Once you've determined that a group account is the right decision for your practice, there are several variables you'll want to take into consideration:

• How do I decide who should be the Account Owner in my practice?
• What access levels will the clinicians in my group practice need?
• How am I planning on paying other clinicians and calculating payroll?
• Can we share clients?

Note: The Plus plan is the only plan that supports group practices, and it includes access to all the robust features we offer. Clinician roles are an additional $59/month per clinician. Billers, Schedulers, and Supervisors are free, while Practice Managers are $39/month per person. See Adding and managing team members to learn more.

Tip: When managing a group practice, remember to be mindful of payroll, claims, subscription permissions, practice name and information, and Online Payments settings. If you're ready to set up your group practice, see Getting started as a group practice.

How do I decide who should be the Account Owner in my practice?

The structure of a group practice can vary greatly, depending on the size and needs of the practice. Some group practices elect to have a non-clinician office manager as the Account Owner, while others choose a lead clinician to be the Account Owner.

Within SimplePractice, the Account Owner is considered a clinician role, and it includes full access to all clients, documentation, and reports in the group practice account. In addition, an Account Owner has exclusive access to the Subscription Information page, the annual Tax Report, and can generate data exports.

We’ve also introduced a new Practice Manager role on the Plus plan, which can be used to give a non-clinician team member access to all account settings, except for the Subscription Information settings reserved for Account Owners. You'll also be able to give the Practice Manager role additional permissions to view clients’ chart notes, questionnaires, other clinical documentation, complete Data Exports, and financial reports for the entire practice. This role can be added alongside other roles – so you can grant the level of access each individual needs. To learn more about the Practice Manager role, see Team member roles and access levels.

Note: We recommend reviewing our Terms of Service before selecting the Account Owner. In addition, make sure to consult with your regulatory body and disclose the relevant information in your intake documents as needed. To transfer account ownership, please reach out to our Customer Success team for assistance.

What access levels will the clinicians in my group practice need?

Both the Account Owner and a Practice Manager can control which information other clinicians in the practice can see, and which settings they’re able to access.

You can compare the permissions granted to each clinician access level, see Team members and clinician access levels. Additionally, to learn more about adjusting clinicians' access to specific clients, see Client access and changing access levels.

How am I planning on paying other clinicians and calculating payroll?

We've seen a few different ways that group practices calculate their payroll. Here are the three most common ways:

• By the hour, using the Appointment Status report
• By service codes, using the Appointment Status report
• Based off of a percentage, using the Income allocation report

Note: The payments on the Income allocation report are based on the date the payments were made, not by the appointment date. See Calculating payroll for group practices to learn more.

Can we share clients?

You have the option to share clients among clinicians within the same group practice account. We recommend creating separate files for the same client, so that each clinician has their own record of the client.

In these types of situations, the areas to be most cautious of are:

• Billing
• Payroll
• Invoices
• Diagnosis

Note: For best practices on sharing clients and additional considerations, see Sharing clients.