In SimplePractice, you can add unlimited clients to store in your client list. You can create a client from any page in your account, or you can create a client while scheduling their first appointment. 

In this guide, we'll cover:

• Adding a client
• Sending an intake
• The Client Overview page
• Navigating your Clients and contacts list
• Merging duplicate contact profiles
• Removing a duplicate client
• Adding a client nickname
• Making a client inactive
• Deleting a client
• FAQs

Adding a client

There are two ways you can add a new client in your SimplePractice account. First, you can:

• Click + Create > + Create client

Alternatively, you can add a new client while scheduling an appointment. To do this:

• Navigate to your Calendar
• Click anywhere on the calendar
• Select + New Client

With either option, you'll be taken to the Calendar flyout where you can select the client type as an adult, minor, or couple.

Adult client

When you select Adult as the client type, use the fields to enter the client's information. If their Client Portal needs to be enabled, list an email address that the client has access to:

If the client would like to receive appointment reminders, enter an email address or phone number and check the box next to the corresponding reminder:

Click Continue to save your new client.

Minor client

If you select Minor as the client type, enter the minor client's information first. If the minor has a guardian who’ll be managing their appointments or is responsible for billing, you can add them as a Contact from the Contact tab.

To enable appointment reminders for the minor, enter an email address or phone number and select the corresponding reminder. To enable appointment reminders for the contact, click the Contact tab, then enter their information and select the corresponding reminder:

Click Continue to save your new minor client.

Note: To learn how to add an existing client as a contact, see Adding a new minor client.

Tip: To learn more about managing minor client profiles, see Enhanced Client Management for Minors.

Couple client

When you select Couple as the client type, you'll see tabs for Client 1 and Client 2. Enter each individual's information and check the box next to Responsible for billing for one of the clients. You'll need to establish one of the members of the couple as Responsible for billing before you can proceed with creating the couple.

To enable client reminders for either client in the couple, enter an email address or phone number and select the corresponding reminder:

Once you've indicated the appropriate client type, entered all of the client information, and enabled client reminders, click Continue to save the new couple profile.

Tip: To learn more about managing Couple Profiles, see Enhanced Client Management for Couples.

Sending an intake

If you've entered an email address for your new client and their Client Portal is set up, you'll see the Send Intakes option that is divided into three steps. The steps are as follows:

Client Items

Here, you can choose which Intake Forms, Consent Documents, and Questionnaires to send to your client. You can also choose to send the Demographics Form and Credit Card Information Form, which will automatically populate information into the client's profile once completed.

Note: The Credit Card Information Form can only be sent if Online Payments is enabled in your SimplePractice account. For more information on using our integrated online payments processor, see Getting Started with Online Payments.

After you've made your selection, click Continue to Email.

Compose Email

In this section, you can customize the Welcome email that will be sent to the client, along with your practice documents.

Tip: To adjust the default text of this email for your entire practice, go to Settings > Client Portal > Emails and click Edit on the Welcome email. For more information, please see Sending intake forms and documents to clients.

Note: You can’t view the text of a customized email after it’s been sent. If you'd like to determine if an email was sent, you can view this in your Account Activity History and in the Emails Sent report. To learn more about Account Activity and Reports, see Account Activity: Tracking changes and information access in your account and Understanding your Analytics dashboard and reports.

Review & Send

Here, you can see that the client will receive Client Portal access, receive the Welcome email, and confirm which items you’re about to share.

After you've reviewed this information, click Share & Send Now.

The Client Overview page

When you click a client’s name, you’ll be brought to their Overview page where you can view, edit, and manage the client’s billing information, documents, and notes. Initially, you'll see the expanded view for the items in the right navigation panel:

From the right navigation panel, you can view, edit, and manage the following information:

• Client billing
• Insurance
• Client Info
• Contacts
• Upcoming Appointments
• Communication Settings
• Shared with Client
• Uploaded Files
• Invoices
• Billing Documents

Note: To learn more about the client Overview page, see Navigating the client Overview page.

By clicking the arrow, you can minimize or maximize the different options in this navigation panel to make sure you're only seeing the information you need at a given time:

Navigating your Clients and contacts list

Your Clients and contacts list allows you to easily access each client's information and quickly navigate to their client Overview page. You can refine your searches by using the Clients, Contacts, Clients & Contacts, Recently Viewed Clients, or Inactive Clients filters by first or last name. Additionally, you can filter your client list by Insurance Payer:

Note: Insurance payers will only populate in this view if they're currently saved in a client's Insurance Information.

You can manage each client directly from your Clients and contacts list. To the right of each client’s name, click Manage to:

Merging duplicate contact profiles

Having duplicate contact profiles for the same individual can cause confusion and issues with accessing the Client Portal. To streamline you and your client’s experience, you can merge contact profiles from the Clients and contacts list. To do this:

• Navigate to the Clients page
• In the Show X possible duplicate clients or contacts banner, switch the toggle to on:

• Select Manage next to the contact profile you’d like to merge
• Click Merge with duplicate

• Select the profiles you want to merge

• Click Preview merge
• Select Confirm merge

Removing a duplicate client

If you have duplicate client profiles, you won't be able to merge them. To handle duplicate client profiles, we recommend making one of the client’s profiles inactive and keeping the other profile active. This way, you'll retain all of the client’s information, but you'll be able to use one file for future documentation. If you’d like to make a client inactive:

• Navigate to the client Overview page
• Select Edit

• Click Active
• Select Inactive

• Click Save Client

Adding a client nickname

You can enter a client's nickname in the What name do they go by? field of the client’s profile.

The client’s first name will be displayed as either their legal first name or the name entered in the What name do they go by? field, depending on the specific location:

• When Privacy mode is On, the Calendar will display the initials from the name entered in the What name do they go by? field and their last name
• Invoices and Statements will display the name entered in the What name do they go by? field
• Superbills and claim forms will display the client's legal name, as insurance companies require that the client's name matches what they have on file with the payer
• The Default Email sent to your clients for Invoices, Statements, and Superbills will display the name you’ve set using the macro in the template

To display the name entered in the What name do they go by? field in emails:

• Navigate to Settings > Documents
• Click Edit to the right of the applicable template
• Highlight the macro {client_legally_admissible_first_name}
• Select Client First Name from the Client dropdown menu

• Click Save

Making a client inactive

SimplePractice allows you to deactivate clients that you aren’t actively seeing. The inactive status for a client is an option to denote that they have been discharged. Making a client inactive will allow you to keep the client data in your account if you choose to reactivate the client in the future. Additionally, inactive clients won’t show up in your client list, unless you filter by inactive clients.

To make a client inactive:

• Navigate to the client Overview page for the client you wish to deactivate
• Click Edit below their name
• Click the Client Status badge, and select Inactive:

• Click Save Client

If you'd like to view this client later, you can access your inactive clients list by selecting the Clients tab in the navigation bar on the left, clicking Clients, and choosing Inactive Clients:

To reactivate a client:

• Navigate to the Clients tab
• Click Clients and select Inactive Clients
• On the Inactive Client list, click the inactive client in question
• From the client’s Overview page, click Edit
• Next to Client Status, choose Active from the drop down
• Click Save Client to reactivate this client

Note: Inactive clients can still access their Client Portal unless you disable access for them under the Client Portal tab in their settings. 

Deleting a client

If you’d like to fully delete a client, you can do so from the client's file. Deleting a client removes all of their information from your account and permanently removes them from our database. Only an Account Owner, Practice Manager, or Clinician with Administrative Access is able to delete a client. To learn more, see Team member roles and access levels.

Important: Deleting a client is a permanent action and cannot be undone. Another option is to make a client inactive.

To delete a client:

• Navigate to the client's Overview page and click Edit 
• Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click Delete this Client

• Choose Continue to Delete
• Type the Client's First Name and the Client's Last Name exactly as seen at the top of the Permanently Delete client window
  
  • Note: This is case-sensitive
• Check the box next to I understand this will permanently remove all records and history for this client and that SimplePractice cannot recover deleted information
• Click Permanently Delete Client

Important: Once you click Permanently Delete Client, the client's file will be removed immediately. This action is irreversible.

FAQs

• Can I remove the Jamie Appleseed demo client?
• The clients or contacts that are marked as duplicates aren't actual duplicates. What should I do?

Can I remove the Jamie Appleseed demo client?

If you'd like to remove Jamie Appleseed and all of their demo data from your account, you can do so by following these steps:

• Navigate to Settings > Demo Data

• Choose to either Disable or Enable Jamie Appleseed based on your preference

The clients or contacts that are marked as duplicates aren't actual duplicates. What should I do?

To turn off the duplicate client notification for clients that aren't actual duplicates in your SimplePractice account:

• Navigate to the Calendar
• Click X clients or contacts in the duplicate client notification banner
  

• Next to the client or contact in question, select Manage > This is not a duplicate