8 Online Platforms for Private Practice

I truly believe that getting as much of your practice online will benefit you in so many ways. In this blog I will walk you through my top 8 online platforms for private practice. I talk about getting therapists online on my website and FB page but I want to confirm what I actually mean. Whether you work face to face with clients, entirely online or a mixture of both you can still automate and streamline your administration by using online systems.

I have tried and tested a lot of systems. I want to save you the headache, time, and money of doing that yourself. Here I provide you with the 8 online platforms for private practice that I recommend.

1. Google Workspace

Google Workspace is a collection of cloud computing, productivity, and collaboration tools. You can link it with your domain so that you can have your own email through the Gmail server. For a relatively low price you get access to all the email functions, calendar, 30 GB cloud storage per user (on the business starter plan) and tons of apps to run the administration of your practice. They all sync with your phone for easy access on the go. It’s GDPR & HIPAA compliant so it’s a great place to store all your signed paperwork and other client related letters and files.

I truly believe that if you invest in one online system this should be it. With the exception of receiving payments, you could run the majority of your practice with this one platform. You can read my in-depth report about how Google Workspace can benefit your private practice HERE.

2. Power Diary

Power Diary is the number 1 Electronic Health Record (EHR) or Online Booking tool I recommend. You can read my blog about the 12 Ways Power Diary Can Improve your Private Practice. This goes in depth into each feature that I know you will love. My favourites are the client files, easy appointment booking, confirmation and reminder emails, session notes, form creations and invoicing.

You can house everything to do with your clients on this platform. Personal details, contacts (emergency / GP etc), billing information including medical insurance, session notes, completed forms and resources. You can also email clients directly from Power Diary and a copy of the correspondence is saved in their client file. You can create templates for regular emails and resources you send out so that you’re not typing the same email again and again.

The reason I believe it is superior to others I’ve tried is threefold. Their customer service, help sections and their constant platform improvement. They have a dedicated Facebook group for users. Here people to discuss how to best run their practices and Power Diary monitor this for suggestions. You can check out Power Diary for yourself. If you sign up with that link you will get 500 FREE SMS credits added to your account.

3. Stripe

The reason I have chosen Stripe is that it syncs with Power Diary so your invoicing process is seamless. Although there is a cost attached to it (2.9% + 20p* per transaction). The admin time reduced by having to check your bank account and match up invoices and update the system does weigh itself out I believe.

There are additional benefits as well. You can customise your payment options so you receive the money when you want it. Professionally create invoices directly inside the platform seamlessly for quick and easy payments. Accept payments from other countries. Clients will also get an automatic receipt once the payment has been made.

*As of Jan 2021

4. Zoom

I’m sure there is no adult alive who hasn’t heard of Zoom after 2020. After testing a couple of the online video systems out there I do believe Zoom wins. Power Diary does have its own telehealth system which is good for 2 participants but I don’t think it is as reliable as Zoom. Even without an online booking system you could easily create a zoom appointment directly from your google calendar and send your client an invite without even opening Gmail.

Zoom is free to use with unlimited online time for 2 participants. If you regularly work with couples, families, or host workshops it works out to £10 per month. You can add your personal meeting room link to your confirmation and reminder templates. This way you don’t need to constantly set up individual meetings.

Putting the client at the heart of your business means that Every PROCEDURE, PROCESS AND SYSTEM keeps the customer in mind

SHEP HYKEN

5. Signable

If you work online and don’t ever see your clients face to face you’ll need a way for them to complete and sign your paperwork securely. This is definitely one of the areas where I have tried lots of different systems. My recommendation for e-signatures is Signable. The plan I recommend for private practice owners is the Pay-As-You-Go option. It has tons of features that other e-signature platforms don’t give at free or basic levels. You get them all and only pay for the envelopes you send.

You can upload your documents and create templates so that they can be used over and over again. This will save you tons of admin time. If you have an assistant you can add them as a user on your account for NO EXTRA CHARGE. You are charged £1 for each envelope you send. An envelope can have multiple documents or templates within it for no additional charge. Need to send a contract but with a reduced fee agreement? No problem you just select the documents you want and they are all sent together in one email. Add a personalised message to your clients. Add an expiry date and automatic reminders to encourage your clients to complete quickly.

I am not an affiliate for Signable but you can check out their offering here https://www.signable.co.uk/. When you sign up they have a free 14-day trial and they let you send up to 40 envelopes free within this trial. If you are updating your paperwork take advantage and send all your clients the paperwork for free.

6. LastPass

LastPass is a free and simple platform to securely save all your passwords and share them safely with anyone who needs them. Once you add the extension to your browser you’ll never need to fill in a login form again. You log in once and it’ll auto-populate the details for you.

You can read more about how LastPass works HERE.

7. iLovePDF

I LOVE iLovePDF! I posted a video giving you an overview of some of the features of this platform which you can watch HERE. If you need to do anything with PDFs this is the system for you. Password protect PDFs, merge and split PDFs, edit PDFs and so much more. Oh, and did I mention it was completely FREE. You can check out iLovePDF HERE and save it to your bookmarks as I promise you’ll use it a ton.

8. Asana

If you want to easily manage your schedule Asana is the project management software for you. It neatly organises your to-dos and keeps you on track with handy features like reminders and due dates. Everything is in one place so you’re not going from app to app trying to work out what’s next on your agenda. You can also have multiple boards for different areas of your life or business.

I personally love the subtask feature; calendar overview and the My Task section which lists out your tasks in due date order. The phone app version is really easy to use. If you work with a VA it’s really easy to assign them tasks. You’re able to see how they’re getting on with those tasks and projects without the need for email or phone conversations. And bonus, it’s FREE.

You may not feel you need all these online systems within your Private Practice. These are the 8 Online Platforms for Private Practice that I recommend. They are all either free or have a relatively low cost compared to the features and assistance they will provide you.

If you would like help with your current admin processes I am offering an Admin Audit which consists of; a 60-minute Zoom call to discuss your current pain points and I will offer suggestions to you. I will also send you a detailed report of my recommendations including templates I have personally created. We can also help you with getting your private practice online. We can set up some of the systems I have mentioned above including Google Workspace and Power Diary. Please get in touch with me at kim@virtuallyirreplaceable.co.uk if you would like to talk about either of these offerings.