Release Notes2021-02-23T14:57:28-05:00

Release Notes

PSYBooks is continually being improved and updated. Many of these changes are minor and not likely to be noticed. However, new features and other larger types of improvements are listed below.

  1. 07-26-2018: Appointment Requests, Manage Appointment Requests and the Portal Calendar.

    The Appointment Request Tool uses a dynamic, interactive calendar that allows you to send available appointment times to clients and others. It is most suited for therapists who want the functionality of an interactive calendar, but who do not want to put their entire calendar online. For example, this tool might be used with new clients who are scheduling an initial appointment, or with existing clients who need to reschedule or want additional appointments. The Manage Appointment Requests Tool allows you to edit or delete existing Appointment Requests as well as add new ones.

    Recipients of an Appointment Request you’ve sent – whether clients or others – sign in to their Portal Calendars to see the times you’ve sent. If one or more of the times has already been booked, their Portal Calendars will not show those times – it will only display the times that are still available for booking. That’s what makes this feature interactive – Portal Calendars are always in sync with the therapist’s calendar, no matter how many changes have been made in the appointment times that were originally offered.

  2. 04-09-2018: Group Appointments and a Manage Groups Tool.

    This release features a new set of tools for working with groups. A “group” could be a couple’s or family session, a therapy group, or even non-therapy groups such as staff meetings or supervision. In short, a group can be any appointment that has at least two attendees for which you may want to use the special tools.

    With client (i.e., “therapy”) groups, you can schedule appointments for all members at once, send appointment reminders, track attendance, write one group note that posts to each chart (or the charts you select), enter sessions and client payments, file insurance and write individual notes for each group member – all from a single new tool called “Manage Groups”. In addition, you can post a copy of the Group Note to your personal notes section (Tools > Notes & Reminders).

    Non-therapy groups allow you to send appointment reminders, track attendance, and keep personal notes in your Notes & Reminders section.

  3. 10-24-2017: Appointment Reminders.
    • Send email and/or text reminders
    • Use our default templates or create custom templates that fit your practice
    • Use the same reminder for everyone or individualize them
    • Easy drag ‘n’ drop interface for adding reuseable variables to your templates
    • Send yourself an email each morning with your daily schedule
    • Be creative! PSYBooks reminders can be used to send affirmations, quotes, congratulatory or supportive messages – again, send the same reminder to everyone or tailor-make a reminder for one specific person.
  4. 06-02-2017: These features were added:
    • The ability to save your clients’ credit cards so you can reuse them without having to reenter the data each time
    • The ability to use the Portal to email sensitive documents such as receipts straight from the app, i.e., without having to download them first

    The first one is fairly self-explanatory but will definitely make your life easier. Learn more about processing credit cards in PSYBooks.

    The second one came from questions people have asked about whether credit card processing devices such as Square are HIPAA-compliant. I didn’t know so I did some research. The answer I found was, “It depends.” Evidently, the devices themselves are exempt from HIPAA because they only process payment info. However, the gray area comes when you want to send your client a receipt from the device. At that point, it’s a little iffy as to whether that information is considered PHI or not.

    PSYBooks can now eliminate that gray area by allowing you to send those kinds of emails straight from the app. You’ve always been able to do that by downloading the documents first. But now, you’ll notice an email icon right by the receipt link that will allow you to email the receipt as an attachment without having to download it. We even attach the document and pre-populate most of the fields in the email so all you have to do is click “Send”. It’s the ultimate in convenience, safety and HIPAA-compliance. These “in house” emails have been added to many of the reports, too.

  5. 04-07-2017: Video! The PSYBooks Portal now offers video. PSYBooks Video is 100% HIPAA-compliant, whereas products like Skype and Facetime are not. PSYBooks Video is based on the Zoom platform which produces the best video quality we’ve seen and offers the following features:
    • Unlimited sessions for unlimited particpants. You can conduct individual sessions, do couples’ and family work, conduct groups or use it for online staff meetings.
    • Two-way screen share. (Good for PowerPoint presentations or anything else you might want to share with your clients.)
    • Online clinician directory for you to advertise your telehealth services.
    • Chat. (Handy if some participants don’t have microphones or are muted.)
    • The ability to create unlimited E-Documents that your patients can fill out and electronically sign while waiting for their appointment to start. (Good for intake forms, HIPAA documents, etc.)
    • Shareable whiteboards you can use to write or draw as you conduct your session.
    • Customizable links for your virtual waiting room.
    • 24/7 phone and email support.
  6. 2-14-2017: “Fix This ERA”:
    • Fix This ERA is a whole set of tools that allow you to work with those pesky ERAs that won’t allocate properly. For example, sometimes insurance companies send ERAs with negative balances as a way to adjust for previous errors on their part. Or maybe you’ve already allocated a client payment to the session that would cause the ERA to create a negative session balance issue. In the past, these kinds of ERAs couldn’t be processed without some extra work and creativity on your part. But now, with the help of the new tools that are part of the Fix This ERA feature, they can. Perhaps the best part is that you don’t have to navigate anywhere else in the program. The Fix This ERA tools appear on the same page as the problem ERA.
  7. 11-24-2016: At Rest File Encryption:
    • This release ensures that ALL files you upload to PSYBooks – whether through one of the file upload areas or as attachments in the Portal’s email system – are encrypted. Files have always been encrypted while they were in motion; now they are also encrypted ‘at rest’. In addition to uploaded files, this at-rest encryption applies to all PDF files generated by the program such as claims (CMS 1500 forms), statements, receipts, reports, etc. This new state-of-the-art encryption adds another tier to our safety commitment to you.
  8. 10-14-2016: Lower rates for large practices, group emails, ability to send PHI directly to support when you have questions:
    • Larger practices now pay a reduced rate of $40 per month for the first five practitioners in the same office and $25 per month for each additional practitioner.
    • Improved group email functionality in the Portal allows you to connect some of your own Portal Users with one another. For example, you can now connect your entire support staff, whether on-site or off, just by sending them a group email. This will enable them to use PSYBooks’ encrypted email system when communicating about your clients.
    • Added a “Contact PSYBooks” link in the Portal which will make it safe for subscribers to include client PHI when communicating with us on support tickets.
  9. 06-09-2016: Client Portal:
    • This was a huge release that included not only the client portal but also our encrypted email system. The portal is the interface between you and your clients and staff. Therapists can now exchange emails with clients or colleagues and know that it’s safe and HIPAA-compliant. PSYBooks’ email is encrypted both in motion and at rest. Furthermore, any attachments sent with emails are also encrypted.
  10. 12-18-2015: Billing Providers:
    • This release is specifically for those users who need the ability to list separate billing vs. rendering providers on the CMS forms you send to insurance companies. The Billing Providers release makes it possible for certain types of group practices to use PSYBooks. The tool was made with maximum flexibility in mind. For example, it covers situations where the practice may have more than one office, different billing providers at each office, and also when billing providers may vary by insurance company, or even by specific client or session.
  11. 08-01-2015: Release 1.1:
    • Added a new “Hide” tool to let users hide specific items in a chart’s Sessions & Payments tab. The goal of this tool is to make it easier to find things in the table. For example, you can now hide everything except unallocated client payments to allow you to allocate payments more easily.
    • Tweaked the Client Statement to make it easier for clients to understand.
    • Added functionality to allow subscribers to add and/or remove certain features they might want on their PSYBooks account, such as the ability to efile or extra storage space.
  12. 06-30-2015: With this release, we began a new system of giving each major release a name. We’re calling this one “Release 1.0” and it includes the following new features:
  13. 12-26-2014. Added a Notes & Reminders section to enable users to create editable “To Do” lists as well as other types of notes they need to maintain for their practice. The Notes & Reminders page is in the Tools section of the app (the older name for the Tools section was Reports).
  14. 11-20-2014. Added three new reports to the Financial Reports section: Claims & Statements, Past Due Accounts and Payments Received.
  15. 09-23-2014. Added “Contacts” sections to both the Library (for therapist contacts) and the client chart (for client contacts). This release includes the functionality to add additional payers to a client’s account.
  16. 07-07-2014. Launch