My Favorite Practice Management Software for Therapists
As a practice owner, it’s rewarding to see the results from all the hard work you put in throughout the year.
It can get challenging, however, to think about scheduling, accounting and financial tools, planning, to-do lists, client communication, marketing, website and social media, project management, AI, and everything in between.
If you’re anything like me, you tend to take a look at each area of your practice to see which systems are working, which are not, and which need to be upgraded.
That’s why I want to share my favorite management software with you. They have completely changed the way I run my practice.
I think these “bag of tools” could help you too!
Electronic Health Record (EHR)
EHRs are so important. It’s the way we track notes, our patient’s progress notes, treatment plans, and the like. Gone are the days where we’re forced to do paper charting, losing track of countless binders and folders of our patients' information from years back. I’m honestly not as tech savvy as I would like to be, but switching from paper to Therapy Notes has been a game changer. Some of my favorite things about it is that It’s great for large group practices, has some of the best rates for credit cards and, integrated to-do lists, scheduling options, easy to load any necessary documents, and it saves cards on file, making it easy for clients to pay when it’s time! If you visit my site under practice resources, you can find a discount for 2 months free if you would like to try it out!
Practice Management & Booking Software
Hands down, one of my favorite tools ever for my practice has been Google Workspace. Although it’s a little bit of work to get it started, it’s a great feature to connect your domain to your Gmail, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Meet, Google Calendar, and all the other fancy tools Google offers. This makes it so much easier for you and your team to collaborate on projects simultaneously and have access to the same files necessary for each project. Having an email name that aligns directly with my website makes things so much smoother and, quite frankly, more professional. One of my favorite ways to use this platform is to sync calendars with my whole team, work together on forms submitted by clients, and have immediate access to folders and important documents for my business that I would otherwise have to ask for. I would say that Google Workspace is the one platform I would keep if I had to choose just one tool for my practice. If you’re interested in a course on Google Workspace, click here!
Scheduling
Through Squarespace, my website platform, I used something called Acuity Scheduling. All you have to do is send someone a link, and it integrates your availability so that clients and potential clients can choose what time works best for them without the hassle of going back and forth in an email for days on end! The best part, is that once someone schedules with me, it immediately creates a Zoom link and sends it to them. This makes everything pretty much hands free up until it’s time to talk with the client. Who doesn’t want simple tasks like that taken off their plate?
Management
Practice Vital is a software that integrates with specific EHRs like Therapy Notes and pulls a bunch of data to track the number of sessions, outstanding notes, revenue, and pulls turn ratio. Basically, it lets me know which clients are making it past four sessions. That is so helpful and valuable to me because it helps me to keep an eye on how well my therapists are doing with their clients, such as how long they’re keeping clients. In general, it helps me to keep track of retention rates so I can know what’s working and what’s not. Although this works for small practices, this is really good for group practices for that very reason. If you didn’t know, not tracking retention is one of the biggest ways people lose money in their practice! Don’t let that be you!
Accounting and Finance
Funny story – when I first started my practice, I had a checkbook ledger to track all of my account balances. Picture this: me at tax time with a headache full of receipts sprawled across my table! I was in a headspace of not spending money on anything that I didn’t absolutely need. Welp. Quickbooks was definitely one of those things I needed. It tracks my expenses, income, tracks tax details, and my accountant can go right in and handle things for me. Trust me. You’re going to want to spend your money on this one! Save yourself the pain and dozens of splinters that come with doing things the old school way 🙂
Payroll
Gusto is the way to go. Haha that rhymes! This is a great way to manage the large amount of employees that I have and it even manages health insurance. Whether you want to choose a broker to help advocate for your team on the best health option or maybe you’re like me and your brother is a broker, Gusto gives you that option, which I love! Another cool feature is retirement funds, background checks, and employee evaluations. If you want to give it a try, you can select Gusto under practice resources on my site to get a $100 Visa when you run your first payroll.
Marketing
I could talk about so many things for this one, but there's one that stands out above the rest. Google My Business. It’s that thing that pops up on the side of your search results that shows the location, photos, address, website links, among other things. Please make sure your business has this! You don’t want to be the therapy office that a potential client heard about, but is now skeptical because there’s no info about you on Google. That’s where almost everyone goes to search so make sure you look good!
These are just suggestions and my own opinions. Anytime you use a system, be sure to do your research. Anytime you use a third-party system, you want to make sure you get what’s called a Business Associate Agreement (BAA), which is just an agreement that the company sends to you that ensures they're going to keep your information confidential. Save these agreements in a safe place whenever you receive them!
You can find my favorite resources on our site under practice resources! Although I don’t use all of them on that page, they’re there because I really believe in what they do! Check it out for yourself!
Grow your practice today!
Navigating tough conversations with your team can be overwhelming, especially if you are unsure of what is the best route to take. This is why I offer a range of personalized business coaching services to help you make a plan, execute it and track the results. I offer 3-month and 6-month business consulting packages, Enneagram Training, and a Wise Practice Community Membership. Implement tracking methods for your practice today and reach out to Wise Practice Consulting if you need help getting started! Get in touch today to learn more.
Looking for Likeminded Individuals?
The Wise Practice Summit is a conference for faith-based practice owners looking to connect with one another and grow their business. This October we are meeting in beautiful Greenville, SC. Every year the summit is pack with amazing speakers, sponsors, and a tight knit community you too could belong to—learn more.
