You’ll want to make sure your Professional Website follows all HIPAA regulations and notifies clients of your privacy practices, as well as their rights under the No Surprises Act. In this guide, we’ll cover:

• Testimonials
• Notice of Privacy Practices
• Notice of the No Surprises Act and the Good Faith Estimates

Note: To learn more about our integrated website builder, see Setting up your Professional Website.

Testimonials

A testimonial from a client or colleague can be a valuable tool for prospective clients seeking a new mental health or wellness practitioner. A client testimonial can provide helpful insight into the services you provide, while a colleague testimonial can give credit to your professional expertise.

Contrary to popular belief, asking for testimonials to use in your personal marketing isn’t a breach of ethics, as long as you properly obtain consent from your clients and colleagues and post their review in compliance with HIPAA.

Note: To learn more, see The Truth About Using Testimonials to Market Your Practice on our blog, Pollen.

Here’s how you can collect testimonials to use on your Professional Website:

Collecting testimonials from clients or contacts

• Navigate to the Settings > Notes & Forms > Template Library 
• Under Intake forms, locate the Testimonial Release Form - Client
  • There are two versions of this template:
    • Testimonial Release Form - Client (Name Disclosed): For clients who are willing to include their first name and last initial with the review
    • Testimonial Release Form - Client (Name Not Disclosed): For clients who have requested their name be withheld
• Click + Add to add each template to your My Notes & Forms

After talking with your client and confirming they’re willing to provide a testimonial, ask if they’d like to disclose their name. You can then share the appropriate Testimonial Release Form with them through the Client Portal.

Note: For more information about using the Template Library, see How to use the Template Library. To learn how to send documents via the Client Portal, see Sharing documents with existing clients.

Collecting testimonials from colleagues

• Navigate to the Settings > Notes & Forms > Template Library 
• Under Intake forms, locate the Testimonial Release Form - Colleagues
• Click + Add

After confirming your colleague is willing to provide a testimonial, you can create a new client named Colleague Testimonials and add your colleague(s) as a contact. To do this:

• Click + Create > Create client
• Name the client Colleague Testimonials
• Click Continue to save this client
• Navigate to the Colleague Testimonials client's Overview page
• Click Edit > Contacts
• Select + Add Contact
• Click + New Contact
• Add the following information for your colleague:
  • Enter their name
  • Set Other as the Relationship type

• • Enter their email address and check the Email ok box
• Click Save
• Repeat for any additional colleagues providing testimonials
  

Next, you can grant your colleague(s) access to the Client Portal. To do this:

• Click Manage > Manage Client Portal & Billing
• Check the box for Allow Client Portal access

• Edit the Client Portal invitation email
• Click Save
• Return to the Colleague Testimonials client's Overview page
• Click Share
• Select the colleague you'd like to collect a testimonial from and uncheck all documents except for the Testimonial Release Form - Colleagues 
• Edit the email as needed and follow the prompts to share the form

This workflow allows your colleagues to complete the form via the Client Portal.

Note: You can add an unlimited number of colleagues as contacts to the Colleague Testimonials client profile.

Adding testimonials to your Professional Website

After a client or colleague completes the Testimonial Release Form, you can find the completed form on their Overview page > Shared with client section.

Select the Testimonial Release Form to open it and copy the text. To add the testimonial to your Professional Website:

• Navigate to Settings > Professional Website > Edit your website
• Select Edit Website > Sections
• Click the toggle next to Testimonials

• Click Save Changes
• Scroll down to the Testimonials section
• Click Edit
• Paste the contents of the testimonial in the text box
• Specify who provided the testimonial

• Click Save Changes
• Select Publish in the upper right corner
  

Note: You can add up to 3 testimonials to your Professional Website.

Notice of Privacy Practices

If you're handling protected health information (PHI) as part of your practice, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires you to include a Notice of Privacy Practices on your website. To add this to your Professional Website:

• Navigate to Settings > Professional Website > Edit your website 
• Select Edit Website > Practice Details
• Under Legal, choose Upload PDF to upload a PDF version of your existing Notice of Privacy Practices
• Click Save Changes
• Select Publish in the upper right corner

If you don’t currently have this notice, you can create one using our template. To do this:

• Click Use our template

• Review the legal disclaimer and click Continue
• You’ll be prompted to Make a copy of the template
• Update your practice name, address, contact information, effective date of the notice, and other information as needed
  

Important: Make sure to review the template and update it to reflect your practice policies and state requirements. You are responsible for ensuring that your notice describes the ways in which you may use and disclose PHI and adequately informs clients of their legal rights regarding PHI. SimplePractice doesn’t provide legal advice, and the templates we provide are for reference only.

• Click File > Download > PDF Document (.pdf) to download your newly created notice as a PDF file
• Follow the steps above to upload and publish the notice to your Professional Website
  

Once your notice is uploaded, visitors to your website will be able to access your Notice of Privacy Practices in the footer.

Notice of the No Surprises Act and the Good Faith Estimates

In accordance with the No Surprises Act, you’re required to include information about the availability of Good Faith Estimates on your website. To add this to your Professional Website:

• Navigate to Settings > Professional Website > Edit your website
• Select Edit Website > Practice Details
• Under Legal, click the toggle to Display No Surprises Act in footer

• Click Save Changes
• Select Publish in the upper right corner

Once the toggle is enabled, visitors to your website will be able to view information about the No Surprises Act and their right to a Good Faith Estimate in the footer.