Many psychotherapists experience “documentation anxiety” because they were not trained in graduate school in how to document according to medical necessity standards. As a result, they can feel at the mercy of insurance companies, spending an enormous amount of time justifying treatment, fighting rejected insurance claims, fearing, or preparing for audits, writing disability reports, defending themselves in a board complaint, and losing income. Paperwork often seems unrelated to being clinically useful. Treatment plans, in particular, are often generic, not client centered, and avoided. This leaves the clinician vulnerable to financial loss if records are audited, or to legal, ethical, or professional issues in case of a board complaint. In this webinar, we will discuss how good treatment planning supports good clinical practice, justifies medical necessity, facilitates getting authorizations, and helps mental health professionals and clinics pass insurance audits and protect themselves in case of a board complaint, and thus saving thousands of dollars in potential recoupments and lost productivity. Knowing how to develop a treatment plan to medical necessity standards contributes to a marked reduction in documentation anxiety, better clinical outcomes and increased job satisfaction.
This course is based on the recorded webinar, From Chaos to Clarity: Unleashing the Power of the Golden Thread in Treatment Planning created by Beth Rontal, LICSW in 2023.
Beth Rontal, LICSW, is a nationally recognized and engaging speaker on mental health documentation for private practice clinicians and those working in agency behavioral health settings. Her Misery and Mastery SM trainings and accompanying forms have been used all over the world. She mastered her teaching skills with thousands of hours supervising and training both seasoned professionals and interns when supervising at an agency for 11 years.
Beth writes blogs on clinical documentation, co-chairs the NASW Private Practice Shared Interest Group, and has a private practice in Brookline, MA specializing in working with people who struggle with emotional eating.
Disclosures No disclosures to report.
Recommended For:
Counselors, marriage and family therapists, psychologists and social workers. This course is appropriate for all levels of knowledge.
Course Objectives:
After taking this course, you should be able to:
Determine how to translate clinical skill and intuition into the behavioral language required for mental health documentation.
Name 1 question to ask the client to co-create a treatment plan.
Employ the Golden Thread in treatment planning to help justify medical necessity.
Disclosure to Learners
Disclosure of Relevant Financial Relationships
CE Learning Systems adheres to the ACCME's Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited
Continuing Medical Education. Any individuals in a position to control the content of a CE activity –
including faculty, planners, reviewers, or others ― are required to disclose all relevant financial
relationships with ineligible entities (formerly known as commercial interests).
The following relevant financial relationships have been disclosed by this activity's planners, faculty, and
the reviewer:
Planners and Reviewers
The planners of this activity have reported that they have no relevant financial relationships.
Commercial support
There is no commercial support for this distance-learning course.
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