italk’s Scheduling Protocol

Clinician Responsibilities

Evaluations:

Clinicians must have an opening in their schedule to receive evaluations. This must be put into the SimplePractice Availability schedule.

Clinician closely works with the Reception Team to schedule:

  • initial evaluation

  • debrief session

  • sessions

Events:

Clinician schedules events on SimplePractice for:

  • Meetings & Cleanings

  • Clinical writing time

  • Progress Check Week Meetings when paired with the leading clinician

  • Other events leading to unavailability

Sessions:

Clinicians make sure that the italk Schedule Sheet is reflective of their consistent schedule and monitors for:

  • daily/weekly session calendar on SimplePractice

  • sessions are scheduled at the appropriate times

If there is a cancellation text/call/email prior to 8AM or a notice of personal/medical emergency:

  • Reception will cancel the session and notify through Google Chat space. Please react or respond to the message to ensure good communication.

  • In the case that the client directly emailed the clinician, please CC the email to reception and notify them of the cancellation and reason ASAP.

  • If there is a language barrier between the client and the Reception Team, can I step in and resolve scheduling conflict on my own?

    How about for debriefs?

  • A week prior to Progress Conference Week (every 4 months - January, April, August, December), an email is sent to the parents.

    It is the clinician's responsibility to follow up with the scheduling and confirm the appropriate times and the appropriate location (in person or Zoom) prior to the session date.

    If the clients online do not show up after 5 minutes, the clinician must let the Reception Team know to prevent mistakes in billing.

  • It is the clinician's responsibility to provide availability for make-up sessions.

    Reception will contact the clients/caregivers to schedule a time that works.

  • Should the clinician need to reschedule, it needs to be done at least 24 hours prior, following the appropriate protocols.

    Please note that sessions cannot be moved up/down due to last minute cancellations - all reschedules need to happen at least 24 hours prior.

  • When you receive a notification that a client’s repeated sessions are running out, press “Schedule more sessions” and then press “done”

Reception Responsibilities:

Evaluations:

Once there is an opening for an evaluation in the appropriate language, Reception Team:

  • schedules the evaluation on SimplePractice and notifies the clinician through Google Chat space a week prior to the evaluation date

  • sends the New Client Checklist through Google Chat space

  • schedules the debrief session immediately after the evaluation has been completed at the front desk for within a week of the evaluation date

  • schedules therapy sessions after clinician’s recommendations and parent agreement to commit to the frequency

  • If the clinician is a Graduate Student clinician, all new client evaluations must be approved by the supervisor prior to scheduling!

Sessions:

Reception Team monitors the SimplePractice schedule in conjunction with the italk Schedule Sheet to make sure:

  • sessions aren’t missing on SimplePractice

  • sessions are scheduled at the appropriate times

If there is a cancellation text/call/email prior to 8AM or a notice of personal/medical emergency:

  • notifies the clinician in the Google Chat space ASAP and cancels the session on SimplePractice

If there is a client whose spot will be saved due to an acceptable reason (i.e. short vacation, insurance changes), press “cancel this and future sessions” and leave the client on the clinician’s schedule. If not applicable, press “delete this and all future sessions” to avoid confusion for the clinicians.

Events:

Reception Team schedules events on SimplePractice for:

  • Group session fillers

  • Supervision times for evaluation, debrief & sessions

  • Refer to the Late Cancellation/No Show Policy.

    Reception calls within 5 minutes of a delay in sessions to confirm if the clients are on their way. If it is a no show or a late cancellation that is not excusable, follow the protocol.

  • Reception is notified by the clinicians of changes in schedule for conferences in the Google Chat space.

    If a client does not join the zoom or does not arrive on time, Reception will be asked to contact the client/caregivers.

    Billing is completed after SOAP notes are filled in to be accurate during this week only

  • Clinicians have designated time slots for group and will notify Reception Team after a team conference regarding discontinuation of group or addition of a child to a group.

    Reception Team:

    • schedules on SimplePractice

    • schedules events as time fillers

  • It is the Reception Team's responsibility to contact the clients/caregivers regarding the make-up sessions going off of the clinician's availability.

  • If the client/clinician wishes to reschedule a session more than 24 hours prior, it is honored.

    If the client/clinician wishes to reschedule a session within 24 hours of the session date, it is not honored unless there is a personal/medical emergency requiring a reschedule of within the same day.