At TheraNest we get a lot of questions around how to handle couples counseling or marriage counseling in TheraNest. We respect that every practice is different but we want to offer you some best practices and helpful facts to assist you in being successful with TheraNest.
Each person should be an individual client in TheraNest
This is for multiple purposes.
- Clients can fill out their OWN intake forms separately via the Client Portal.
- Accurate data and reporting. It's beneficial to keep your EHR honest. You want it to reflect the correct amount of active Clients you are serving.
- If one person wants to see you individually later on then you will have to create another client anyways and then manually move information to the other spouse. If they are individual records then a Group Case and Notes will be stored on all members of the Group.
Jump to Section [Create Family Group] [Group Notes & Treatment Plans] [Bill Families/Groups]
Create Family Group
Once each Client is created in TheraNest, you can connect them as a family.
- Locate either Client/Spouse and open profile.
- Click on Family tab.
- Search for Family member and click the + Add button.
- Once added they will be joined together in a Family Group.
The Family Group will show in your list of Groups under Clients > Groups.
Group/Family Progress Notes & Treatment Plans
After you have created the Group/Family, add a Group Case to log Progress Notes and Treatment Plans. Even though it is a Group Case, you can have individual and separate Diagnostic Codes, Treatment Plans, and Progress Notes for each spouse.
Add a Group case to log progress notes and treatment plans. Even though it's a group case you can have individual and separate diagnostic codes, treatment plans, and progress notes for each partner.
Click here to learn how to add a Group Case.
Billing Couples
Client Ledgers are created for EACH spouse. But when you bill families, you will typically only want to bill one spouse for the entire Appointment. To do this, you have two options:
- You can create an Invoices for both spouses and leave one unbilled.
- OR, you can create Invoices for both spouses and zero one of the Invoices out, with a note indicating why it is zeroed out.
Learn more about how to Bill for Groups.