How To: Prepare for Scheduled TherapyNotes Maintenance

We're constantly working to improve our software, and this involves more than introducing new features. Occasionally, infrastructure changes that are designed to improve scalability and performance require us to take TherapyNotes offline.

In nearly all cases, maintenance is scheduled for weekends or early mornings when there are the fewest number of users actively using TherapyNotes. However, in the event that you have appointments scheduled or other work to take care of during scheduled maintenance, it's best to be prepared. We recommend taking the following steps so that you have everything you need to manage your practice and provide care while TherapyNotes is undergoing maintenance.

1. Sync Your Schedule to Your Personal Device

By syncing your TherapyNotes schedule to your smart phone or favorite calendar software, you can access your schedule even if TherapyNotes is offline.

To sync your TherapyNotes calendar with an external device or program:

• Click the User Icon > Settings > Sync Calendar With Other Applications
• Under Program- and Device-Specific Instructions, follow the steps for your chosen device or program

Please be aware that we only allow a one-way sync from TherapyNotes to an external device or program. This means that any changes made to your calendar through your external device or program will not be reflected in TherapyNotes. For more information, read  How To: Sync Calendar to Another Device or Program.

If you prefer to have a physical copy of your schedule or want to have another backup, you can print all of your upcoming appointments for the next month. To do this, click Scheduling and click the Print link at the upper right corner of your calendar. To choose which clinicians you'd like to include on your printed schedule, click the Set Calendar View button and select which clinicians to include before printing your schedule.

2. Download Client Contact Information

We strongly advise that each user has a copy of their clients' contact information while TherapyNotes is offline. This will allow you to reach out to your clients in case of an emergency.

To download a list of your clients:

• Click Patients
• From the Assigned to dropdown, select whose clients you would like to download information for
• From the Filter dropdown, select the status of the clients you would like to download information for
• Click the Search button
• At the upper right corner of the table, click the Export Spreadsheet link
• TherapyNotes will prepare your document in a blue bar at the bottom of your browser. When your spreadsheet is ready, click the Ready: Click to Download link

This contact information should be kept in a safe location. If you store this information electronically, be sure that it is saved to a secure, encrypted folder or drive. More information on encrypting your files can be found below.

3. Download Important Documents for Sessions

If you use any documents during your sessions or rely on documents to provide care, be sure to download these from TherapyNotes to a secure, encrypted location so that you always have them on hand. This may include copies of treatment plans, previous notes, relevant handouts, or crisis plans.

TherapyNotes encrypts all of the information and documents you add to your account, making your clients' information and sensitive documents unusable to hackers. It's important to take the same care when storing files locally on your computer.

If you use a Macbook, iMac, Mac Pro, or other device with the macOS operating system, you can encrypt all of your files using FileVault. For instructions, visit Apple Support and read  Use FileVault to encrypt the startup disk on your Mac. Alternatively, you can encrypt files on an external drive such as a USB by connecting the drive to your Mac, right-clicking on the drive in Finder, and selecting Encrypt. Keep external drives, even if they're encrypted, in a safe location.

If you use a Windows computer, you may need to install third-party software to encrypt your files. For more information and recommended file encryption programs, read  How to securely store and share sensitive files from Popular Science.

Encrypting your files means that you'll also need to lock your computer with a strong password. Take special care not to lose or forget this password—because your files are encrypted, forgetting your password means you won't be able to access your files at all until TherapyNotes comes back online.

4. Submit Outstanding Claims

As the scheduled maintenance period approaches, check your outstanding insurance claims and be sure to submit any claims for which the window to submit is closing.

To locate claims that are ready to be submitted:

• For electronic claims, click To-Do > Submit EDI claims OR click Billing > Submit EDI Claims
• For CMS-1500 claims, click To-Do > Create CMS-1500 forms OR click Billing > Create CMS-1500

For instructions on submitting electronic claims, read  How To: Submit Electronic (EDI) Claims. For instructions on creating CMS-1500 claims, read How To: Create CMS-1500 Claims.

5. Log In to Your Payeezy Gateway

While it's easiest to wait for TherapyNotes to be back online to resume charging credit cards, you can use your Payeezy Gateway as an alternative if TherapyNotes is offline. If you use TherapyNotes credit card processing and anticipate that you'll need to process cards while TherapyNotes is offline, verify that you are able to  log in to your Payeezy Gateway before the scheduled maintenance. Once logged in, you can process credit, debit, and HSA cards directly through Payeezy by clicking POS in the upper right of your account.

If you process any cards through the Payeezy Gateway while TherapyNotes is offline, be sure to enter these payments in your TherapyNotes account after the scheduled maintenance is complete.

To enter a payment from an externally processed credit card:

• Click Patients > Patient Name > Patient Billing tab > Enter Patient Payment
• From the Payment Method dropdown, select Externally Processed Credit/Debit Card
• Enter the Payment Date, Payment Amount, and Transaction ID
• Change the allocation as needed using the Allocation fields in the table
• Click the Save Payment button

For further instructions on entering payments, read  How To: Enter Client Payments.

6. Have a Way to Document Sessions and Operations

While TherapyNotes is undergoing maintenance, ensure that you have a way to securely document sessions, make note of scheduling changes such as new or missed appointments, and collect contact information for new clients.

If you decide to document sessions and operational changes on paper, make sure that these files are kept in a safe, secure location. If you elect to document sessions and operational changes electronically, take care to ensure that these files are encrypted and secure.