2013 Therapist Blog Challenge

Build your practice and attract more clients to your practice by creating regular content on your private practice website. I'll make it easy for you!

Welcome 2013! I tell my private practice consulting clients is to have an integrated blog on their private practice website and become a regular online content creator. Potential clients are searching online for your services and I want them to be able to find you more easily. Here's how blogging can help.

Why is blogging on your private practice website important?

• Fresh website content boosts search engine rankings/SEO (remember Google is my #1 referral source)
• It add value to your website visitors and give them a reason to come back to your site
• It gives you valuable content to share on social media that direct people back to your website
• It helps you to strengthen your online presence as an expert
• It allows potential clients get to know you and your practice philosophy

Why are some therapists hesitant to start blogging?

• They don't know what to write about
• They think they have to write totally original content
• They think they have to write a "dissertation" (blogs posts only need to be 300-600 words)
• They haven't found their "blogging voice"
• They don't have the "time"
• They're scared

To participate in the 2013 Therapist Blog Challenge:

• Post your practice website link in the comments below.
• Watch for my suggested blog topic twice each month. I'll come up with the content idea so you don't have to. I'll title and number the posts "Blog challenge #1" ... so you can keep track.
• Write your 300-600 work blog article that week for your private practice website.
• Post your blog article link in the comment section on the corresponding post here on this Toolbox blog.
• Read and share other therapists articles.

Pretty easy, huh? So, are you IN? By the end of the year you'll have at least 24 articles on your website!

Blog challenge #1 coming soon....

Remember to post your practice website below and any questions you have. And please invite colleagues to join in. This will be fun!

(c) Can Stock Photo

5 Steps To Resigning From Insurance Panels

One of the most common questions that private practice therapists ask me is "How do I get off of insurance panels?" This question just came up today in my Private Practice Toolbox Facebook Group so I thought it would be a great topic for a blog post. In previous posts I've written about why I broke up with managed care (part 1) & (part 2), but this post will focus on how to do it.

The thought of letting go of the comfort of being on insurance panels can create a lot of anxiety for private practice therapists. After all, if we don't have clients, we don't get paid. Find comfort in knowing this equation. You only need about half the number of clients in a self-pay practice to make the same income (or more) than you made in an insurance based practice. Once I realized this fact, I felt a lot more comfortable resigning from insurance panels. Let's do the math...

Insurance:

Say you are seeing 20 managed care clients per week and you are reimbursed an average of $70 per client.

20 clients x $70 session = $1,400

20 clients x $70 session x 4 weeks = $5,600 per month

(then subtract your time or money spent in billing and paperwork)

Fee-for-service:

2o clients x $125 = $2500/wk

20 clients x $125 session x 4 weeks = $10,000 per month

10 clients x $125 session x 4 weeks = $5,000 per month

(with NO extra paperwork, NO delay in payment, NO denied claims, NO required diagnosis...)

So often we focus on number of clients instead of the quality of clients and the amount collected per client.

5 Steps To Resigning From Health Insurance Panels

1) Rank the insurance companies

Make a list of insurance panels and rank them from your most favorite to least favorite based on:

• reimbursement rates
• paper work requirements
• how quickly you're paid
• number of clients you see from each panel
• the type of clients generally referred
• your general feeling working with each panel

2) Resign in waves starting with your least favorite

Generally, I recommend to my consulting clients to resign in waves over the course of a year. Resign first from the panels with the lowest ranking - the ones that pay the least and are the most difficult to work with.

3) Check your contract for resignation requirements

Review your contract to check on the resignation process that you agreed to. Look at the time frame required. Do you need to give them 30, 60, or 90 days notice? Do you need to send in a written letter?

4) Beef up your web presence

As part of your plan to resign from insurance panels, it critical to invest in creating other referral sources. The most important being your web presence. Google is my #1 referral source. The majority of our clients who come to my clinic Wasatch Family Therapy find us online. The benefit of clients finding you online is that they've already read about you, your services, and your philosophy on your website and have chosen to contact you. This increases the likelihood that they will be willing to pay your full fee.

• Website - If you don't have a website, make that a top priority. If you have a website, make sure it's effective. Here are some common website mistakes and how to fix them.
• Blog - If you don't have a blog on your site, add one and start blogging weekly.
• Therapist finder sites - join PsychologyToday.com, GoodTherapy.org, and your professional organization's "find a therapist" site to help potential clients find you.

5) Know the benefits of self-pay and be prepared to educate clients

There are benefits to the client for paying out of pocket, instead of going through their insurance company, that they may not be aware of. As you make the transition away from managed care to a fee-for-service practice it's important to familiarize yourself with these benefits so you can educate your clients. A few of those benefits are: control over which provider you choose to work with, the course of treatment decided on by client and therapist instead of insurance company, and no diagnosis requirement.

Here's an example of how a provider educates her patients on the benefits of self-pay. Utah Psychiatrist Kelli Hyland, MD my colleague and consultation client, shares her philosophy in this blog post "Why Self-pay?"

(c) Can Stock Photo

Social Media Ethics (part 2): Developing Your Social Media Policy

Social media ethics are starting to be addressed by mental health professional organizations or licensing boards but those guidelines, if they exist, are generally vague.

It's important for clinicians to take time to think through the implications of their online interactions on clients to avoid dual relationships, putting client's privacy at risk, or jeopardizing the therapeutic relationship.

Including a written social media policy as a client's initial treatment contract helps clarify how technology will be used in client-therapist interaction so it doesn't interfere with treatment.

On the forefront of the social media ethics discussion is licensed psychologist Keeley Kolmes. Psy.D. Dr. Kolmes' comprehensive social media policy has been a model for mental health therapists around the world. She generously allows clinicians to adapt her social media policy for their own use and frequently speaks, writes, and teaches on social media topics. I used it as a springboard for developing my own social media policy.

If you don't have a social media policy, I suggest that you develop one. The goal of your policy is to clearly outline your expectations regarding online interaction, educate the client of risks, and have a clear rationale for how you will or will not engage with clients online. Here are some suggested topics to cover in your policy and a few questions to help you solidify your philosophy regarding social media interaction.

Friending Will you accept friend requests on Facebook, Linked In, Google+? Why or why not?

Following Will you allow clients to follow you on Twitter, Blogs, Pinterest? If not, how will you handle it if they do follow you? Will you follow back?

Messaging Is it appropriate for clients to contact you via SMS? Or social media sites like Twitter DM? If so, what information is appropriate?

Business Review Sites What are the risks that clients take when reviewing your services on sites like Yelp or Healthgrades? Keep in mind that if a client gives you a negative review it is unethical to respond directly to the review as it breaks client confidentiality.

Google Reader What if a client wants to share an article with you through Google reader?

Search Engine Do you make a practice of Google searching your clients? Are there emergency situations where you would search for their information or information of someone close to them?

Location Based-Services If clients check-in to your location on GPS services like Foursquare or Facebook check-in are they aware of the risks that they might be identified as clients?

Email Correspondence What type of information is appropriate to send via email? How quickly a client can anticipate an email response?

Email/Newsletter Lists If you have a newsletter sign-up on your website do you expect clients to sign up on email or newsletter lists?

If you can think of a topic I missed in the list above, let me know.

Are you willing to share your social media policy? If so, please post the link in a comment below.