Use your www.SitesForPsychologists.com website to improve the efficiency of your practice
Online forms
Save your Consent and Fee agreement forms as PDF files and place them on your site. When patients schedule an initial visit, have them go to your Forms Page and download and print the relevant forms and bring them to the session. Patients appreciate not having to read detailed information in your waiting room, and they are more likely to actually read the content of your forms in the comfort of their homes.
Questionnaires
You can also have them download and complete any (non-copyrighted) questionnaires you like to use.
Accept credit cards online
It is essential to accept credit cards on your website. If you don’t have a credit card terminal at your office, you should surely accept credit card payment via your website. PayPal offers a very competitive business merchant account service that you can link from your website. You can avoid the extra expense of a credit card terminal, the annual fee for security verification, and the high and unpredictable merchant charges by using an online service like PayPal. Using PayPal or other online merchant services, allows you to securely accept credit card payments. This requires establishing a merchant account with PayPal and creating payment buttons (like those on our payment page) that can be placed on your site. This option can replace your office terminal, as you are able to take patient credit card information and enter it yourself, with their consent, or the patient can make payment from the comfort of their home. PayPal will show you how to create payment buttons, and we can help you put them on your site.
Stop losing money to bad debts
Start collecting a credit card number, with expiration date and security code along with your patient’s name and address. Add language to your consent contract that allows you to bill the patient’s card if they don’t pay their owed amount at the time of service.
Describe your services and prices
Patients often don’t know how therapy works or what it costs. And, if you offer other services (forensic services, mediation, etc.) there is even less common knowledge about the nature of those services.
You can often avoid spending a lot of time explaining your services on the phone by having good descriptions on your website.
If you include your pricing, information about acceptance of insurance, and accepted forms of payment, you can attract patients by answering their questions in advance.
Put your HIPAA privacy policy on your site, to avoid having to provide it in hard copy for every new patient.
This is required if you are a HIPAA covered entity and have a website.
Maps and Directions
Put Google Maps directions to your office and pictures of your building on your site. Prospective patients can print the directions to find you for their initial appointment.
Systematically Increase Self-pay Patients
High deductible HSA insurance plans are becoming more common. Since most people never meet their $6000+ annual deductible, healthcare services are paid out of their Health Savings Account (HSA) rather than covered by insurance. With a website as a natural advertising tool, you can use the increase in business referrals to create a greater mix of self-pay patients. Resign from your worst third party payer (one that pays least or is a greater hassle) and replace those hours with self-pay patients. If you add a page about the benefits of not using health insurance and promote accepting HSA payment, you can gradually increase this revenue source.