Staff Bio of the Month – Shayson Stewart
Shayson is a new team member at Dalton Associates, having joined our team in August of 2019 as a Coordinator of Rehabilitation Services. Shayson completed his Honours Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at the University of Guelph.
In his role with our organization, Shayson administratively supports the psychological services offered and provided to individuals affected by a motor vehicle collision. This includes: client intake and registration; supporting clients in navigating the third party/insurance system for accessing psychological services; working with psychologists and their clinical assistants, as well as partnering clinics, to ensure streamlined service delivery for clients; and, ensuring administrative best practices are followed throughout the process.
Please help us in welcoming Shayson to our team!
Holiday Schedule and Direct Deposit
The festive season is fast approaching! It is our hope that the holidays will be an enjoyable experience, filled with quality time with loved ones. During the holidays, our office hours are:
- Dec 24.2019: 8-12
- Dec 25.2019: Closed
- Dec 26.2019: Closed
- Dec 27.2019: Closed
- Dec 30.2019: 8-5
- Dec 31.2019: 8-3
- Jan 01.2020: Closed
In order to have your payment processed and deposited into your accounts in a timely manner during this holiday schedule, please note the following:
- For the payment date of Friday, December 27th 2019, the fast track deadline is Monday, December 16th instead of Tuesday, December 17th
- There will be no deposit on January 2nd 2020
- We will resume regular payment schedule starting the week of January 6th 2020
If you have any further questions please call Mirela Savescu at 1-888-245-5516 extension 134.
Ensuring Accuracy of Client Population on Intakes
As you have likely have noticed, earlier this year, a field was added to all client intakes for “population” (i.e., adult, couple, child, adolescent, etc.). This field is completed during intake, and is reflective of the service population described by the client during their registration with the Client Care Center. The population also determines which supervisor is assigned (since not all supervisors are competent to supervise all populations) and is listed on the client Consent to Service form, invoices, etc.
However, sometimes, the population of the client evolves over time. For example, at intake, the client calling in to register may indicate the reason for counselling as relationship issues that they are planning to discuss individually (population would be “Adult”). After a few sessions, it becomes clinically relevant to have both partners attend the sessions together moving forward. At this point, the population must change (from “Adult” to “Couple”) and may also require a change in supervisor.
If a change in population also requires a change in supervisor, then several changes must be made to ensure accuracy in the client’s record and invoices, moving forward:
- A new intake must be created. If you have a client whose population evolves during the course of treatment, please update the Client Care Center as soon as possible.
- The client must sign a new Consent to Service form listing the new supervisor for the new population.
- Therapists should ensure that invoices created after the change in population are accurate in listing the new supervisor as the Supervising Psychologist/Psychological Associate.
Extended Health Benefits and MVA Services
In the latest revisions to the Consent to Service Forms (September 2019), a clause was added to the MVA services forms for clients to better understand their responsibility with respect to Extended Health Benefits (EHB). The clause describes the provincial regulation that clients must first exhaust EHBs available to them before their auto insurer will pay any remaining balance to Dalton Associates. It further explains that clients are responsible for submitting the invoice for services provided to them by the Fergus office, to their EHB insurer and remitting their reimbursed monies to Dalton Associates within 60 days of receiving the invoice (or the client will personally be held responsible for the payment to Dalton). Clients must review this clause and initial next to it on the Consent to Service Form for MVA services, to declare their understanding of it.
We believe that when clients better understand their responsibility from the outset, all parties will benefit:
- the client will receive services without having to pay out of pocket for them, even when transitioning between EHB and auto insurance;
- our administrative office will be less burdened by chasing clients for payment and/or following up continuously to ensure they have submitted their invoice to EHB (currently, this requires several hours each week); and
- therapists are paid in a timely manner (our policy is to pay therapists within 30 days after we have received the reimbursed monies from the client so the faster the client submits the payment to Dalton, the faster we can pay the therapist).
Some cases, particularly those clients who began services before the new Consent to Services clause was implemented, remain a challenge to collect from. The Fergus administrative office may reach out to the supervising psychologist and/or treating therapist, when necessary, to assist the client in processing their EHB forms, collecting payment, etc. We appreciate your cooperation in these instances, as ultimately, we are working together to ensure everyone is paid for the quality services that have been provided.
Greenspace and Client Satisfaction Survey Review
Thank you to everyone who has presented valuable feedback and important questions with regards to the Client Satisfaction Survey and its implementation through Greenspace over the past several months. We would like to take this opportunity to summarize some of these key points.
What is Greenspace?
Greenspace is an easy-to-learn, web-based platform that is used to inform clinical progress and outcomes in therapy. The purpose of using Greenspace is to increase client engagement, and to keep the client’s progress and goals at the forefront of therapy. The platform is evidence-based and has been developed from research indicating that measuring and displaying client progress in therapy improves clinical outcomes. More information is available on the Greenspace platform at: www.greenspacehealth.ca.
At this time, Dalton Associates is using the Greenspace platform to implement our Client Satisfaction Survey in an effort to give client’s an opportunity to provide feedback on the services we provide.
Why is the Client Satisfaction Survey and Greenspace Important to This Practice?
There are many ways we monitor our relationship with clients. The Client Satisfaction Survey is an additional tool to inform us about this relationship. Specifically, the survey serves three (3) important purposes:
1. It is helpful for clients to have a standardized, consistent process to provide feedback on the services they’ve received;
2. It will help modify and change our administrative and case management processes to ensure they are effective in meeting the needs of our clients; and,
3. As we endeavour to continue growing the organization through the development of customized mental health and wellness programs in partnership with corporations, organizations, government agencies, communities, etc., the de-identified data derived from the surveys will objectively help to demonstrate our effectiveness.
Aside from the Dalton Associates’ Client Satisfaction Survey, there are over 25 clinical assessment tools (available free of charge to those Associates who register for Greenspace under Dalton Associates). These tools include assessments for clinical symptoms (e.g., depression and anxiety), functioning, addictions, and the therapeutic alliance between client and therapist. While these assessments are not mandatory, they can provide critical information about a client’s clinical symptoms and their progress in therapy that is valuable to both clients, therapists, and supervisors alike.
Is the Client Satisfaction Survey Mandatory for all Associates?
For Dalton-Developed Clients, the Client Satisfaction Survey is mandatory. However, this is only for clients who provide their informed consent.
The Client Satisfaction Survey is, at this time, not mandatory for Contractor-Developed Clients; however, it is available for these clients if they provide their informed consent.
Is the Client Satisfaction Survey, and Greenspace, Appropriate for All Clients?
We believe that each client should have the opportunity to provide feedback about their services through Dalton Associates in a consistent and standardized manner. However, it is natural that some clients won’t be comfortable signing up for Greenspace, or engaging in the survey or other assessment processes. While it is our responsibility to explain the usefulness of the Client Satisfaction Survey to clients and to encourage their participation in the process, the administration of the Survey and any assessment tool through Greenspace is solely based on the client’s informed consent.
Does Greenspace Comply with Privacy Legislation?
The privacy of client’s personal health information that is collected by Greenspace, and the security of the platform, are concerns that have been brought to our attention. I would like to confirm that we have reviewed Greenspace’s privacy and security, and are satisfied that the platform protects client information in a manner that is compliant with (and exceeds) PHIPA legislation and best practices. Additionally, Greenspace has undergone a legal review of their privacy compliance and were found to be exceeding the legislative requirements. Click here to read a 2-page summary of their Privacy Measures, for your individual review, and welcome any questions or concerns that arise.
How will the Client Satisfaction Survey be Implemented?
First, our organization is soft-launching/piloting the Client Satisfaction Survey with Dalton-Developed Clients only in all divisions of our services starting December 1st 2019. As the process becomes routine, this may be subject to change.
Second, our Client Care Centre will be introducing Greenspace and the Client Satisfaction Survey to Dalton-Developed Clients at the point of intake/registration. If the client consents to signing up for Greenspace, and completing a Client Satisfaction Survey, our Client Care Centre will guide the client through this process, and ensure the client receives the Survey approximately 6 weeks after they register.
What Do I Need to Do to Activate This Service So I Can Use It with My Clients?
The required actions to be completed by our Associates are as follows:
1. Sign-up for an account with Greenspace by clicking this link, if you have not done so already, by December 1st 2019. Our Client Care Centre will connect your “therapist” Greenspace account to your clients’ “patient” account.
2. Review the clause about Greenspace in the Consent to Service Form with your new clients, indicating that this is the secure method that we use to send out our 8-question Client Satisfaction Survey.
3. Encourage your clients to complete the Client Satisfaction Survey, as it helps our organization improve and expand our service offerings to better meet client needs moving forward.
Where Can I Access Greenspace/Client Satisfaction Survey Training, and Ongoing Support?
We recently hosted two (2) webinar trainings on Greenspace and the Client Satisfaction Survey. You can watch the recorded webinar by clicking here.
A Continuing Education Credit is available through the OACCPP for anyone who completes the training and provides a completed and signed Attestation Form, herein attached. Please email the completed Attestation Form to our Marketing Coordinator, Eric Ferraro, at eric@daltonassociates.ca.
For any ongoing questions, concerns, or training needs, please do not hesitate to contact Michelle Goldsworthy, Manager of Program Operations and Privacy, at michelle@daltonassociates.ca or 1-888-245-5516 Ext. 130.
Other Tools Available on Greenspace Health Platform
Although not mandatory, there are other assessment tools and tests available on the Greenspace Health platform available at no charge for your use. There is clinical evidence to support the use of these tools in increasing client engagement in therapy.
• Adult Assessments: https://help.greenspacehealth.com/article/73-list-of-adult-assessments
• Child Assessments: https://help.greenspacehealth.com/article/386-list-of-child-assessments
Thank you for your time and interest in this new initiative.
Reminder To All Associates Providing MVA Services
This is a friendly reminder to submit your contractor invoice to Dalton Associates for all MVA services on a regular basis. Typically, this is done every 4 treatment sessions (+ after supervision for supervised psychological services). However, if you are seeing your client(s) less regularly, we recommend that you still invoice for MVA services on a monthly basis. We have run into some situations recently where contractor invoicing was not up to date and the clients settled their claim without informing us. In these situations, both Dalton and the therapist were not paid for services rendered because we did not have our invoice submitted to the insurer or lawyer prior to settlement.