Privacy protection applies to all the interactions that therapists have with the public during the marketing phase.
Q: What is the difference between personal information and protected health information?
Personal Information (PI): Any recorded information, other than contact information, that uniquely identifies you is considered personal information. This includes your name, age, sex, race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, fingerprints or blood type. It also includes information about your health care, educational, financial, criminal or employment history. It also includes anyone else's opinions about you and your own views or opinions.
Protected Health Information or Personal Health Information (PHI): PHI generally includes demographic information, medical histories, test and laboratory results, mental health conditions, insurance information, and other data that a healthcare professional collects to identify an individual and determine appropriate care.
Q: Is there a Canadian law that is like HIPAA in the US?
Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEPA): In Canada, the federal law which gives people a right to access their personal information is PIPEDA. It requires organizations to obtain individuals’ consent to the collection, use or disclosure of their personal information. This law is more similar to the European GDPR law than it is to HIPAA because it applies to all personal information, not just health information.
As an online service provider in Canada, you are required to comply with PIPEDA. When you obtain personal information about a potential client, you are expected to protect that information with three types of safeguards:
- Administrative safeguards identify all written, spoken or electronic PI and prevent that information from being shared with people who should not have access to it. For example, a consent form for the release of information is an administrative safeguard.
- Physical safeguards like locked doors and employee badges prevent unauthorized people from being able to access workstations and electronic media.
- Technical safeguards, like user IDs, passwords and data encryption, keep the data hidden until an authorized recipient opens it.
In Canada, we have provincial privacy laws that are more stringent than our federal laws. Note that there is no federal law requiring Canadian service providers to keep their data on servers in Canada.
Q: How is HIPAA similar to PIPEDA?
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA): This US law applies specifically to health information. The purpose of HIPAA is to improve efficiency in the healthcare industry, to improve the portability of health insurance, to protect the privacy of patients and health plan members, and to ensure health information is kept secure, and patients are notified of breaches of their health data. Code sets are used along with patient identifiers, which helps with the efficient transfer of healthcare data between healthcare organizations and insurers, streamlining eligibility checks, billing, payments, and other healthcare operations.
HIPAA and PIPEDA have similar requirements for privacy protection, specifically the need for administrative safeguards, physical safeguards and technical safeguards.
Qualifying leads helps therapists find the right clients.
People who are not a good fit for your private practice may come across your website. You can use your website to educate the public about your services.
Q: What if my prospects are not aware of the benefits of telepractice service delivery? What if they want face to face services?
In your marketing, explain the benefits of your approach:
Safety: During a health crisis, telepractice service delivery is a safe option.
Flexible scheduling: People who work part time might be relieved to have evening appointments by telepractice. People who work shifts can still get therapy.
Expertise: Clients can get expert help which is not available locally. Less experienced members of the intervention team can be mentored.
Access: People in remote locations can be well supported. People who don’t drive can access therapy.
Efficiency: Sessions will take place consistently and there are very few no-shows. None of the funding is wasted on travel costs.
I teach private practice therapists how to manage their own website and marketing using the AttractWell platform. You can create a page on your website with frequently asked questions about your service model. You could write a short blog post for each of the benefits of your telepractice service. If you create this type of content for your website, people searching for telepractice services will find your website. In other words, you can use inbound marketing to pull ideal leads toward your business.
Q: Is telepractice service delivery a good option in all cases?
No. Some people don’t meet the three basic requirements for telepractice:
- A strong high-speed Internet connection.
- A computer or tablet with a webcam.
- Computer skills or a reliable helper with the necessary skills
Offer a screening consult by webcam to probe for these three prerequisites. If people experience problems during the initial consult, they immediately become aware of the limitations and they make some decisions.
If you are wasting a lot of time trying to find clients who are a good fit for telepractice, consider changing your marketing. You should have some way to direct people to other services so that you don’t collect inappropriate referrals.
All your communication with leads, referral sources and prospects should be consistent and clear so that you don’t collect inappropriate referrals.
Marketing a Therapy Practice Requires 3 Powerful Words
You will have the most success in marketing your therapy practice if you inform the public of your services using three powerful words. The words are problem, solution and method. Why are these three words so powerful? It is because they take your referrals from good, to better, to best.
If you focus on these words in your marketing messages, you will attract the right leads to your practice. The old marketing methods no longer work. You can't expect to get referrals by word of mouth or by building your reputation in a local community. People with a problem use search engines and social media to find help for their problem.
Here is the formula. This is the best way to present your marketing messages:
If you have problem X,
you need solution Y,
which we provide using method Z.
Marketing your Therapy Practice to People who have a Problem
Good referrals are problem-aware.
These people know that they have a problem and they know what it is called. They are concerned and want information. They are worried about the future. For example, the parents of a preschooler who has unclear speech might be wondering if this is normal. The grandparents and daycare can't understand the four-year-old, so they are asking the parents to get the child assessed.
The family might see a doctor first and ask if the unclear speech is typical for a four-year-old. Depending on what the doctor says, they might try to get on a public waitlist for a speech language pathologist (SLP), they might look for private services, or they might wait to see if the problem will go away on its own.
In marketing your therapy private practice, create content that shows your integrity and professionalism. This is what separates you from the charlatans. People who have a problem are vulnerable consumers because they are attracted to services and products that promise amazing results. As a qualified professional, build trust with consumers by providing accurate advice online. Don't be afraid to state your opinion.
Marketing your Therapy Private Practice to People who are Looking for a Qualified Professional
Better referrals are solution-aware.
Let's continue with the example of the unintelligible four-year old. Let's imagine that the doctor states that the child's speech is not within age expectations and suggests that the parents get on the public waitlist for an SLP. Now the parents know that an SLP can help. They are hoping for quick access to this professional. Perhaps they have excellent medical benefits, so they decide to bypass the long public waitlist.
They start searching online for a private SLP. The qualified professional is the solution. This person has the expertise to help them with their problem. The professional can explain possible causes and provide recommendations about the right treatment. The doctor might not have told the parents that a hearing assessment is necessary when a child's speech is unintelligible.
Marketing your private practice is not just about creating messages that sell your therapy services. It is also about educating your website visitors. Imagine how grateful young parents would be if an SLP's website alerted them to the possibility of a hearing loss when a child's speech is unintelligible! What if this information helped them get hearing aids for their child immediately, instead of waiting in vain?
Marketing your Therapy Practice to People who are Looking for a Specific Treatment Method
The best referrals are method-aware.
They know what the problem is and they know that it is possible to overcome their problem. They want to know how much time and money it will take to get the result they are looking for.
Their research is probably taking them to websites that mention specific treatments.This happens when a method is well-established, or well-promoted in the media. The effectiveness of the method is highly compelling. People with a problem need hope. In marketing your private practice, you want to feature treatments that work.
If your private practice is aligned with a proven treatment method, you will get the best type of referrals. People searching for a therapist who offers this specific method will find your website.
Let's pretend that Speak and Read is a well-respected therapy method for young children. Indeed, the preschooler from our example was diagnosed with a hearing loss and now has hearing aids, but the speech problems have not fully resolved. Kindergarten is looming. The parents are searching for a private SLP who offers the Speak and Read method.
If an SLP was marketing her therapy private practice using the formula, it would look like this:
If your child has unclear speech [problem X],
your child needs speech language therapy [solution Y],
which we provide using the Speak and Read method [method Z].
Those parents would find her website. They would be eager to hire her because they are method-aware consumers.
