new telehealth links for clients?
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Hi, just got a confusing email from SimplePractice saying our clients need a new link for each telehealth appt.
Why are you doing this change during such a stressful time and this is so unclear what to do?
Please clarify and also please have demo pictures Larger so its useful.
Thank you,
Dani
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I emailed simple practice and they responsed:
I hope you are having a nice day. I would be happy to help.
You can refresh the web page since the scheme for link delivery changed due to the recent release of unique links. The link should appear.
In most cases, if you haven't cleared your browser cache in a while, it can cause different connective or display issues. A lot of times, clearing your browser cache will solve these problems. Here's a helpful walkthrough just in case: Clearing your browser cache.
Kind regards, -
Thank you Marie! I must be tired or something. So he his saying that each week we have to have a new link go out vs. they have gotten to just reuse and save the link from before?
Could you be so kind and share who you emailed and their email? Working with First Responders so it has to be 100% click and work.
Really appreciate this,
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Hi Marie and Danielle - Thank you for contributing to this post and reaching out. Marie, you're correct, clearing your browser cache and refreshing your webpage will likely restore your access to Telehealth links from your Calendar. The new functionality generates a new link for every Telehealth appointment you schedule. In the previous functionality, Telehealth links were only unique to the client, one link per client. Please let me know if you're still unable to access a Telehealth link from your pre-set appointments.
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Hi Ruth, Thank you for getting back to the forum but really would have loved a personal email as I sent one. So my question is where do I find the link? Do I just resend each week which is a lot and how is the link getting getting to them?
My cache is cleared and fine. Not the issue. Trying to understand this process. As I generally have it on the calendar and they have either saved the link and/or I send a reminder. So what will I need to do differently? Please email from what I emailed you.
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I posted this post below under a thread called "Telehealth Appointment Link" on 4/29/20 and did not receive a response, but saw that Ruth responded to the post above, so I thought this may be a more appropriate thread for my post. If Ruth or anyone else at SP would be willing to respond to my post it would be greatly appreciated. In addition to the customer service issues that this new proposed system is already creating for therapists and clients as well as SP customer service representatives (who are already very taxed with pandemic-driven customer service issues), there are many practical concerns that I have about this change.
Dear Simple Practice
I LOVE the telehealth platform with Simple Practice which is one of the main reasons I chose this platform over many others when making a practice management software/EHR decision last year. With that being said, I would like to share some spirited thoughts, questions and nuances that I believe may not have been thoroughly considered regarding the proposed change to require a unique link every single time that a telehealth session is conducted.
If the idea of routine, consistency and predictability are more important than ever during the middle of a pandemic, does making a change to the way that all therapy is conducted (since telehealth is the only way that therapy is being conducted right now) make sense at this juncture?
I work primarily with children and adolescents, many of whom do not have their own email account and/or do not use their email account. Additionally, their parents/guardians are often working and/or in meetings themselves prior to and during our telehealth sessions. How are these children and adolescents to get their unique telehealth link for every session?
I have many clients who have bookmarked their telehealth link and really like the convenience of having the same telehealth link for each session. As people are more bombarded than ever with emails these days, do you know of anyone who is looking forward to now receiving additional emails that were previously unnecessary?
In summary-Is having to communicate this change and adapting to this change more or less simple for therapists and clients than the current way of conducting telehealth on Simple Practice (i.e. therapists and clients have enough stress right now, why would Simple Practice make a telehealth change that essentially creates more stress right now)?
I know there are more important things in the world right now that my somewhat snarky post about telehealth considerations and I understand that Simple Practice has the best of intentions with this proposed change, but I would really appreciate your reconsideration, a three month delay (until in person sessions are being conducted again more consistently) or a workaround for people like me and others who are not interested in new features like multiple client support.
Thank you.
-Zack
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Dear Simple Practice,I have very high standards for Simple Practice based on the high quality platform it provides, so I am genuinely surprised and disappointed that SP seems content in not responding to the numerous posts on this thread as well as this similar thread https://support.simplepractice.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/360059325272-Telehealth-appointment-link regarding concerns about a telehealth change that impacts every therapist and client who use Simple Practice telehealth.In the event that someone from SP does not respond to this post in the near future and for the benefit of the impacted therapists in this community, I will share some additional information that I received via an SP chat and a on a one-on-one call in my personal efforts to gain additional clarity and understanding about this situation.1) There is not a firm date or a general time frame that could be shared with me about when this transition to exclusively unique links for every appointment will occur. I was initially surprised that this information was not originally provided in the nebulous 4/29 email about this telehealth change and am now feeling frustrated that there is still no further information or communication from SP about it as of 5/13. Aside from making me look bad with my clients in my efforts to convey this change to them, they continue to have uncertainty about when they will need to change their routine and no longer be able to use their bookmarked links.2) The main reason for the change to unique appointment links seems to go beyond what was indicated in the email from 4/29. It seems that this change has a lot to do with the enhanced security and related level of HIPAA compliance/certification which can be more effectively achieved through a unique link for each appointment. I am actually quite understanding about the nature of this reason compared to the less relevant multiple client support rationale in the 4/29 email. I think we can all agree that enhanced security is very important, but don't think that should be a priority in the middle of a pandemic when SP is still very secure and the use of FaceTime, Skype and other non-HIPPA compliant platforms have been permitted during this time.3) There is not a way for clients to limit the clutter in their inboxes and receive only one telehealth email reminder prior to their appointment. They will have to receive at least one email reminder based on the therapist's SP email reminder settings (e.g. 24, 48, 72 hours) as well as one additional email reminder 15 minutes prior to the appointment.As it seems that there is no turning back from this transition to unique links for each appointment, I am once again requesting that this change be postponed for a three month period of time or at the very, very least for SP to provide some clarity about when this change will occur so that our clients can plan accordingly. Thank you.-Zack
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Hi Zack, thank you for your thoughtful feedback regarding this change, which we hope you and your clients are adjusting to smoothly. We understand the need for simplicity and consistency when working with your clients, but at the same time, security is one of our highest priorities. Previously, when Telehealth links were the same for each client each time, client sessions could be compromised if the link was shared with a third party. Now, clients and clinicians can be assured that their session won't be interrupted by a third party because the link changes for each session each time.
Diana, SimplePractice already does this. All you need to do is enroll your clients in Email Reminders, and they'll automatically receive an email 15 minutes prior to their appointment with that day's unique Telehealth link.
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Hi Diana, that's correct. Clients who are enrolled in Email Reminders will automatically receive an email about 15 minutes before their scheduled appointment with a link to their appointment - there's no need to send them the links manually.
Additionally, the SimplePractice team is working on a new feature that will send the unique video session link to clients via text message at well. We're looking forward to releasing this new feature soon.
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