We offer a 20-minute, free informational meeting where we help you understand our services. Schedule here.
Yes! We will provide all the services to your practice, with one stipulation to note. We only make clinician-led personalized phone notifications and carefully selected referrals for current psychotherapy patients. For current medication management patients, and for all prior patients billed for either service code, we provide written notification and general referral resources. All other services remain the same.
We want it to be easy for you to provide us with necessary information when we need it, but not before. The password manager app, RoboForm, that we provide works on all your devices (e.g., laptop, phone, tablet) to allow you to keep your practice-related logins and passwords secured, updated and synchronized. As such, you will be able to seamlessly log in to your EHR, website, professional social media accounts, advertising accounts, malpractice policy, etc., from any device you use. And your updated passwords will be recorded and synchronized whenever you change them. These passwords are fully encrypted and secured, and thus not accessible by anyone else, not even TheraClosure. Instead, we will be listed as the “emergency contact” in your password manager. If, and only if, your personal executor informs us that we must assume Practice Executor duties, we will submit your emergency contact protocol with the password manager, and that initiates their attempt to contact you to determine if you are allowing this access. If you do not reply within the time frame you set, the password manager allows TheraClosure access to your passwords. We then are able to administer your wishes by logging into your EHR to gather your schedule and client contact information.
We account for that too! In the information you provide TheraClosure and are able to update any time, you can list a qualified colleague that you would like to make those initial calls, or to be available later to patients who wish to connect. When we assume Practice Executor duties, we will contact them and if they are available, we will instruct them what to do. TheraClosure will do this if they are not able, and in both cases, we will take over from there to complete the rest of the Practice Executor duties.
You may do that. We believe that clients need to be informed immediately and personally, so we will still make those initial notification calls to current clients. We will follow up with your letter to them, and will send your letter directly to former patients as well.
That is fine! We offer billing and practice closure services to make things as easy as possible for you and your family. If you or your personal executor would prefer that your estate handles those details, we would be happy to offer guidance as needed. We would not be able to assume responsibility for maintaining client confidentiality, however. We will protect medical records according to HIPAA, but if your personal executor needs to access client records to locate billing information, your practice could face exposure to a breach of confidentiality.
TheraClosure can help you until you decide to retire. At that time, you can cancel your coverage with us. But be sure to let us know you are retiring, because TheraClosure will soon be launching retirement services. For a modest fee, we will help with notification, record retention, and referral of clients to new providers, as needed.
We know there are other priorities when you are just starting out and cannot imagine anything getting in the way. But we know from experience that life is unpredictable. You have invested a lot in training and starting your career. We know you care deeply about your clients and about your integrity in complying with ethics codes. Let TheraClosure help you set up your practice with forethought to protect your patients and your family.
Disability insurance typically covers a portion of your salary if you were to become unable to work for a period of time. Your clients’ needs and your practice demands are not covered.
As owner, who will take care of your patients if something happens to you? TheraClosure can cover you, so that your employees do not need to do this at the time they may be facing not only the loss of you, but perhaps the stability of their employment situation. We recommend you name a temporary clinical director if needed, so that your Personal Executor has time to determine how to handle your business moving forward.
As an employee of a group practice, check with the practice owner to determine if they or another employee is designated to cover your patients, and be sure to articulate your wishes.
You are still responsible for the confidentiality of testing records and materials. And what if you are mid-evaluation with a client, or if you have been paid but not yet delivered the report? We work with you in our consultation meeting to make sure you have a plan for your clients’ needs to be resolved, and for your ethical obligations to be covered.
We will work with you to create a plan that allows us to remotely access your information if ever needed. Most importantly, you would need to appoint someone who would be able to immediately access your scheduling information and patient contacts and provide them to TheraClosure so that we could make the urgent notifications for upcoming appointments. This person could be your personal representative, or a colleague, or a relative who has access to your keys, office, datebook, filecabinet, computer, or any other requirement for obtaining these materials. They could take photos of your calendar and patient lists and send that to us immediately so that we could move into executing your Professional Will by beginning with your current caseload.
Often the person designated is a spouse, relative, or close friend. TheraClosure will help you consider potential personal representatives, and help you choose the best option for you.
Your Personal Executor or a named alternate must contact TheraClosure to inform us of your death or of the incident of incapacitation in order to trigger our assumption of the Practice Executor duties. If you have chosen not to use the password manager to keep track of account access, your Personal Executor will need to provide us with a key or password. Without EHR access, we are unable to serve your practice.
TheraClosure covers incidents of incapacitation, incompetence, or death of the therapist. “Incident” is defined by a sudden and unexpected illness, accident, or injury such that the therapist is physically or mentally unable to fulfill the professional duties of their Licensure to practice psychotherapy, psychological testing, coaching, or other mental health treatments or services they typically provide for patients or clients they bill for in their professional capacity.
Coverage does not include any physical condition in which you retain mental faculties and physical capabilities to be present for your clients (in person or virtually) or to arrange coverage with a qualified colleague for routine matters such as crisis coverage during a brief absence (ie, maternity leave, vacation, broken leg, planned surgery, and the like). You will continue to arrange for such coverage for your practice even if briefly absent as long as you are in a physical and mental state in which you would be capable of practicing psychological services, and/or arranging such coverage on your own.
TheraClosure operates anywhere in the US. As Practice Executors, we are advising and consulting, not treating or taking on your clients as our clients. Therefore we do not need to be licensed in each jurisdiction. We will locate licensed practitioners in your area to meet with your patients in person or virtually using vetted therapist referral services to identify qualified clinicians with immediate availability.
TheraClosure Professional Will Template has been reviewed and approved by attorneys who specialize in health care law. In addition to you signing, which makes the will essentially a statement of your professional wishes, TheraClosure also signs the will which turns the document into a legally binding contract between us. You can distribute this to your Personal Executor who will also sign consent to be responsible for notifying TheraClosure of an Incident. We suggest you provide this document also to your professional attorney and to your malpractice insurance so they are aware of your wishes.
No, as long as it is publicly available. Our staff is trained in using the most popular systems but will learn any EHR or PMS system that you use in order to access your practice information and assist your clients.
Once notified, the TheraClosure clinician assigned to your practice will access your passwords. Both your practice voicemail and website will be changed to state that you are not available and any client or party wishing to contact you should instead contact the TheraClosure clinician and email and phone number will be provided. We will terminate digital links to contact forms or emails which are directed to you. If you have agreed, we will also set an auto-reply with this information to your professional email address.
Some information in the will, like your address, can be updated by you in your TheraClosure portal. Other preferences can be updated and you will be sent an amendment to the will for your signature. If you face a difficult or complex decision in regards to changing your will, we provide the option to book an extra consultation for a fee of $200.
We understand it is hard to do things in a new way. In the era of paper records and only in-office appointments, our nearby colleagues would be the only ones able to take on the responsibilities of Practice Executor. But after the pandemic, with so many of us using EHRs and practicing virtually in addition to in-person, there are more ways to do this.
We believe that a clinician with expertise in practice closure and referrals for abrupt terminations is best able to take care of your clients. As this is our sole responsibility, you can count on us to be available with the resources needed to jump into action for your practice. Understandably you have confidence in a trusted colleague, but what happens if they are traveling? Or dealing with their own personal or practice crisis? How much extra time do they have in their everyday life? Can you imagine how they will suddenly take on another 40 hour job caring for your 20 patients and practice closure, for example? And how will they find therapists with openings to take on your clients? All while they are mourning the tragedy which may have occurred?
We have served as Practice Executors, and have put every effort into developing ways to get to know you and your practice. We want you to be reassured that a caring clinician informed about you and your wishes will be contacting your clients and discussing how important you and your work has been to them, and what happens next.
We triage current clients immediately and find covering therapists for them, indicating that we cannot predict your return to practice but promise to keep them informed of your status. We communicate with your Personal Executor about your prognosis and follow their direction on the timing of notifying past patients and closing your practice. If you are competent and able to communicate effectively, your instructions at that time will take precedence.
We have selected highly reputable national therapy referral services and we work with them to locate appropriate therapists with immediate availability. We do our best to connect your patients to therapists who match requirements for specialization, insurance, gender, location, and style.
TheraClosure, as your appointed Practice Executor, acts as your agent and as such is able to contact your patients on your behalf. However, we urge covered therapists to include a statement in your informed consent form stating that TheraClosure will cover your practice in the event of sudden incapacitation or death.
Our system is HIPAA-compliant. We do not ask you for any identifying patient information, and we do not store any such information in our system. In the event of a triggering event, we use your passwords (which are secured by a third party app) to gain access to EHR system and locate your clients’ contact information which is securely stored there. Only then do we import current client contact information in order to notify them and document the referrals we give them. Lastly, we import your past medical records from your EHR system and store them in an electronic HIPAA-compliant “vault” where we can access records as requested by clients. At that time, we would close down your EHR account.
Yes! Recommendations from fellow therapists is a terrific way to spread the word about TheraClosure. For your assistance, we will issue you a $100 credit for each referred colleague that initiates coverage with us. To make a referral, simply visit the “Make a referral” section of your portal. You’ll be able to obtain your referral link (for sending yourself) or directly send referrals..
We can make an access plan with you, as long as you are willing to choose one of these three types of plans.
*Costs are approximately $250 per bankers box (which fit about 1800 pages)
**You can store the file yourself, or transfer responsibility to TheraClosure for a cost of $50/year, plus $100 per requested file transfer.
We will work with you to create an access plan. You would need to identify someone who could access the office containing your computer, and could log in to the computer, i.e., would know the password to the computer. (This person could be your personal representative, or a colleague, or a relative.) In the event of an incident we would work with this person to gain access to the files using the instructions you have given us ahead of time.