Teletherapy, also called online therapy, e-therapy and telemental health, continues to grow in popularity across the U.S.1. In addition to its popularity, studies also continue to highlight teletherapy as an effective way to deliver behavioral and mental health treatment to people2. Teletherapy is a differentiator that can help you attract more patients to your private practice and is relatively easy to set up—provided you have the right tools and plan in place. Below is a simple guide to setting up teletherapy at your practice, covering everything from choosing the right telehealth software to patient consent forms and other features that help you run your practice the best way possible, both for you & your clients.
Why Offer Teletherapy: The Benefits
Teletherapy provides several major benefits for licensed therapists and their clients, the most obvious including:
Scheduling Flexibility: The teletherapy format enables you to provide mental health care beyond the traditional 9-5 hours, on weekends, or at any times that most benefit you and your patients.
Geographic Convenience: You don’t need to conduct teletherapy sessions solely in your office. You can easily schedule telehealth sessions anytime from any place, including your own home, or while traveling.
Increased Accessibility: Teletherapy enables you to reach patients who live in areas where behavioral healthcare is limited or who have limited access to transportation. It also accommodates people whose work schedules, family responsibilities or disabilities prevent them from traveling to their therapist’s office.
Increased Income: Offering teletherapy can increase appointments and, therefore, income, for the simple reason that it opens your practice up to more patients. It removes geographical barriers & time constraints and accommodates busy schedules. Teletherapy can also save you money on rent if you choose not to rent an office space.
Clients can take appointments anywhere they like, which decreases the possibility of no-shows & cancellations. As added protection against those two, Vagaro’s mental health software enables you to set policies for no-shows & cancellations and automatically deducts fees when your policies are breached.
Your Teletherapy Checklist
Choose the Right Telehealth Software
The most important thing mental health professionals need to consider with teletherapy is the tool you’ll use to conduct your virtual therapy appointments. Not all online platforms are created equal.
Be sure to use HIPAA-compliant telehealth software, like Vagaro’s, that provides secure and seamless video sessions for you and your clients. Cornerstones of HIPAA compliance include:
End-to-End Encryption (E2EE): Ensures that only the devices used to make the video call can access the encryption key
Peer-to-Peer Connection (P2P): Routes data directly from one user to another, ensuring that a video encounter cannot take place without a secure connection
A Business Associates Agreement (BAA): Contract with a vendor stipulating that all concerned parties take active measures to protect patient health information (PHI).
Beyond these, a robust platform may have other convenient features, such as video recording, patient appointment reminders and screen sharing.
Vagaro’s telehealth feature offers all these capabilities. It is also seamlessly integrated into the rest of the Vagaro mental health scheduling software. That means seamless in-app appointment scheduling, billing and documentation management.
Have Your Telehealth Consent Form Ready
Most states in the U.S.3 require clinicians to inform their patients prior to their first session about what telehealth is and obtain verbal or written consent from them.
Informed consent ensures that you and your patients are on the same page with expectations and boundaries that protect your practice, yourself, and your clients. It is usually received by using a secure, HIPAA-compliant digital form. In addition to patient notes, mental health booking software like Vagaro’s allows you to create a range of custom, digital forms for EMR documentation, including consent forms.
An overview of what Teletherapy Consent Forms should include:
- General information covering what teletherapy is, who the service provider is, the technology that will be used and a list of the benefits and limitations of teletherapy.
- An explanation of voluntary consent, underscoring that your patient can stop receiving teletherapy services whenever they wish
- The locations of both you and your patient during the therapy sessions
- A list of the mental health services that will be provided using teletherapy &
- An explanation of how you will manage transitions to in-person therapy if it becomes necessary
- The duration of teletherapy sessions and the period in which they will take place
- Information about your patient’s right to access their medical records from teletherapy sessions
- Expected outcomes of your of teletherapy sessions
- A list of your **patient’s responsibilities **
- Steps to take in case of unforeseen circumstances, such as a session cutting out due to technical difficulties
- Additional information connected to pricing, billing and scheduling
Check Your State’s Regulations
Most states require informed consent, but policies and regulations regarding other aspects of teletherapy can vary from state to state. You may, for example, be subject to strict regulations about working with minors or treating patients who live in a different state than you.
Luckily, there are resources online that can answer most of the questions you have4.
Of course, always check with your state board so that you understand your responsibilities and the limitations that come with providing teletherapy services.
State laws can also affect how insurance companies will reimburse for telehealth services. California, for example, mandates that insurers must cover teletherapy the same as face-to-face therapy.
Medicare covers teletherapy services, as does Medicaid in most states. Most private health insurance also covers teletherapy now. Check with individual insurance companies about how to bill for these services.
Have The Right Equipment
This may seem obvious, but make sure you have a computer, tablet or smartphone with updated web browsers and a built-in camera & microphone. Beyond that:
**Headphones: ** Headphones with noise-cancelling capabilities are best because they can reduce background noise and ensure that your patient is heard clearly.
These headphones sometimes come equipped with microphones.
External microphones aren’t necessary, per se, but you want to make sure that you are heard clearly over noises on the other end. Just because you’re in a quiet, distraction-free environment doesn’t mean your patient is.
External Camera: External cameras can supply better resolution than integrated ones (720p is a minimum; 1080p is better)
High-Speed Internet Connectivity
There are differing viewpoints out there about internet connections. We’ll suggest a minimum bandwidth of 10 Mbps download speed (affects what you can see) and 5 Mbps upload speed (affects what patients can see).
When ascertaining your internet speed, it is important to know what type of connection you are using. Symetric connections have matching download and upload speeds, whereas asymetric connections have differing download and upload speeds.
Always check your equipment and do a trial run to avoid connectivity issues. There are plenty of free tools5 out there to test the speed and viability of your Internet connection.
It may seem old-fashioned, but an Ethernet cord will supply a stronger and more stable connection during sessions. Wired connection assuages any fears you may have about sessions freezing or dropping off entirely.
Choose the Right Space
One of the key benefits of teletherapy, as mentioned above, is that it can eliminate the need for a traditional office. You do, however, need a set, secure space to conduct your sessions. This space should be:
Private & secure: No one else should be able to see the screen, nor hear the conversation between you and your patient.
Free of distraction: Think about what your patient will see once the session starts. If it’s a busy wall with lots of photos or decorations hung on it, you should consider a different spot. Minimalism is your friend here. Choose a neutral background, free of clutter and anything that may distract patients.
Quiet: Conduct your teletherapy sessions in a space where noise levels are kept at a minimum. Airplanes and loud weather can be difficult to escape, but be sure that you are insulated against everything else. This includes playing children, lawn mowers, doorbells, TVs or radios, ice-cream trucks, and nearby conversations.
Well lit: Natural lighting is ideal, but not always possible depending on appointment time or abundance of windows in your space. Whatever your light source is, make sure that you are facing it. Being backlit (having the light directly behind you) will cast a shadow over your face that your patients will quickly grow tired of squinting at.
Dress professionally, in solid colors that won’t blend too much with your background. Avoid stripes, polka dots or other distracting patterns.
Labeled on insurance & consent forms: Whether you conduct your teletherapy in a bespoke office or at home, make sure that your locations reflect the address that your insurance company has on file and the one listed on your teletherapy consent form.
Market Your Teletherapy Services
With everything in place, it’s time to let the world know that you are now taking teletherapy appointments. First, inform your referral sources that you are now offering teletherapy as an option. Be prepared to send out referral cards, make phone calls, and discuss with colleagues & staff.
After that, promote your service on your office signage, printed practice materials, and business cards. A simple “online sessions available” will go a long way toward attracting new clients. Announce it on your website (adding an FAQ page is worthwhile) and on your social media pages.
You may also advertise your teletherapy services in your practice’s newsletter, or in your blog, podcast, video series or any other content you may produce. Inform your subscribers by e-mail that you now offer teletherapy sessions. A robust email marketing tool like Vagaro’s makes sending targeted mass emails much easier than you may think.
1.) https://www.psychiatry.org/
2.) https://www.researchgate.net/
4.) https://speed.cloudflare.com/
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Telehealth and teletherapy are becoming more common in behavioral health, and Vagaro is your partner in providing secure, high-quality HIPAA-compliant therapy services. Our video conferencing platform is just one part of an integrated, all-in-one solution that helps you run a more efficient practice. Taking better care starts with Vagaro. Sign up for your FREE 30-day trial and experience it for yourself!
