Top Technology Tips To Streamline Your Practice

One of the many challenges of private practice, especially solo practice, is efficiently and effectively juggling administrative and practice management tasks with clinical work. Since I often blog about my favorite technology tips, I reached out to other therapists "in the trenches" of private practice to see what technology they find most helpful to streamline practice management. Here are the devices, programs, and software they use most and how it helps them successfully run their practice. Dr. Trevor Small, Clinical Director and Psychologist for Bridges to Recovery, a private, behavioral health facility has several tech tips that help streamline his practice:

1. Quicdoc: This is a great program for documenting and following patients progress as well as helping with insurance requirements.
2. Therapist Helper: Billing software extraordinaire!
3. iCal: It is fantastic for billing and keeping track of patient hours.

California psychiatrist David M. Reiss, M.D. suggests these technology tips:

1. ONE Box Voicemail/Efax and Google Voicemail - There may be cheaper or better companies supplying this service, but I've been using them several years and I have not checked any other companies. The One Box/efax allows all phone messages and faxes sent to my office to come to me via email, which I can then read on any computer or my iphone, and can save. I don't have to call in for messages; I can listen on the road; i can respond from wherever I am, and I can respond to faxes without waiting to a hard copy. I can then save the message in organized files as needed. I have a Google phone number which goes directly to my office number - those messages also come to me via email - and come transcribed. The transcription quality is mediocre, many words inaccurate. Usually good enough to get a sense of the message and the call back, but not perfect. Maybe there are better services than this available, but it comes in handy at time, combined with the One Box.
2. Google calendar - Again, there may be others offering the same service, but this is easy because it attaches to my email. I can keep a calendar,  and keep non-confidential notes regarding appointments kept, no-shows, reports sent  regarding evaluations electronically in a way that is accessible at  any time from wherever I am, as long as I have Internet or phone, and I can share  it with any office personnel one I choose to allow access.
3. DropBox (or any other cloud service) - I now have 15 years of complete  medical records accessible to me to read, email, fax immediately from anywhere i have the internet or via iPhone. Makes keeping, storing,  updating, referencing and transmitting medical records much easier, quicker  and more efficient.

Psychologist Tamsen Thorpe, PhD, Director of New Jersey's Directions, a Center for Life Strategies, LLC swears by the following technology to manage her practice:

1. Therasoft On-line - Web based practice management. Key is that it is web-based and can be accessed anywhere versus software.
2. Google calendar - This program is great for interfacing home and office schedules.
3. Smart phone - Allows me access to emails and calendars on the go. Clients email me non-confidential information mostly about appointments.

Clinical neuropsychologist and chief of psychology at Saint Barnabas Medical Center as well as a professor at Kean Ilyse O'Desky, Psy.D. relies on these technology suggestions for teaching and practice management:

1. Dragonspeak  voice transcription software - Between writing patient reports and professional papers, this has made my life much easier and I can complete any written work (including e-mails) much faster.
2. PowerPoint - I think this has improved my lecture presentations dramatically and has allowed me to have much more fun with the 4 or 6 hour presentations I give nationally.
3. iPad -  First, I can download articles directly to the IPAD to read whenever it is convenient and next, I can demonstrate apps to patients or their parents that I think can be used for cognitive training.

New York psychotherapis, Mary Pender Greene, LCSW-R  suggests:

1. Webinars – I use this platform for training new clinicians on how to build their practices, among other topics. 
2. Twitter/TweetDeck – I use Twitter to share the key points from my blog, inspirational quotes, links to articles, and links to resources. I use TweetDeck to automate my tweets, which average about 10 per day.
3. Skype – I use this program to facilitate online group discussions and also to expand the reach of my private practice to include clients that are at a great distance from my office. 

Dr. Trevor Small adds the best tech tip of all...back up your documents. "It is so simple, but nobody does it. Also, it is important to make sure that what is stored is stored according to HIPPA compliance requirements," Small says.

What technology do you use to streamline your practice? What programs, apps, devices would be hard for you to live without?

5 Tips For Overcoming Blogophobia

Blogging is a great way to talk to potential clients about your private practice services and specialties. You can set up a blog account for free at wordpress.com, blogger.com, and many other blogging sites. Since blogs are search engine friendly and blog posts are easy to share on social media sites they are a great tool for attracting new clients to your therapy practice. In addition to reaching potential clients, blogging is also an avenue that allows you to provide valuable resources for current clients. In spite of the many business benefits of blogging, many therapists are hesitant to venture into the blogging world. This hesitation or anxiety about blogging is known as "blogophobia."

When I first started blogging a couple of years ago, I suffered from self-doubt and nagging questions. What if I spend all of this time writing a blog and no one reads it? What if I sound dumb? What if I get mean comments about my posts? Where do I start? What should I blog about? How often should I blog? If you're a therapist wanting to start a blog, or you have a blog that is rarely updated, here are some quick tips to help you gain the confidence to blog consistently and reach more potential clients with your practice message.

1) Keep it short and sweet

Blog posts are generally between 300-500 words. Blog readers want quick and easy information, not long discourses. You've probably written emails that are longer than 300 words. Compared to the length of papers,  thesis, or a dissertation, blogging will be a piece of cake.

2) Let go of perfectionism

Read your post aloud to catch any errors and to make sure that your writing flows. It may also help to have a colleague read through it before you publish to proof for errors you may have missed. If you find mistakes after your blog post is published you can always edit them after the fact.

3) Use your authentic voice

One of the reasons why blogs are so popular is that you get to "know" the blog writer. Unlike professional papers, blogs are often written in first person.  Write about topics that you're passionate about in your own voice so potential clients can get a feel for your therapy style, your strengths, and your theoretical orientation.  Authenticity will draw your ideal clients to your therapy practice.

4) Set a schedule

Blogging regularly is an important part of overcoming your anxiety, of gaining confidence,  and of keeping visitors coming back to your blog for new information. Build time into your schedule to blog as part of your private practice marketing strategy.

5) Recycle content

Start blogging on topics you've already researched and written about. You likely have dozens of research papers, articles, or special projects that you've written during graduate school or your professional career. Take those topics and repurpose them for blog articles.

One final note...make sure you have your contact information on your blog site and at the end of every post so potential clients can visit your website,  or contact you via email or phone.

I'd love to take a peek at your blog posts and see what you're blogging about and share them on social media to help you spread the word about your private practice. Feel free to post links to your articles comment box below.