Should I Hire a Virtual Assistant for my Therapy Practice?
As a mental health professional, you know that administrative tasks take up a significant portion of your time. Between answering emails, managing your calendar, billing insurance, collecting copays, and everything else that goes into running your own practice, some therapists can spend several hours each week focused on administrative tasks.
A virtual assistant can help with all these tasks, and often more efficiently and cost-effectively than you can.
Since our virtual assistants already work with dozens of therapists, we’ve found a few key signs when a therapist should consider hiring a virtual assistant for their practice.
4 Signs it’s time to hire a Virtual Assistant for your Therapy Practice
1. You spend 30 minutes or more daily on admin tasks.
Each hour you spend on administrative tasks is one less hour you can spend with a client.
If you spend more time on administrative tasks, trying to squeeze them in between sessions, or working late to catch up at the end of a long day, it might be time to hire a virtual assistant. A virtual assistant can help streamline your administrative tasks, often accomplishing them more efficiently and cost-effectively than if you did them yourself.
2. You don’t have time to respond to emails within 1 business day.
If you find that you’re missing urgent emails while you’re with clients or are struggling to keep up with your inbox daily, a virtual assistant may be the answer.
Your VA can manage your inbox, ensuring that current and prospective clients receive timely answers to their questions and that no urgent emails go unanswered until the end of a long workday. This will improve your clients’ experience and help grow your practice - as your virtual assistant can respond to prospective client inquiries and schedule consultations even while you are in sessions with clients.
3. You’re not keeping up with file maintenance, copays, etc.
General administrative tasks, such as data entry and file management, can take up a lot of time.
If you find that you have to spend time catching up multiple times a week, you may want to consider hiring a virtual assistant. Virtual assistants can tackle administrative tasks quickly and efficiently, ensuring that client files stay organized and up to date.
4. Your calendar is too full – or not full enough.
If you’re struggling to balance your schedule, either because of last-minute cancelations or an overly full calendar, it might be time to hire someone!
A virtual assistant can help your clients with scheduling and rescheduling appointments, help keep your calendar organized up to date, help fill openings when a client cancels, or create openings when you need them.
This seemingly small task can take a significant amount of stress off you and keep your daily schedule running smoothly.
Common Questions About Hiring a Virtual Assistant
Q: Are there virtual assistants with experience working in a clinical field?
A: Yes! The Boutique COO has a vast team of virtual assistants with a breadth of experience across many fields. Our virtual assistants already work with therapists and other healthcare professionals, just like you.
Q: Can virtual assistants help my business without violating HIPAA compliance?
A: We have virtual assistants who are experienced in HIPAA and can provide HIPAA-compliant VA services, so you’re not breaking any confidentiality laws when you allow us to organize your inbox, documents, etc.
Interested in hiring a virtual assistant?
If you’re finding that more and more of your time goes toward the administrative side of running your practice, hiring a virtual assistant can ensure that your business processes run smoothly without wasting your time.
We encourage you to book a free strategy chat to determine whether The Boutique COO virtual assistants are a good fit for your therapy practice.
No need to prepare anything for this meeting. Just come talk about what’s holding you back from growing (or taking a much-needed break!), and we’ll build an action plan on how a VA might be able to start saving you time and money.
