Articles for physicians and other providers practicing mental and behavioral health, including psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists, counselors, social workers, and behavior analysts. Topics cover the compliance, privacy, corporate, and operational issues specific to behavioral health practices, with attention to the confidentiality and documentation questions these providers face.
Insurance audits can expose behavioral health providers to significant recoupment demands and compliance risks. This article explains why mental health practices face heightened audit scrutiny, the types of audits providers encounter, and the steps to take before and after receiving an audit notice.
A deficient supervision contract can lead to licensing board complaints, invalidated hours, and liability exposure. Learn what should be included, how requirements differ by license type, and why generic templates often fall short.
Many Illinois mental health providers assemble intake forms from multiple templates, other practices, and online sources. This approach can create gaps in privacy acknowledgments, consent structures, and practice policies. A unified intake packet helps ensure consistency across all patient-facing documents.
Many therapists overlook the importance of written fee policies. A clear cancellation, payment, and missed-appointment policy helps establish expectations, reduce disputes, and support consistent practice operations.
When a therapy client moves out of Illinois, many providers assume they can simply continue treatment through telehealth, but the answer often depends on where the client is located, the provider’s licensure status, and the laws of the client’s new state.
Owners and operators of youth intensive outpatient (IOP) and partial hospitalization programs (PHP) face legal questions long after opening their doors. This article explores the recurring compliance and operational issues that commonly arise as programs hire staff, serve patients, navigate regulations, and expand.
Many therapists assume they must either accept insurance or operate entirely as a cash-pay practice, but each model offers advantages and tradeoffs that should be evaluated before launching or growing a practice.
A no-secrets policy sets expectations about what a couples therapist may share between partners. This post explains what the policy must include to be enforceable, where mandatory reporting and safety duties override it, and how to structure intake paperwork to hold up clinically and legally.
Starting a mental health private practice in Illinois takes more than clinical expertise. This legal checklist walks Illinois therapists through the seven steps before seeing the first client, from PLLC formation to HIPAA, Good Faith Estimates, and employment agreements.
Walk-and-talk, surf, and equine therapy require informed consent documents that go beyond standard EMR templates. Here is what your outdoor therapy consent forms should cover.
