Mental health professionals have more on their plate now than ever. The demand for services across the nation is at an all-time high since the pandemic has increased stress, anxiety, and waiting lists. Clinicians are booked months in advance, and some are even at the point of turning clients away.

While you want to focus on mitigating these issues as a mental health professional, your time and energy are strained between managing, accounting, scheduling, planning, and note-taking. You want to get back to bringing value to your clients, yet your practice can’t function without all that backend work. Integrating better software for counseling practices can seem like a good option, but figuring out what you need is overwhelming.

In this article, we’ll explain the fundamental functions your counseling software needs so you can streamline your operations and focus on what you do best: helping your clients achieve their desired results.

Must Have Softwares for Counseling Practices

HIPAA Compliance

Client privacy is essential, so counseling software that is HIPAA compliant is a non-negotiable part of any excellent software for counseling practice. To ensure your counseling software keeps your client’s medical data safe, look for security features and safeguards such as: 

• User identification verification
• Authorization monitoring
• Communication encryption
• Automatic log-off
• Security breach protection 

Billing

From sending invoices to collecting payments, often software for counseling practices can help you submit claims to payers in a timely and appropriate manner. This includes accepting credit card payments directly from clients – day or night – and making charges on an automatic, recurring basis. Often systems can provide a robust reporting system providing you with in-depth financial analysis, breaking down your revenue to determine which kinds of clients and services show the most significant opportunity for economic growth for your practice. 

Appointment Setting

Gone are the days of waiting on hold listening to repetitive elevator music to make an appointment. Choosing software that allows your clients to schedule and request appointments on their own saves precious time. Perhaps even more importantly, you can minimize no-shows or cancellations with a program that automates reminder texts and emails.

Video Calling

With the Covid-19 pandemic, telehealth visits became vital. While meeting with clients virtually isn’t the best option for everyone, many practitioners and patients have found the convenience of telehealth helpful. They are choosing to continue using these features even as things get back to normal. Additionally, those who may have found it difficult or impossible to come to a physical office have the option to get the help they need from anywhere. The ability to reach this group of people has opened a broader clientele base for all kinds of mental health professionals. 

Helpful and Enhancing Softwares for Counseling Practices

Treatment Planning and Note Taking

Simplify your workflow by storing and managing your clients’ information electronically. Keep and attach initial assessments, treatment plans, and progress notes to patient accounts so you can easily monitor your patient’s progress. Not only does this eliminate paper-related problems like damage or misplacement, but it also allows you to quickly access a client’s history, saving you time during planning and appointments. 

Client Messaging

Sometimes clients need additional support outside of scheduled sessions. Messaging allows them to reach out without giving them 24/7 access to you. Help protect yourself from burnout while still giving clients the between-session help they need through a client messaging software system. 

Counseling Software One-Stop-Shop

Instead of using multiple counseling software platforms to perform different tasks, you could choose a program that allows you to manage various needs from a single interface. One easy to use on the go platform that can hold information from other softwares can make it much easier on both the client and the clinician. 

Do More With Noble

There are thousands of softwares for counseling practices and finding what fits best with your process is imperative. Noble has developed an easy to use application to build out and customize your practice software as necessary. 

With Noble, you can: 

• Generate automated passive income
• Directly message clients – individually or in a group
• Schedule and manage client calls
• Add video call links
• Send automated reminders
• Assign specific RoadMaps for between-session support
• Monitor progress and identify areas of need
• Receive detailed information to tailor your next session
• Gain community support and professional development
• Grow your reach

Here at Noble we are constantly building out and developing our application to better support patient journeys. This means developing new RoadMaps to tackle depression, PTSD, addiction recovery, and so much more. Noble wants mental health professionals to be empowered and supported with the right software for the right price. Let’s make an impact together. 

Enhance your client connection and let Noble do the heavy lifting. Join for free and streamline your practice today.