Process for New Referrals

• Prospective Client contacts San Francisco Intimacy & Sex Therapy Centers (SFISTC) / California Relationship Centers  (CRC) through one of our affiliated websites or via the receptionist.

• The intake coordinator will send the referral via email to the practitioner.

• And will send an email to the prospective client, including a link of who they are being referred to, with a BCC to the therapist / practitioner..

Practitioner Responsibilities:

• Practitioner will receive a Referral Email that includes the client name & contact info, and any other relevant basic info, including any background, what they want to work on and preferred time, days of contact.

• Send Confirmation email back to Intake Coordinator to confirm receipt (ASAP and within 24 hours). (“Got it! Thank you!” will suffice) so we know you received the referral.

• Referral Tracking Sheet: To help keep track of this info we have created a simple spreadsheet as a google sheet that is shared with us to keep track your referrals monthly so that we have a trail on each client. Log pertinent client information into the tracking log and keep this up to date. Please save the monthly log as a PDF and send to SFISTC / CRC with payroll as part of the tracking process. (more details for the log can be found in the document titled: Set Up for CRC) A sample log is included in the IC Shared Drive.

• Make 3 attempts to contact the referral - In the next 12-24 hours contact the client ​via the ​preferred method they requested​. Follow up with the same form of contact 2-3 days later. Finally, 5 to 7 days after, try some other form of contact if it has been given, use the same form if not. (see sample consultation call email)

• ​If the prospective client DOES NOT schedule: If you do not hear back after 3 attempts, let us know. We may follow up a final time. If they decided to pass for right now, send us a brief email with their reason, if any.

• ​If the client DOES schedule: You will be scheduling an appointment in our online calendar. Please contact us for a username and log in if you have not already been assigned one. Please send an email back to CRC after the first time you see client (so we can celebrate with you) and be sure update the referral log with new status.

• Once they become a client you will log them onto the IC Contractor Payment Log for the month after each visit to track hours and payments and then submit to us for payment at the end of each month. (see IC Payment log in IC Shared Google Drive)

Please submit the weekly availability form every Tuesday 7 PM PST

Scheduling  Calendar (Acuity)

To set up an appointment with a client:

• There are multiple ways to do this, Either Taking the Credit Card over the phone or Emailing the client a link to your calendar to schedule themselves and hold the appointment with their credit card. (otherwise it will be difficult to enforce your 72 hour cancellation policy)

• First ask the client if they are ready to schedule and feel comfortable providing you with their credit card over the phone? Or do they they prefer you to send them a link to your calendar to confirm the appointment time and input the credit card information themselves to hold the time.  (if they choose to do it themselves let them know they should to do it within (24 hours) to avoid losing the appointment as it is first come first served. (remind client of 72 hour cancellation fee)

Option 1- Scheduling for the client and having them use their confirmation email to pre-pay for their appointment in advance.

1. Once you agree upon a mutual date and time for the session, let the client know to look for an confirmation email from you that they will use to pay for and hold their first appointment. Inform the client that once they receive the email it will include a button at the bottom of their email that says: Pay for Appointment, which will give them the option to Pay for their session. Have them click that button, enter their credit card information to pre-pay for the first session, and leave the box checked to ‘keep this card on file for future appointments’. This way the credit card will be retained on file that you can bill after future sessions.  You may want to send these instructions via email to your client as a reminder.

2. To schedule the appointment from the admin side: Click the appointment calendar tab on the left side of the page, click NEW on the top of the screen, pick the appointment type, choose the desired date and time or use the custom button and input the date and time. Enter the client information, including: name, email, phone number. Click Schedule Appointment. (Both the client and therapist will receive the confirmation, however only the client will receive the 24 hour reminder notice)

Option 2- Scheduling for the client and taking a credit card over the phone or in person:

1. To schedule from the admin side: Click the appointment tab on the left, click +Appointment on the top of the screen, pick the appointment type, click custom and input the date and time. Enter the client information and if you wish for the client to receive a confirmation of the appointment and a reminder 24 hours in advance be sure to include their email address. (Both the client and therapist will receive the confirmation, however only the client will receive the 24 hour reminder notice)

2. Next you need to collect the credit card info from the client to securely hold their appointment for them (remind client of 72 hour cancellation fee). To do this, Click on the new appointment that you just added, and click make a payment. Enter the client credit card info in the fields requested, but then put in the amount paid as $0. This will essentially just store the card and not charge them. After the actual session is completed you will go back into the appointment and charge the clients card that is on file..

Therapist should send the client a separate confirmation email that includes your office location information and attach consent and hipaa forms for them to review and potentially print and sign in advance (if applicable).

Option 3- To have client is schedule and hold their appointment themselves:

NOTE: this is only for established clients and not the prefered method of scheduling. We prefer practitioners schedule it.

1. Make sure you have the block of time open on your calendar that will be for this client. (See Set Up CRC doc under setting up Availability in Acuity for instructions)

2. To provide a direct scheduling link to your calendar, On the left side of the page, under Client’s Scheduling Page, click on “Scheduling Page Link”, Scroll down to”Direct Links and Embedding”. Click the drop down menu that will list your different appointment types. You will pick the one you want your client to pre-register for. You can click “preview” on the right side in order to make sure this is the right appointment type and price. Once you know it is correct, click  the “copy” button below the link to copy the scheduling link for the appointment type. Now copy and paste that into an email to your client so that they can pre-register. They will be able to pick the time you discussed and put their credit card on file to hold the session but do not bill. (Be sure you that time block is available on you calendar or they will not see anything) (If the client does NOT self register within 24 hours, you may want to call them in case they did not receive your email)

3. Be sure you have let your client know to look out for the email you will send and to follow the instructions listed to secure and confirm their appointment within 24 hours to avoid losing the appointment time. You may wish to send the client a separate confirmation email that includes your office location and attach consent and hipaa forms for them to review and potentially print and sign in advance.

Intake Forms:

Practitioner is to send client intake paperwork/contracts to review and sign in advance electronically. Make sure that you include verbiage in your consent forms to inform them about the relationship to SFISTC / CA Relationship Centers” (See sample verbiage on 1 Set Up CRC doc)

Rates:

Each of our practitioners has distinct rates, reflecting the diverse range of experience and services that each clinician provides.As an IC you set your own rates for your services.

Payments:

Utilize Acuity to Schedule and Bill Clients.

• After the client session, go to the appointment on the calendar, click it and input the amount being paid. If there is not a credit card number there you can add one.

• You can check out this Acuity “Help” information for more details on how to do this:

  https://help.acuityscheduling.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000239791-How-to-Charge-a-Client

• Update the IC Payment Log and turn it in by the 21st (by 9pm PST) of each month to get paid on time. Please make sure that your payment log and the acuity calendar match. You will usually receive payment between the 1st and 5th of the month after your on time submission of documentation.

CREDIT CARD CHARGE APPEARANCE 

We’ve had an uptick in clients disputing charges lately. Occasionally it’s linked to being surprised by the way the charge appears on credit card statements.

Please let clients know (via email, as it is important we have this documentation of notification) how it will appear when you start with them. Below is an example.

The “SQ” is from Square, which is what is used to make the charge, and the 03/26 is the date of the charge, (not the date of the appointment, although ideally they are the same).

After the SQ, itt will either read “CALIFORNIARELATIONSH” OR SFISTC or “SANFRANCISCOSEXTHERAPY” or a close variation of these.

MULTI PERSON REFERRAL 

Please Note: We have always (on occasion, and as appropriate) sent a referral to two or three practitioners so that a prospective client can speak to them all and see who is the best fit.... We do this when we aren’t sure who would be best fit or when the prospective client requests it.

Please proceed in the same way you would as if you’re the only one reaching out.

BALANCE ACCUMULATION

In our field, we are under legal and ethical obligation not to let a balance accumulate substantially. This is one of the reasons we require all sessions to be paid for at the time of service. Also we need to track payments for our bookkeeping and to be able to pay you in a timely manner.

If the balance rises substantially this can create a debtor-creditor relationship, which, together with the therapist-client relationship, can constitute a dual relationship.

Please charge clients on the date of service. Thank you.

REFUNDS

Refunds are not provided for services rendered.

In the case of an accidental charge, please contact Dr. Stone to request a refund. Provide the date charged, the client’s name, amount, and if possible the last four digits of the card used, along with the reason you are seeking a refund.

When Clients End Services:

Send us a quick email so we can make note. Add a note to your payroll log.

Using Acuity Scheduling Platform to Book Sessions

This video will walk you through using Acuity to schedule your clients.

Provide us with Availability information for Acuity:

We use Acuity Scheduling to book and schedule clients, as well as to bill them after their session is completed. In order to set up your calendar profile in Acuity and for us to property match you with appropriate referrals that meet your experience, please provide the following information to S.F.I.S.T.C. / C.R.C:

Name:

Title:

( PsyD, MFT, Sexologist, Sex Coach)

Pronouns

:(ie: She/He/They)

Phone # for Clients:

Email Address for Clients:

Email Address for Acuity:

(needs to be different if you have an existing acuity account) 

Location(s): 

(please provide correct spelling, suite number if applicable, city and zip as we will also be sending a google postcard to your location to confirm the address) 

Do you provide Online Therapy?

Client Types

(ie: Individual, Couple, Child)

Session Type, Length, and Price:

 (ie: 90 minute Couples Therapy,$300) (50 Minute Individual Sex Therapy $200) 

Do you have a Sliding Scale Fee?

Please describe

Days Available:

Hours Available:

Other Info

Your Private Practice Website: 

Certifications:

Ideal Clients:

Challenges You work with:

(ie: anxiety, trauma, relationship, sex)

Main Treatment Methods you use

(Please specify trainings taken): (ie: EMDR, Sex Therapy, EFT, Gottman)

Area of specialty/expertise/niche

(ie: Trauma, Sex Therapy, Adults with Disabilities, LGBTQ, Non-Monagamy)

Success Story:

Please share a success story about a client you have served that highlights how you have helped your ideal client. Do not use identifying information.

Visit this link for an example of this: 

Working with you:

Please provide us a one or two paragraph blurb for website describing how you work / your style or approach.

NOTE: You will be emailed a user name and password once this is set up.