This past May, I attended a conference called Meet You in Kentucky (MYIK) hosted by Kasey Compton, where group practice owners come together to connect and learn. I was excited because my practice bestie and fellow group practice owner, Steph Korpal, and I had been invited to speak. As co-owners of The Practice Collab, our talk focused on “Meaningful Collaboration for Thriving Group Practice Ownership.” 

During the event, I met PracticeVital co-founders, Tory Krone and Madeline Larsen. I had heard about PracticeVital from another practice owner but hadn’t given it much thought. Honestly, I was skeptical. Managing a growing practice while trying to control expenses meant I wasn’t eager to spend money on another tool. However, after chatting with Tory and hearing how their dashboard could benefit group practices like ours, I decided to stop by their table.

While I wasn’t immediately convinced that we needed what they were offering, I did put my name down on their sign-up sheet, hoping to win the one-month free trial they were giving away. Whether it was luck or destiny, my name was drawn, and that’s when my deep dive into PracticeVital began.

Unveiling Hidden Issues in Our Practice

After a brief and easy onboarding process, I had my training session where I discovered insights about my practice that I had never been able to fully consider. As an insurance-based practice in Central Louisiana, our clinic had always appeared to be thriving. We had a great reputation and a stellar team of clinicians. In fact, we were preparing to pour more resources into marketing to support additional therapists we hoped to hire and onboard in the coming months. But when I looked at the data in PracticeVital, I was hit with a revelation: we didn’t have a marketing problem—we had a retention problem.

Despite our clinicians staying busy, the dashboard revealed that many clients weren’t staying with us long enough to truly experience the full benefits of therapy. This was a surprising discovery, one that would have taken me hours upon hours of combing through our EHR reports to uncover (assuming I had even calculated it correctly). But there it was, right in front of me—clear and undeniable.

Bringing the Team on Board

I decided to bring this new information to our leadership team. They were equally surprised and intrigued. While everything on the surface looked like we were doing well, we now understood that we needed to address our client retention if we truly wanted to make a lasting impact.

Next, we shared the data with the entire team during a staff meeting.  Collectively, we set out on a journey to dig deeper into the numbers and identify the barriers that were preventing clients from staying longer. I encouraged the team to be curious and ask important questions like, “How can we ensure the work we’re doing is impactful?” and “What can we do to support clients through the entire therapeutic process?”

Addressing Client, Therapist, Organizational, and Community Impacts

As we dove deeper into our dashboard, it became clear that the issue of retention didn’t just affect our practice—it had far-reaching impacts across multiple levels:

1. Client Impact: When clients don’t stay long enough to fully engage in therapy, they miss out on the opportunity to achieve the goals they initially sought to address. We knew that if we wanted to truly fulfill our mission of inspiring hope and change, we had to find ways to help clients stay in therapy for the recommended 8 sessions or more.
2. Therapist Impact: Early drop-offs disrupt the therapeutic process and can leave therapists feeling discouraged or burnt out. By understanding their PracticeVital metrics, therapists can see where they excel and where they can improve, leading to better client outcomes.
3. Organizational Impact: Better retention stabilizes our operations, reducing the need for constant marketing and allowing us to plan more effectively, ultimately improving care across the board.
4. Community Impact: By helping clients stay in therapy long enough for real change, we contribute to better mental health outcomes in our community, strengthening families, schools, and workplaces.

Creating a Plan for Change

With these insights in mind, we adopted a “No Client Left Behind” approach and created a plan to address the three key areas that seemed to affect retention the most:

1. Intake, Therapist Fit, and Expectations: We revamped our intake process to ensure that clients had clearer expectations about what therapy would look like, starting with more details added to our website about the therapy process. We also developed a welcome packet for new clients with a “What to Expect” letter within, and coached clinicians on conversations to have with clients during the first few sessions. 
2. Building Rapport and Clarifying Goals: We emphasized the importance of creating a strong therapeutic alliance early on. This included completing a treatment goals worksheet in the first session or assigning it as homework, regularly reviewing progress, and scheduling at least seven follow-up appointments upfront.
3. Setting Expectations and Scheduling Follow-Ups: We implemented protocols for what to do when a client misses sessions or drops out after only a few. For example, therapists are now to reach out to a team lead for consultation if clients drop off after three to five sessions.

Additionally, we started incorporating PracticeVital reports into our monthly therapist meetings, providing each therapist with personalized data on all of their key metrics. With a clearer understanding of their numbers, therapists began to identify patterns they hadn't noticed before. For instance, one of our child and teen therapists discovered that many of her young clients were being referred to occupational therapy or starting medication at the same time, which often led to early termination after just a few sessions. This realization prompted us to reach out to the referring provider and establish clearer expectations for therapy. 

Another therapist discovered a gap in prospective clients' overall understanding of what therapy is all about. With this new insight, we began brainstorming how to provide more education regarding what therapy is and how it works.  Overall, bringing PracticeVital to our team has encouraged therapists to reflect on their practices, engage clients in conversations about their experiences, and make small adjustments to improve both client engagement and retention.

Positive Changes and Growth

With easier access to our data through PracticeVital and a focus on retention, we're starting to see positive results.  Last month in our weekly internal newsletter, we shared tips for increasing rebooking rates, and therapists have become more intentional in their work, asking long-term clients what kept them coming back and applying that feedback to their new clients. One of our new therapists was almost fully booked within three weeks, thanks to improved processes based on the insights we’ve gleaned from PracticeVital, and now has new clients scheduled out for the next eight weeks.

Therapists are now comparing their PracticeVital reports to their EHR records to ensure no client falls through the cracks. We’ve shifted to truly engaging clients from start to finish, with clear goals and expectations. And instead of shying away from numbers, we’re using them as tools to help us stay curious and continuously improve.

PracticeVital has become an invaluable asset to our practice—not only for the data it offers but also for the meaningful conversations it has sparked within our team.  By focusing on data, we’re not only supporting our clients better but also aligning with our mission to inspire hope for change.

Sometimes, the numbers tell a story that we might not want to see, but in the end, it’s our responsibility to learn from the numbers if we want to create meaningful change.

Christy Pennison is a board-certified counselor and the founder of Be Inspired Counseling & Consulting, a multi-location group therapy practice in Central Louisiana. She is also the host of the Inspiring Possible Podcast, where she shares insights on creating possibilities in life and business. In addition, Christy co-founded The Practice Collab, an organization focused on helping group practice owners work less, earn more, and live their best lives. The Practice Collab creates a supportive space for owners to tackle challenges, achieve goals, and elevate their practices alongside peers on the same journey.

The Practice Collab is hosting The Collab Lab, an in-person event from October 16-18, 2024, in St. Louis, MO. PracticeVital will be a sponsor and speaker, offering valuable insights on how to make the most of your PracticeVital dashboard. For more information, visit The Practice Collab.  We hope you will join us!