Table of Contents
Understanding Progress Notes with TherapyFuel
How do I access TherapyFuel?
Simply open a progress note! Your To-Do List is full of links to notes you still need to write. Click on any Progress Note link, and you’ll see TherapyFuel at the top of the page. Flip the toggle on the right side to Use TherapyFuel, and you'll see the new features. First, select your Primary Approach to Treatment and enter a summary of the session. For best results, fill out additional sections of the note, such as Current Mental Status, Risk Assessment, and Interventions, then click the Generate Note button at the bottom of the page.
What needs to go into the Session Summary?
The session summary is used to help make sure each note is unique and accurately reflects what happened in session. You do not need complete sentences or proper grammar in the session summary – many times users have created amazing notes by simply pasting the notes they jotted during the session into the summary. Obviously, the more detail you provide in the summary the more TherapyFuel has to work with in creating your note. You can find the right balance for you of what information is needed to make notes you’re proud to sign off on.
I use an eclectic approach to treatment – how do I select more than one Approach to Treatment to accurately write my note?
Currently, TherapyFuel only accepts one Approach to Treatment when generating a note. However, TherapyFuel can easily accommodate using interventions from many different approaches by ensuring they are selected within the Interventions section of the note before generating. You can consider the Approach to Treatment as the primary framework used to conceptualize the case, which is how TherapyFuel can provide a consistent voice through the different sections of the note. Just like a CBT practitioner might occasionally pull in the Gestalt empty chair technique, or an ACT-focused provider might roll with resistance straight out of Motivational Interviewing, you can check off interventions from any approach in your list, and TherapyFuel will integrate them into your note for you, regardless of the Approach to Treatment you select.
What if I do not like the content generated by TherapyFuel?
Each section of your note is still editable after you generate content with TherapyFuel. You should always carefully review each section and make any necessary changes before signing your note. If TherapyFuel missed by a lot, you can use the rating system at the bottom of the note to give it a thumbs down. Please send a quick note to support about why you gave it the thumbs down rating – our team is constantly listening to feedback and improving TherapyFuel functionality.
Does TherapyFuel work for groups or couples therapy?
Currently, no. Just as we are continuing to roll out support for different note templates over time, we will continue to support different modalities in treatment as well. Group support will come with the group note template. Couples/family therapy support will be separate.
Why does TherapyFuel only support Therapy Progress Notes and Treatment Plans? Will it support Psychiatry notes, intake notes, etc. in the future?
It absolutely will! Rather than waiting until every single note template was supported, we rolled out support for Therapy Progress Notes as soon as it was ready for primetime to get valuable features in front of our customers as soon as possible. We’re continuing to work on TherapyFuel to expand its functionality to other templates as well. Additional functionality will allow you to re-work specific sections to get the wording just right or be able to dictate directly to the section.
I want to refer to my patients as “client” in the note or use a specific pronoun. How do I do that?
Use Clinical Voice Settings to customize how to refer to individuals in the session by navigating to Profile > TherapyFuel tab. Clinical Voice Settings also allow you to adjust your preferences for tone, formality, note length, language, and more; so your supercharged notes stay consistent and authentic with how you practice.
How much does TherapyFuel cost?
Free promotional access to select TherapyFuel features is currently available. If your practice prefers not to participate, a Practice Administrator can opt out of promotional access from the TherapyFuel settings page.
Once you fall in love with how fast and easy documentation becomes, you can go to Settings > TherapyFuel to enable all the powerful features for your practice. You will be able to choose to enable TherapyFuel on a per-clinician basis, meaning you can turn it on for those who will benefit from it and leave it off for those who will not. TherapyFuel will cost $40/month for each enabled user. This will include additional functionality as it becomes available and helps to cover the ongoing costs of utilizing AI.
Understanding Treatment Plans with TherapyFuel
What needs to go into Treatment Targets?
A Treatment Target is the specific issue or symptom the treatment plan aims to address. TherapyFuel uses the Treatment Target to ensure each generated goal is clearly aligned with what’s being treated.
Is Treatment Approach in Treatment Plans the same as it is in Progress Notes?
It’s similar to Progress Notes. TherapyFuel references the selected approach to inform tone, structure, and clinical techniques. For treatment planning, it guides how goals, objectives, and interventions are framed.
Besides Treatment Targets and Treatment Approach, what other information is used for TherapyFuel generation in Treatment Plans?
TherapyFuel takes into consideration diagnoses, presenting problems, demographics, historical treatment plans for the client, and common, historic interventions used by the clinician when generating goals, objectives and interventions.
How does TherapyFuel determine Estimated Completion of generated objectives?
TherapyFuel considers the practice's setting for Treatment Plan Length (default is 90 days). TherapyFuel makes sure that all estimated completions are within that time frame.
Can I adjust the number of generated objectives and interventions?
Yes, you can change the preferred number of generated objectives and interventions within the TherapyFuel tab of the Staff Profile by navigating to Profile > TherapyFuel tab. By default, it is set to 4 objectives and 3 interventions per goal for optimal generation.
Understanding TherapyFuel Scribe
What is the difference between TherapyFuel and TherapyFuel Scribe?
TherapyFuel refers to a full suite of AI-powered tools designed to reduce the administrative burden of being a therapist. Among the TherapyFuel tools is the ability to generate a progress note from a typed session summary. You need to manually enter information into the tool to generate the note. TherapyFuel Scribe works like a traditional medical scribe in the background of your session. You enable Scribe to listen in on either your in-person or telehealth session, and Scribe will generate a transcript for you, then use the transcript to generate your note for the session.
How do I know that TherapyFuel Scribe is not running when I do not want it to be?
TherapyFuel Scribe only accesses your microphone when you hit the record button. Even after you launch Scribe or a Telehealth session, you must click the record button for recording to begin. Most modern browsers include an icon to indicate that a tab is accessing your microphone and/or camera. You would see the same icon during a telehealth session. If that icon is not displayed, the website is not accessing your microphone and, therefore, is not recording.
Does TherapyFuel Scribe only work with TherapyNotes’ telehealth? Can it listen in on my other telehealth platform calls, or can I provide a transcription from a third-party platform?
TherapyFuel Scribe only works within TherapyNotes. It cannot access a third-party telehealth platform. You can always enter a summary of a session held outside TherapyNotes’ telehealth to TherapyFuel and still generate a progress note. At this time, we do not support uploading transcripts but it is being considered for the future.
Privacy, Security & Ethical Use
Do you have any documentation on the privacy of TherapyFuel?
TherapyFuel is covered under our BAA with you, just like any other feature in TherapyNotes. This means that any information used by TherapyFuel is subject to the same strict privacy requirements and security standards. Any vendor that participates in the functionality is required to have a BAA with us as well that meets or exceeds the same high standards we promise you, including strict limits on the usage of data to only provide the contracted service (and not train their tools, for example).
How has the AI been trained to write progress notes? Have you been mining our data to produce this feature?
We do not use a specially trained AI model with TherapyFuel. It is a stock model offered by our vendor that also does not learn from our use. The magic happens through prompt engineering by our highly trained data scientists working in collaboration with therapists with decades of experience writing notes. Industry best practices, audit requirements from dozens of major insurance companies, professional experience, and more come together to generate a high-quality progress note. Many iterations were tested, refined, and re-tested before we found a solution we were proud to offer. We continue to hear feedback and make updates to provide continuous quality improvement.
Does TherapyFuel use any PHI to help it write the note?
That is one of the biggest benefits of TherapyFuel as compared to other similar products – it is fully integrated into TherapyNotes, so access to PHI is covered under our BAA. You already enter client information into TherapyNotes, so TherapyFuel can do things like look at the client’s preferred pronouns on their Info tab to ensure it never misgenders a client. TherapyFuel can recognize the client’s age and will adapt its style to a pediatric session compared to one with an adult client. For each use, TherapyFuel gathers only the minimal amount of information it needs to write the highest quality note and discards all information once it generates the note for you. No data is retained when TherapyFuel generates your note.
How do you avoid bias when using TherapyFuel?
It’s important to recognize that it is impossible to entirely avoid bias in any AI-based feature, as the technology is so new that it is still inherent to the system. There are several ways we reduce the impact of bias, and more you can do as well. First, TherapyFuel is not intended to be a decision-making tool. It should not guide your decisions about treatment and is not a substitute for your own good clinical judgment. Second, we recognize the potential impact of bias when designing and implementing new functionality and work hard to eliminate it as best we can. Finally, you should always review content generated by TherapyFuel to ensure its accuracy and edit generated content as needed.
I have significant privacy concerns about TherapyFuel Scribe – can you give me more information on how it works?
We understand that entering the therapy session is one of the most confidential places to exist. TherapyFuel Scribe was built with a privacy-by-design approach in close consultation with therapists throughout the process to ensure that every step of the process focuses on protecting your information first and foremost. Recording only starts once you enable it and stops immediately on ending the session or when you stop it manually.
All audio data is fully encrypted in transit to our transcription processor. The transcript itself is encrypted and placed in limited-access storage, and the audio data is deleted immediately on confirmation of a successful transcript. Transcripts are only stored until the note for the session is generated and signed, or 30 days have passed (whichever is sooner).
Will you be selling TherapyFuel Scribe recordings or other AI-related data to any third party?
Absolutely not. Your data, including TherapyFuel Scribe recordings, is governed by our BAA with you. TherapyNotes never sells any data to any third party, and AI does not change this.
Is the Consent Form in the Library ready for us to use?
Every jurisdiction and profession has slightly different requirements for the consent process, and the requirements for AI-related consent are constantly evolving. We provide you with a template as a starting point but cannot guarantee that it perfectly meets the requirements of your specific practice. Consult with your lawyer if you have any questions about the applicability of the template.
I’m on the fence about using AI in a therapy setting, and I think there are too many ethical issues that need to be addressed before I feel comfortable with it. Do you have any additional resources?
AI is making a big splash and quickly disrupting many industries. Everything seems to be AI-focused, and sometimes it’s difficult to even understand what AI is. Several industry organizations have issued position statements or other publications on the use of AI in therapy:
The American Psychological Association wrote an article in the Monitor on Psychology about how to channel its power. It includes an evaluation form, a copy of which we completed for you to download and review.
The American Counseling Association wrote a series of recommendations for the use of AI in practice.
The American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy addresses the use of technology and AI in its docuseries, the Jobs of Tomorrow.