Therapy Tools And Software For Therapists Looking To Streamline Their Practice

With various administrative responsibilities, mental health providers can find themselves overwhelmed with work. Organizing client billing, understanding the insurance process, keeping track of appointments, and ensuring secure client filing can take time and energy.

Having one location to organize all of these aspects of your practice may allow you the time to focus on client care. There are many tools and software made specifically for mental health workers that can be a valuable way to streamline your practice this year. 

What are therapy practice tools and software?

When organizational responsibilities are taken care of, therapists can spend time focusing on what matters: their clients. 

Many tools are designed to offer the following benefits to professionals:

• Organization for client notes
• Insurance claim support
• Ease of access to calendars and calendar syncing
• Ease of access to messages with clients
• Document-signing services
• Access to templates for therapy notes, emails, and professional materials
• Live updates on insurance claims, payments, and scheduling 
• Custom automated text messages for clients
• Complete management of administrative tasks 

Costs vary depending on the program, company, or tool you choose. However, many therapists find that investing in tools allows them to make back the costs by having extra time to take on new clients or pencil in more appointments with existing ones. 

Therapy tools for therapists

Below are some therapy tools that can be physically purchased or found online for therapists looking to streamline practice responsibilities.

LinkTree

LinkTree is not explicitly designed for therapists. However, this tool can allow therapists to advertise various links on one webpage. From your customized LinkTree link, patients can view whichever links and titles you've added to your page. 

You can include: 

• Your website
• Your client application form
• Webinars, resources, or worksheets for clients
• Your online payment links
• Links to your educational social media, such as a YouTube channel
• A link to send you a message

You can share your LinkTree link on your social media, through therapist boards, or on your business cards.

Square

Billing clients can be challenging, with high fees for many payment services. Square is a payment service that allows therapists to take payments without monthly fees. 

However, there may be a price per transaction, depending on the form of payment the client selects. If you do not use practice management software that allows you to take payments, Square could be a solution. 

Therapist Aid

Therapist Aid is a free sourcing website that offers the following tools to therapists: 

• Free downloadable worksheets with a paid customization option
• Guides on providing mental healthcare
• Videos by other therapists and experts in the field
• Articles on mental health topics
• Interactive lessons or meditations for clients

Therapist Aid's worksheets include therapeutic techniques from mindfulness, dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), grief therapy, couples therapy, and cognitive-behavioral therapy, among others. You can download these materials to give to clients or print them out and keep them on hand in your office. 

ACEs Connection

ACEs Connection is a social network for trauma-informed providers. Through the platform, you can connect with hundreds of other providers working with the PACEs Connection non-profit to bring adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) education to communities worldwide. You might benefit from joining this organization if you are a therapist specializing in trauma-informed care. 

To join, you must fill out a quick application and create an account. Afterward, you will be sent an email with information on how to enter the online social community of providers.

Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies

The Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) connects therapists practicing cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and other cognitive or behavioral therapies to resources, educational materials, courses, student guides, and news. 

You can join the forum's online community to contribute insight, resources, and advice and talk to other CBT providers.

Wiley Practice Planners

Offered through several practice management software providers, Wiley Practice Planners can also be purchased and utilized through the Wiley website. Treatment planners are digital or physical planners, including over 1,000 statements that can be added to treatment plans or client notes, addressing

• Relational problems
• Long-term goals
• Short-term objectives
• Treatment options

In addition to pre-formatted planners, therapists can use customized templates to create their own planners and fill in phrases for client treatment files. 

Wiley also offers DSM-5 diagnostic information and ICD-10 codes for easy access to insurance billing and diagnostic coding. These planners can be used by psychiatrists, psychologists, counselors, social workers, and other mental health professionals.

Software for therapists

In addition to the above tools, therapists can benefit from practice management software that combines various practice needs into one location.

SimplePractice

SimplePractice offers modern software for therapists looking for a comprehensive platform to organize every aspect of their practice. Their features include scheduling, templates, documentation sending and saving, insurance claim filing, billing for clients, telehealth, and a client portal. You can also gain access to over 1,000 pre-written treatment goals, objectives, and interventions to add to your clients' treatment plans. 

SimplePractice differs from other platforms because it allows therapists to use an app to check up on their schedules, messages, and reminders. In addition, it serves as a middleman to insurance companies for those filing claims, taking the work out of billing to insurance. 

Specific features offered by SimplePractice include the following:

• Automatic payment option
• Online appointment requests for clients
• Calendar syncing 
• Custom templates for notes, treatment plans, and emails
• Mobile payments
• Custom client reminders
• A 24/7 support team

You can access SimplePractice's services through the following pricing plans: 

• Starter: $29 a month, not including telehealth services
• Essential: $69 a month, including telehealth services and ten insurance claims a month
• Plus: $99 a month, including telehealth, treatment planners, and 35 insurance claims

You can also call or email the SimplePractice team to develop a plan unique to your practice.

Office Ally

Office Ally works with healthcare professionals to offer billing and practice solutions. They work as a clearinghouse for those seeking a mediator between insurance companies and their practice for client claims. In addition, they can offer practice management, secure client record services, and a payer gateway. If you're looking for an organization that takes most aspects of administration into its hands, Office Ally may be right for you. 

Benefits can include:

• A customer service team that helps healthcare providers appeal denied insurance claims
• Organization of all client billing
• Improved workflow for scheduling
• A personalized plan for your business's needs
• Quick access to client records in a secure location
• Templates for note taking
• Support without a contract

Office Ally's pricing depends on your practice's needs, so contact the company for a demo and further guidance.

Owl Practice 

Owl Practice offers a comprehensive software program for therapists, including video therapy options with screen sharing, couples and family telehealth sessions, and a client portal. The client portal is secure and allows therapists to message clients, send consent forms, and complete intake online.

In addition, providers can use the platform's online scheduling panel, calendar, and billing section in one place. Client records can also be accessed through the software and are password protected. With your consent, you may also be added to a therapist directory for free. 

Owl Practice offers a free trial and includes the following pricing models.

• Owl Core: $39 a month, including video therapy
• Owl Pro: $49 a month, including insurance claim support

Contact the sales team through Owl Practice’s website for group practice pricing.

How to find support with your practice

Outside of digital and physical tools and software that can be utilized to streamline your practice, you can take a few steps to simplify your administrative duties, including the following. 

Hire An Administrative Or Billing Assistant

Hiring a third-party billing or administrative assistant or company to support you can be beneficial. If you spend a lot of time billing clients, filing insurance claims, or checking up on your paperwork, your administrative assistant can take on some of these duties for you. Look for an employee that can offer secure service and follow all applicable laws and regulations for practice. 

Organize Everything In One Place

If you have your bills in one drawer, your client records in another, and your notes and scheduling on two different platforms on your computer, you may spend extra time switching between your options. Using software that integrates all aspects of running your practice into one website or downloadable program, you can quickly check your client notes, switch to billing, and check appointments within a few clicks. 

If you do not want to use software, creating an effective physical organization system for your worksheets, intake forms, documents, client records, and billing forms can be beneficial. A color-coded filing cabinet with a lock or a multi-use binder may help you organize these systems. Add labels to each different compartment where you store information. If you're working on your computer, create easy-to-identify files and locations for your programs.

Consider Contracting

Although having your own practice can be rewarding, it can also come with responsibility and extra hours of work. If you're interested in working as a contractor for a platform that takes on billing and administration for you, you can consider applying to work as a contractor for a website like BetterHelp. Through BetterHelp, you can join over 30,000 licensed mental health professionals already providing therapy for clients with shorter session times, no insurance claims, and a unique payment system.