The majority of mental healthcare providers made the switch to telehealth last year in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. For many, this transition was smooth: in a poll collected by GLPG, most providers agreed that they and their clients were enjoying online therapy. Still, online therapy may not be the ideal choice for all providers and their clientele.
Illinois “reopened” earlier this month, and this week in Michigan all restrictions have been lifted on masks, capacity, and gatherings. With these reopenings, it may be time to consider next steps for your practice. Will you return to the office for some or all of your clients, or remain exclusively online?
Private practitioners hold total authority over their practices; it is up to you to choose what’s best for you and your clients. In making these decisions, here are some considerations to keep in mind:
1. Consider your patients’ needs
It may be prudent to decide whether to see your clients in person depending on the following:
- Do they have access to a telehealth platform, a stable internet connection, and a private space where they can freely and safely speak their mind?
- Are they making progress in treatment?
- Will the next phase of treatment be viable via telehealth or will it require face-to-face sessions?
- Is their insurance company still covering telehealth appointments?
- What is their risk level? Consider vaccination status as a factor in the wider picture of your client’s level of risk. Vaccination status alone should not be used to decide whether you’ll see your client in-person, as this practice could be discriminatory. If you decide not to see a client in person because of their risk level, be sure you are offering an alternative for treatment such as telehealth sessions or a referral to another clinician.
2. Establish in-office guidelines
If you do decide to return to the office for some or all of your appointments, it will help to establish guidelines to keep you, your clients, and everyone else coming into your practice safe. Some examples include:
- Decide on a mask policy. Will you wear a mask? Will you ask your clients to wear a mask? How will you handle pushback if your clients don’t comply?
- Decide on a physical contact policy (e.g., no handshakes).
- Agree that your clients will take their temperature before leaving home and only come to your office if there is no sign of fever and no other symptoms of illness.
- Require telehealth sessions if your client is experiencing symptoms or has been exposed to someone with Covid-19.
- Encourage clients to wait in their cars until a few minutes before their appointment time to limit each person’s time spent in the waiting room.
Explain to your clients that your policies are being put in place to protect them, you, and everyone else coming to the office.
3. Take steps to reduce the risk of virus transmission
- If possible, open doors or windows to promote ventilation.
- Post signage encouraging visitors to wash their hands.
- Sanitize frequently touched surfaces.
- Keep hand sanitizer in the waiting room and in your office.
Online or In Person. Your practice. Your choice.
All this considered, keep in mind that you are not required to return to the office before you feel comfortable and ready to do so. You may have even found that online therapy works very well for your practice and choose to forego returning to the office at all.
As a GLPG clinician, you’re in control of your private practice.
