“I see the pain and the difficulty and the hurt that so many of us carry in our lives and felt like being a therapist was the best way that I could support people through those journeys.”
- Meagan Faraone, Clinical Social Worker, Seeds of Change LLC
Clinicians want to spend their working hours providing mental health care to their clients. Not having to constantly deal with administrative work. But unfortunately, time-consuming paperwork has proved to be an obstacle for many mental health care professionals.
Alma serves to minimize paperwork for clinicians by offering members access to a suite of digital tools that helps manage paperwork within areas like:
- Insurance & billing
- Client intake
- Clinical documentation
- Scheduling
For more information on how much time and money Alma can save clinicians, use our cost savings calculator for insight into what you can save. We’ve also highlighted how Alma can support clinicians in different areas of their business. Continue reading to learn more.
Insurance & billing
“Alma has definitely saved me hours and hours of time dealing with hassles. I haven’t had to talk to an insurance company in a very long time and it’s freed me up to focus on my clinical work.”
- Marian Cooper, Psychotherapy, Own the Moment Therapy
Accepting insurance is effective in making your practice accessible to a broader group of people. For reference, 90% of clients who visit Alma are searching for in-network care. By getting credentialed with insurance, clinicians can get more client referrals while increasing financial accessibility to their practice.
But we understand the paperwork accompanying insurance can serve as a major obstacle. Alma helps clinicians overcome these issues by handling all insurance paperwork, from eligibility checks to claims submissions. We also guarantee payment within two weeks of each appointment. And when it comes to credentialing, Alma can get providers credentialed in less than 45 days.
“Thankfully, Alma made it so seamless and quick to get credentialed. On top of that, they also make it easy for people to use their benefits and see what they’ll pay for therapy, which is great not only for me but also my clients.”
- Matthew Ryan, LCSW
Client intake
"I've worked for clinics before where the intakes are 10 pages long. Alma made it so easy that it's just a questionnaire, and that's what I call it to the client. I don't say it's for depression or anxiety, since it's self-explanatory."
- Caroline Cornman, LMHC
The client intake process lays the foundation for the provider-client relationship and equips clinicians with the background information necessary to serve their clients effectively.
However, some providers end up using too many EHR tools within their client intake process, which can result in extra practice costs, unnecessary administrative burdens, and a disjointed experience that can result in a negative experience for clients.
Alma cuts down on the administrative burden of the client intake process by allowing providers to email assessments directly to new clients through their portal. Alma also makes it easier for clinicians to understand their client's progress by surfacing opportunities to send reassessments if clients score a ten or above on the PHQ-9 or GAD-7, indicating heightened symptoms.
For reference, Alma currently offers two digital assessments for providers - the and the GAD-7.
More information on Alma’s assessments and their functionality can be found in this article: Assessment Tools in Alma: Supporting Therapists and Client Relationships
Scheduling
A clinician’s schedule revolves around appointments and consultations that help providers strengthen relationships with their clients and build their private practices. But constantly staying on top of your appointments and scheduling can be tiresome and may lead to errors. Alma takes some of these concerns off your hands by offering these features to build more efficient scheduling:
- Automated recurring appointments
- Session reminders for both you and your clients
- Calendar syncing tools to give you a holistic
- view of your time
- Optional consultation self-scheduling tools for prospective clients
- Free Zoom Business account (valued at $199/year)
Clinical documentation
Documentation is a part of every private practice. Examples of common documentation amongst clinicians include treatment plans, progress notes, and chart notes. Through Alma, providers can make their private practices more efficient by managing all necessary documentation in the same place - thus eliminating the need for any costly third-party platforms.
Keeping your clients’ data safe is also made easier with Alma’s ability to store records within a HIPAA-compliant member portal. You can use the Alma portal to take and manage your clients’ progress notes in the same place you handle insurance and billing. Treatment plan templates (including Wiley Treatment Planners) are also readily available to all members.
For more information on ‘Wiley Treatment Planners’ and their benefits, read our article: What is a ‘Wiley Treatment Planner’ and Should Therapists Use Them?
Spend less time on paperwork and more time helping your clients
Alma members have access to a suite of digital tools that lighten the administrative burden of running a private practice. To calculate the time and money you can save by switching to Alma, use our provider savings calculator linked here.
Curious about the other benefits of joining Alma? Click the link below to learn more.