MENTAL HEALTH PROVIDERS

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Perhaps, “because mental health practices are different than other medical specialties, mental health professionals often struggle with efficiency and automation,” would be a more appropriate way to describe the way you’d identify with the depressive disorder associated with technology platforms that are not designed for you.

In contrast, this guide was written just for you, so you can learn the blueprint for managing a successful mental health practice using a full suite of automation technology & processes designed exclusively for mental health workflow. Mental health providers face greater automation challenges than their medical specialty colleagues.

The fact remains that mental health providers face greater automation challenges than their medical-specialty colleagues simply due to the fact that technology suppliers by and large attempt to force-fit software onto a discipline it wasn’t specifically designed for. This is especially true in the case of end-to-end, integrated systems that cover all aspects of mental health practice – which is where the greatest gains in efficiency, quality care & cost savings are found.

As a result, mental health practitioners usually attempt to compensate by either cobbling together a patchwork of functionally-specific systems or resorting to a lot of manual work to fill the gaps, or both. It can be exhausting & frustrating.

Specialized Automation for Specialized Care

The good news is that systems are now available that are specifically designed for the unique workflow, clinical care, coding, and client interaction aspects of mental healthcare practice.

For maximum benefit, keep in mind these two key points:

• The individual system components must be designed around mental health-specific needs. Whether it be new client intake, scheduling, visit notes, follow-up, or billing and coding, the details of how it’s done in mental healthcare must be the foundation.
• The systems must work together as a unified whole. Data, communication, and automation features must freely flow across the entire system in order to be combined and leveraged in powerful ways. This is the definition of true practice automation.

Blueprint for Success

We’ve put together this blueprint of an automation system specifically designed for mental health practice in order to guide your journey to a more ideal solution. Whether you’re looking to augment and focus your current system, or are in the market for an upgrade, this plan will guide you to a no-compromise endpoint ideally suited to your unique practice.

The blueprint is structured around the two key points outlined above. First, we will detail the key mental healthcare features that should be included in the four individual components of a practice automation system. Secondly, we’ll cover the way these components must work together as a unified whole in order to provide the maximum benefit of practice automation.

Mental Health System Components

Front Office

This component includes the systems that manage non-clinical client interaction, scheduling, and communication. Mental health-specific components should include:

• Scheduling: In addition to typical scheduling features, you’ll want group session scheduling and the ability to book a group appointment linked to multiple client appointments. Also, group session notes let you easily document a group’s session notes and automatically push de-identified copies to all included clients (text or email).
• Reminders: Automatically send personalized text, email, and phone messages, in English or Spanish, at selected intervals: one month, week, or day prior to the appointment. This includes personalized reminders to all group appointment participants.
• Client Intake: Easily select the appropriate new client information and make it available to them electronically. Ideally, this is completed by the client on their portal link (see below), initiated by an email or text alert, and tracked in the system to ensure completion. Appropriate portions of the intake information (e.g., history, initial inventory, etc.) are automatically added to the client’s chart.
• Client Portal: Should be secure, easily accessible by the client, and simple to navigate. Many mental health clients rely on electronic communication with their practitioner. These communications must be simple and timely (see Unified System section for more detail).

Electronic Health Records (EHR)

A mental health-specific EHR must provide highly relevant workflow features that let therapists screen and develop treatment plans for specific mental health disorders. This includes:

• Charting Features: Templates compliant with the American Psychiatric Association (APA) severity disorder measures. Maladaptive personality traits assessments using DSM-5 personality inventory measures, including multiple measures for either an adult or child population. Generalized cards including advanced directives & risk factors. Configurable behavioral health EHR notes, subnotes & client forms utilizing the DSM–5 severity disorder measures. Good systems will have over 200 of these.
• A copy of group therapy notes is automatically added to individual client records, allowing specific charting to be amended.
• Auto-calculated diagnostics. The client electronically responds to the questions in the measure (through the client portal), and the response auto-populates into the clinician’s note.
• Electronic Prescribing: HIPAA-compliant ePrescribing tool securely accessible anywhere via the web.
• Medication & Lab Results: Directly imported to the chart for at least one year of history.
• Screen and develop treatment plans for specific mental health disorders: Complete electronic clinical lifecycle documents, including the ability to document client progress using a variety of progress note types.
• MACRA and MIPS Compliance: Integrated tracking to help automate and simplify the complexities of regulatory requirements, specific to mental health workflow.

Coding & Billing

As compared with other medical specialties, mental health professionals deal with a higher percentage of first-pass claims being rejected & reworked. To address this, a mental health-focused system should include:

• Tools for simple ICD-10 lookup: with corresponding DSM 5 codes.
• Automatic software refresh: to code updates.
• Suggested E&M codes: Based on the documented client encounter, the system generates a picklist of mental health ICD-10 codes. These can be directly added to the client problem list.
• Automatic client education materials notification: As an added bonus, based on code selection, the system sends a selection of web links, articles, etc. directly to the client’s email.

Telehealth

A robust telehealth capability is an increasingly important part of leading mental health practices. Research has demonstrated that telehealth appointments decreased cancellations by 10% and no-shows by 14% for mental health clients.

Additional studies show that telehealth appointments are particularly successful for mental health clients who are reluctant to share emotionally difficult information in a personal in-office visit. Key features should include:

• Simple checkbox scheduling: Clicking the telehealth box in the appointment triggers automated client reminders with login instructions and sets up a simple, one-click link for the clinician to start the session.
• All notes of telehealth visits automatically added: to the client’s chart in the EHR.
• Ability to automatically capture online credit card payments: for these sessions.
• Integration of population health solutions: such as HealthWatcher™ or other continuity-of-care program for more personalized follow-up.

Cloud Access & Security

If you can’t access all your information, at any time and on any device, your ability to provide comprehensive care is limited. All our technologies can be used on Windows and Apple desktop and laptop computers as well as any of the latest iOS devices.

Simply log on from any machine, from any location to access your complete practice information. AdvancedMD also supports the latest security standards, including 2-factor authentication.

Unified System

Because of the history of patchwork automation solutions for mental health practice, providers end up spending large amounts of their time with manual paperwork, coordinating communications with clients, follow-ups and charting, and coding and billing issues. This is especially challenging with a large panel of clients whose status and treatment states are constantly in flux.

The true power of practice automation comes in a system’s ability to pull all data relevant to a practitioner’s tasks and responsibilities from across all the various component systems and present it in a single location with simple personalized workflows.

• Single, intuitive dashboard: for easy prioritization and management of tasks & workflows.
• Simple graphical element: for most commonly performed tasks visualizes and tracks completed and outstanding items for thorough organization.
• Mouse-over and one-click drill-down features: provide instant access to related charts, schedules, and details required to complete follow-up tasks.
• Tracking and prioritizing capabilities: queue up next most important items in the workflow.
• Mini schedule snapshot: with one-click drilldowns to the client chart.
• Messages and tasks are prominently displayed: in a familiar “in-box” layout.

This type of capability dramatically improves provider effectiveness and quality of care delivered during a busy day in the clinic, but is only possible with a system that can integrate and consolidate in real-time all the necessary data and information.

Time to get out of Patchwork, Piecemeal Automation

With systems now available that are specifically tailored to mental health practice, and that are comprehensive and integrated across all practice areas, you have an ideal opportunity to move quickly to upgrade your capability for improved client care, efficiency, and profitability.

Utilize this blueprint as a guide in helping you select the system that will move you to the next level.