Here are four Meetup groups for those of you 
in Arizona to check out. Consider adding one of these to your 12 month marketing plans for 2012.
Arizona Health Professionals Meetup Group
Hospice and Palliative Care Resource Connection
The East Valley Group of Wellness and Beauty Professionals
And, if you know of other meetups in Arizona that would be appropriate for mental health professionals, feel free to leave the info below!
My colleague, Bonnie Goetz, MA, LPC, NCC wrote in on the Denver Therapists Network online discussion list asking for help . Having just had this conversation earlier this year in my Peer Consultation and Supervision Group, I asked her if I might address it here on my blog so that others can join the discussion.
Here’s what Bonnie wrote . . . .
I am wondering if anyone out there . . . has found a good way to offer the mandated 24/7 coverage other than being constantly strapped to a cell phone? I know some people use answering services, but from what I understand the service would call the therapist directly in case of emergency anyways.
I would really like to be able to turn off my cell phone at the end of the day, but have not been able to figure out a way to do this and still be in compliance with my [insurance] contracts. Generally I handle this by not taking clients who have high needs between sessions, but I still get the occasional call from people on the weekends or evenings, and I hate checking my phone all the time!
Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!”
Yep, I have a few thoughts and suggestions, Bonnie. Acts of omission, such as not returning phone calls in a timely manner, are definitely grounds for a malpractice suit. I’ve heard attorney Bart Bernstein, J.D., LMSW refer to this particular situation many times in his workshops on ethics and counseling. The example he gives is this . . . . If a client calls you and gets your answering service or, worse yet, gets an unanswered phone . . . and you as his therapist are the only person the client feels like he can talk to about a particular issue / crisis . . . and you fail to return the phone call in a timely manner i.e. within 24 hours . . . , you have, in effect, abandoned your client.
That’s why your question, Bonnie, is such an important one. Some therapists believe in error that being available 24 / 7 is stipulated by a particular managed care company. And, while that may be true, the bigger picture is that your professional associations, your licensing board, and your state laws are also likely to be requiring the same thing – that licensed mental health professionals must respond and be available to clients in a timely manner.
For those reasons, here’s a few of the ways that you can responsibly, ethically, and legally take care of your clients’ needs while also taking care of your own needs, too.
Or, you can choose to cover your own phone calls 24 / 7. Just remember that you are ultimately responsible for that coverage. If you have someone else covering for you, make sure that s/he is competent and trustworthy. Your clients’ lives, your own reputation, and your own licenses are on the line.
If you have found other ways to meet your clients’ needs 24 / 7, I hope you will take a moment to share with us here!
This is the 1st part of a 3 -part series. 
Dorlee M, in New York blogs on Social Work Career Development. Earlier this year, she wrote in asking why I have have repeatedly stated that working in a community agency (nonprofit, hospital, or organization) is the smartest thing a new graduate can do.
Here’s 8 reasons why I believe new mental health professionals (and coaches) should spend at least 3-5 years gaining their clinical sea legs before stepping out into private practice.
Not sure what I’m talking about? Check in on Wednesday for Part 2 of this post as I explain. And, if I’ve left off other benefits to working in a community agency, feel free to add them below!
This is the second of a 3-part series to help ease your way to getting approved as a preferred provider with insurance companies. The series began here.
Managed care companies receive hundreds of applications from licensed mental health professionals every year who are wanting to become preferred providers. That’s why it’s important to make your application stand out in a positive way to the professionals in Provider Relations that will be evaluating your credentials and experience. Here’s a few tips that I’ve learned over the years that may help you rise to the top of the pile.
Tip #1 – Focus on your own efficiency and your ability to save on costs. Managed care came into existence as a reaction to offset the rampant financial abuses in health care. As such, the primary goal of these companies is to reduce costs of health care. The care of clients comes second. Make sure that your application speaks to managed care’s concerns and not just your own.
Tip #2 – Location makes a difference. (And, not just for the reasons I stated here.) If you can provide services in an under-served area, you are more likely to be admitted to a preferred provider list. If you currently provide services in a therapist-saturated market, you may want to consider adding a second site to your practice. By indicating that you are available to provide services in an under-served area for just a few hours each week, you make yourself much more desirable to managed care companies. (And, the good news is that once your are “in” on the panel, you can typically relocate your services without losing your place on the provider lists – even across state lines!)
Tip #3 – Highlight second languages that you are fluent in. Your unique expertise is what will get you on the list so don’t forget to highlight an ability to speak a foreign language every chance you get.
Tip #4 – Special hours can set your practice apart. Most therapists work 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. If you can offer late or early hours or are willing to work on weekends, mention them on your application. Those “special” hours can be a way to expedite your entrance into the world of preferred providers.
Tip #5 – Special populations require special knowledge. Don’t indicate that you “work with everybody.” That’s not what managed care is looking for. Instead, if you have advanced training and experience working with a specific population or two, emphasize this. Populations such as geriatrics, children, GLBT, deaf clients, etc. can open doors for you with managed care.
Tip #6 – Advanced training and credentials count. Although experience definitely counts, proof of skills via advanced training and credentialing make you much less of a risk to insurance companies and much more desirable to them, too. Track your professional development and flaunt it in your application.
Do you have other tips that can help other licensed mental health professionals get on insurance panels? If so, I hope you will leave them below.
And, on Monday, I’ll wrap up this series by sharing a couple of thoughts for those who have had their applications denied.
Sherly Raymond is an LMFT in Bronx, New York who wrote me with the following question.
I have an office policy stating to pay at the beginning of
each session. My patients don’t follow this policy and at first I did not feel comfortable reinforcing it. I don’t have a receptionist. What are some ways you would recommend that I address this issue with patients?”
Sherly, you are bringing up a common dilemma for therapists. I, too, require clients to pay for my services at the beginning of our sessions and, when I first started, I also struggled with how to get clients to pay up front.
The problem is not not having a receptionist. The problem is either you forgetting or being afraid to collect fees up front. It’s your rule. Do you have a good reason for it? If so, you may need to remind yourself what those reasons are. And, once you are clear that your rule is a good one, here is what you may want to try . . . .
The easiest time to train your clients about your office policies is to start the first time you see them. I say to mine (as we’re walking into the office), “I like to collect fees at the beginning of our sessions. That way we don’t have to cut our sessions short to deal with money issues. So, if you want to write your check before you even arrive, we can maximize our time to work together.”
If you have already let your current clients “slip up” and pay at the end of sessions, you’re going to have to re-train them. It’s simple enough to say “I’m tweaking my office policies and want to begin collecting fees at the beginning of sessions. That means that when you walk in, the first thing I am going to do is take your payment and write you a receipt. If you want to write your check before you even get here, . . . .” And, then, of course, you simply pull your receipt out and finish signing it.
This is how I handle collecting fees and, Sherly, I’m confident that this will work for you, too. Is there anyone who has a different suggestion? If so, I hope you’ll take a moment to share it with us below.
Tamara G. Suttle, M.Ed., LPC has maintained a private clinical practice since 1991 and founded Private Practice from the Inside Out in 2003. She has spent almost 20 years consulting and teaching marketing strategies to health care professionals like you. You can learn more about her clinical practice at her website.
Email Tamara
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