affect your care.

• If you pay for a service or health care item out-of-pocket in full, you can ask us not to share that information for the purpose of payment or our operations with your health insurer. We will say “yes” unless a law requires us to share that information.

 

Get a list of those with whom we’ve shared information

• You can ask for a list (accounting) of the times we’ve shared your health information for six years prior to the date you ask, who we shared it with, and why.

• We will include all the disclosures except for those about treatment, payment, and health care operations, and certain other disclosures (such as any you asked us to make). We’ll provide one accounting a year for free but will charge a reasonable, cost-based fee if you ask for another one within 12 months.

 

Get a copy of this privacy notice

You can ask for a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you have agreed to receive the notice electronically. We will provide you with a paper copy promptly.

 

Choose someone to act for you

• If you have given someone medical power of attorney or if someone is your legal guardian, that person can exercise your rights and make choices about your health information.

• We will make sure the person has this authority and can act for you before we take any action.

 

File a complaint if you feel your rights are violated

• You can complain if you feel we have violated your rights by contacting us using the contact information on this page.

• You can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights by sending a letter to 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, calling 1-877-696-6775, or visiting the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights website.

• We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

 

Your Choices For certain health information, you can tell us your choices about what we share. If you have a clear preference for how we share your information in the situations described below, talk to us. Tell us what you want us to do, and we will follow your instructions.

 

In these cases, you have both the right and choice to tell us to:

• Share information with your family, close friends, or others involved in your care

• Share information in a disaster relief situation

• Include your information in a hospital directory

If you are not able to tell us your preference, for example if you are unconscious, we may go ahead and share your information if we believe it is in your best interest. We may also share your information when needed to lessen a serious and imminent threat to health or safety.

 

In these cases we never share your information unless you give us written permission:

• Marketing purposes (we do not do)

• Sale of your information (we do not do)

• Most sharing of psychotherapy notes

 

Our Uses and Disclosures

How do we typically use or share your health information?

We typically use or share your health information in the following ways.

 

Treat you

We can use your health information and share it with other professionals who are treating you.

Example: A doctor treating you for an injury asks another doctor about your overall health condition.

 

Run our organization

We can use and share your health information to run our practice, improve your care, and contact you when necessary.

Example: We use health information about you to manage your treatment and services.

 

Bill for your services

We can use and share your health information to bill and get payment from you.

 

How else can we use or share your health information? We are allowed or required to share your information in other ways – usually in ways that contribute to the public good, such as public health and research. We have to meet many conditions in the law before we can share your information for these purposes. For more information, visit HHS's Your Rights Under HIPAA website.

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Help with public health and safety issues

We can share health information about you for certain situations such as:

• Preventing disease

• Helping with product recalls

• Reporting adverse reactions to medications

• Reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence

• Preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety

 

Do research

We can use or share your information for health research. We do not participate in research.

 

Comply with the law

We will share information about you if state or federal laws require it, including with the Department of Health and Human Services if it wants to see that we’re complying with federal privacy law.

 

Work with a medical examiner or funeral director

We can share health information with a coroner, medical examiner, or funeral director when an individual dies. If this were to occur, we would take efforts to limit disclosure of material that you do not want disclosed.

 

Address workers’ compensation, law enforcement, and other government requests

We can use or share health information about you:

• For workers’ compensation claims

• For law enforcement purposes or with a law enforcement official

• With health oversight agencies for activities authorized by law

• For special government functions such as military, national security, and presidential protective services

 

Respond to lawsuits and legal actions

We can share health information about you in response to a court or administrative order, or in response to a subpoena.

 

Our Responsibilities

• We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information.

• We will let you know promptly if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information.

• We must follow the duties and privacy practices described in this notice and give you a copy of it.

• We will not use or share your information other than as described here unless you tell us we can in writing. If you tell us we can, you may change your mind at any time. Let us know in writing if you change your mind.

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For more information, visit HHS's Your Rights Under HIPAA website.

 

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Changes to the Terms of this Notice

We can change the terms of this notice, and the changes will apply to all information we have about you. The new notice will be available upon request, in our office, and on our web site.

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Other Instructions for Notice

• Effective Date: May 19, 2024.

• Privacy Officer: Ira Phillips, MD, ira@iraphillipsmd.com, P 615.558.5768, F 888.501.4893.

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No Surprise Act Information:  

Your Rights and Protections Against Surprise Medical Bills

 

When you get emergency care or get treated by an out-of-network provider at an in-network hospital or ambulatory surgical center, you are protected from surprise billing or balance billing.

 

What is “balance billing” (sometimes called “surprise billing”)?

When you see a doctor or other health care provider, you may owe certain out-of-pocket costs, such as a copayment, coinsurance, and/or a deductible. You may have other costs or have to pay the entire bill if you see a provider or visit a health care facility that isn’t in your health plan’s network.

 

“Out-of-network” describes providers and facilities that haven’t signed a contract with your health plan. Out-of-network providers may be permitted to bill you for the difference between what your plan agreed to pay and the full amount charged for a service. This is called “balance billing.” This amount is likely more than in-network costs for the same service and might not count toward your annual out-of-pocket limit.

 

“Surprise billing” is an unexpected balance bill. This can happen when you can’t control who is involved in your care—like when you have an emergency or when you schedule a visit at an in-network facility but are unexpectedly treated by an out-of-network provider.

 

You are protected from balance billing for:

Emergency services

If you have an emergency medical condition and get emergency services from an out-of-network provider or facility, the most the provider or facility may bill you is your plan’s in-network cost-sharing amount (such as copayments and coinsurance). You can’t be balance billed for these emergency services. This includes services you may get after you’re in stable condition, unless you give written consent and give up your protections not to be balanced billed for these post-stabilization services.

 

Certain services at an in-network hospital or ambulatory surgical center

When you get services from an in-network hospital or ambulatory surgical center, certain providers there may be out-of-network. In these cases, the most those providers may bill you is your plan’s in-network cost-sharing amount. This applies to emergency medicine, anesthesia, pathology, radiology, laboratory, neonatology, assistant surgeon, hospitalist, or intensivist services. These providers can’t balance bill you and may not ask you to give up your protections not to be balance billed.

 

If you get other services at these in-network facilities, out-of-network providers can’t balance bill you, unless you give written consent and give up your protections.

 

You’re never required to give up your protections from balance billing. You also aren’t required to get care out-of-network. You can choose a provider or facility in your plan’s network.

 

When balance billing isn’t allowed, you also have the following protections:

• You are only responsible for paying your share of the cost (like the copayments, coinsurance, and deductibles that you would pay if the provider or facility was in-network). Your health plan will pay out-of-network providers and facilities directly.

• Your health plan generally must:

    -Cover emergency services without requiring you to get approval for services in advance (prior authorization).

    -Cover emergency services by out-of-network providers.

    -Base what you owe the provider or facility (cost-sharing) on what it would pay an in-network provider or facility and show that amount in your explanation of benefits.

    -Count any amount you pay for emergency services or out-of-network services toward your deductible and out-of-pocket limit.

 

If you believe you’ve been wrongly billed, you may contact BlueCross/BlueShield at 1-800-558-6213 or Cigna at 1-800-997-1617. You may also contact the federal No Surprises Help Desk by calling 1-800-985-3059.

 

Visit the CMS No Surprises Website for more information about your rights under federal law.