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Online counseling practice management software
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Jennifer F.
LMHC Owner
Mental Health Care, 1-10 employees
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Jennifer: Hi, my name is Jennifer. I'm a licensed mental health counselor and private practice owner....
Nathan H.
Counselor
Mental Health Care, self-employed
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Nathan H.: My name's Nathan. I'm a licensed professional counselor. I give CounSol.com a five out of...
Mary R.
Mental Health Care, self-employed
Used daily for 2+ years
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Benefits for scheduling and intake forms and billing.
Scheduling features. Reminders to client which they can choose preferences. New options and updates have been thoughtful to users and clients. Customer service is fast efficient effective and empathetic
Inability to have 2 emails for divorced parents that do not agree to share one log in. However, with new update news this was explained why it is not recommended to have two users for same client.
Amy B.
Mental Health Care, self-employed
Used daily for 2+ years
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Moving to electronic health records through CounSol.com has allowed me to access clients' charts when it's urgent, whether to access their contact information if I need to cancel unexpectedly, or even to locate a client's address when I needed to send emergency services to a client's home. Paper charts would have meant driving to my office to find such information.
I love the appointment reminders for clients, which helps to improve appointment attendance. I also love that Counsol is always adding updates, like recently offering Wiley treatment plans for an additional fee. This makes my charting so much easier and more streamlined. The interface is user-friendly and fairly intuitive once you get set up.
There are a few forms I'd like to be able to edit, like the psychosocial form, especially when I am seeing a child or adolescent. I'd like to be able to tailor the forms specifically for the client I'll be seeing.
Dee D.
Mental Health Care, self-employed
Used daily for 2+ years
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While I have been using parts of Counsol.com's features for many years, when the Covid-19 was coming at us like a train, I had to completely change my approach to providing my clients the support services they needed. I was able to pack up my practice, move out of my town office and reconstitute my practice at home, LITERALLY OVERNIGHT. Paper systems that I had had in place for 20 years had to be replaced with electronic systems. New paperwork had to be uploaded overnight for clients to sign. The only things that didn't change were me and the dog in the office. Without Counsol.com's multiple features and amazing support staff, I could not have provided uninterrupted services to my clients. WELL DONE COUNSOL.COM!
The change in accounting programs was the most challenging and nerve-wracking part. Nobody likes to have uncertainty about their finances, especially when it involves keeping track of insurance submissions, adopting a whole new payment system, and a change in software that you have to master quickly. While Counsol.com's system and my brain were clearly on different pages, the support staff was SO PATIENT and HELPFUL and RESPONSIVE to my pleas for help and easily untangled several issues that resulted from my insufficient understanding of how to use the accounting software. It would be helpful to have training videos on how to use the accounting features.
Anonymous Reviewer
Verified reviewer
Health, Wellness and Fitness, 1-10 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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We have been using CounSol for almost 5 years. It's been the best all in one solution for us. CounSol handles everything - billing, patient management, progress notes and treatment plans, online portal, video conferencing... Customer Service is downright excellent - super responsive and we've had the same support person since the beginning. Highly recommend.
Easy to use, short learning curve, great price, meets ALL of our needs. We looked at a lot of options that were way more expensive and didn't have the features CounSol offers. The ability for our clients to book and pay through the client portal (a lot of similar solutions do NOT allow clients to pay through the portal), the ability to use our merchant account and not being restricted to Stripe or similar - so we get better rates on our credit card processing. Love that we have the ability to customize our client portal with our logo and branding. And so many other customizable features - just can't say enough good things.
We don't like the lack of a mobile application - which CounSol has promised is coming. It's getting to be more of an issue for us because our online counseling with families and teens is increasing. We hope that this technology is available soon or sadly, we will be forced to find another product. The only other thing I would say is that the overall look could be more modern. But what it lacks in that area it more than makes up for in functionality.
Jennifer B.
Mental Health Care, self-employed
Used daily for 2+ years
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I have encountered one or two glitches in the 5 or 6 yrs I have had counsol.com. Each time, my concern was addressed timely and professionally. This is a system I can rely upon.
Initially, I liked the fact that I could purchase by the month. After using this software for years, I really like that my account has 1 dedicated tech/customer service rep. I like the ease of use of this software. There are very few technical “glitches” so I feel my data is very safe with Counsol.com.
Overall, I would rate the intuitiveness of the software about a 7 on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highly intuitive. That said, once I learned the system, it is very reliable and makes sense to me. You can get a financial report of income daily, weekly, monthly, yearly or any timeframe you request. I wish more statistical reports were available but what is offered is definitely enough for my accountant.
Jesilee B.
Mental Health Care, self-employed
Used daily for 2+ years
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I am extremely pleased and happy with CounSol. I recommend it to every colleague who mentions needing an EMR.
CounSol allows everything to be seamlessly intertwined, from the creation of a new account to billing at the end of a session. My clients are able to access their accounts easily, allowing them to securely message me, schedule and reschedule their own appointments, and complete necessary paperwork. This has reduced the amount of time I spend on office work significantly, so I can spend more time with my clients. Any and all of my questions are answered efficiently and respectfully by my designated account manager with CounSol. Additionally, the account manager setup my CounSol site to match my personal website.
The only aspects I struggle with are wanting to be able to create invoices for clients, allowing clients to pay their invoices with less of a surcharge, and having the diagnosis codes carry from case note to the invoice page. (At the same time, I'm positive I could ask my account manager for guidance. I just have not taken the time to do so yet.)
Myra B.
Mental Health Care, self-employed
Used daily for 1-2 years
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Love it! Customer service is the absolute best. It's added more hours to my day,
Customer service is superb. CounSol assigns you to an account manager, so you have the same person to train and help you with trouble shooting. I don’t have to wait days to get my urgent issue or question answered. My account manger gets back to me right away. The system was very easy to learn. I didn't have to rely on videos or attend group webinar trainings. Creating forms on Counsol was simple...
I sometimes make mistakes when I make changes to existing appointments in the Calendar. (I cancel the wrong session, schedule the wrong time, or forget to change the appointment to the correct office) I haven't need to use the video sessions.
Delee D.
Mental Health Care, self-employed
Used daily for 2+ years
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CounSol.com is a one-stop shop. I don't need a calendar system integrating with a telehealth platform or to have to create and send forms to clients for signatures. It is so easy to use and is like 2nd nature. As a solo-practitioner, this really encapsulates everything that I need. Customer Services is stellar. They are quick to respond, via phone or email, and very helpful.
I have used CounSol for years and did some pretty extensive research before deciding to land here. I have not regretted that decision. The platform is so easy to use. Set-up and personalization were not at all difficult and if/when I did (or do) run into a snag, customer services was easy to reach (and still are to this day!). The integration of clients, billing, scheduling, client portal, forms (easy to start with what's programmed and also to personalize to my business. The HIPAA compliant telehealth software has been pretty flawless throughout Covid and I look forward to using it in the future as well. I also strongly appreciate that Customer Service is approachable and responsive to suggestion for enhancements.
I truly cannot think of a thing that I dislike.
Clifton F.
Mental Health Care, 1-10 employees
Used daily for less than 6 months
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Ease of use, safety protocols are strong, support is excellent, user-friendly, easy integration.
1. Strong security protocols for both client & providers. 2. Ease in setting up. 3. Visually user-friendly design. 4. Excellent Tech support (something we've NEVER said about any program before). (tech assigned to us) is always friendly, patient & responds quickly, even after initial set-up. There's a 'submit help request form' & a well-organized "Help Manual" icon also available 5. We were able...
Forms layout could be refined a bit (greater horizontal layout ability, rather than vertical, would decreases of pages. It's the only concern any of our clients expressed, even though the registration process actually goes quickly. (Some people look at of pages or 'length' of a form, not actual of questions or the click-through ease of those questions).
Linda L.
Mental Health Care, self-employed
Used daily for 2+ years
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I love the fact that clients can complete their own biopsychosocial, leaving intake time to questions of the clinicians discretion while still meeting insurance compliance. Counsol.com makes most things easier for both clients and therapists and therefore is worth the cost over the free or nearly free practice platforms. Like in most things in life, "you get what you pay for " . I have used the so called free services. They are not worth it. I would rather pay a little and receive everything that Counsol.com offers.
Counsol.com takes most of the work of electronic record keeping out of my hands and makes compliance with regulatory requirements seemless and uncomplicated.
A follow up option with insurance compensation so that the reconciliation could be as easy as the initial billing would be a huge time saver.
Emily G.
Health, Wellness and Fitness, self-employed
Used daily for 2+ years
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I learned of Counsol almost 4 years and have had an incredible experience. Most striking is how invested and responsive Jonathan (my assigned representative) has been in helping me address any questions or needs. I am a bit technologically challenged, and yet found Counsol to be very user friendly, particularly because Jonathan was available to answer my questions over the phone and in real time. The...
See my review.
That it isn't yet offered to Group practices. I would love if the out of office feature for email could be set up on a recurring basis. i.e. I am offsite on Mondays and Fridays and would love to somehow represent that to clients on the calendar feature and in email response. (Maybe this is already possible though...?)
Anna S.
Hospital & Health Care, self-employed
Used daily for 1-2 years
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I use CounSol to manage my entire business. I don't know what I'd do without it. I do all my scheduling, billing, emails, and notes on it. It allows for internal notes for me verses progress notes that clients can view. It allows me to upload pdfs and photos. The customer support is excellent. My support person always gets back to me within 24 hours.
I like how I can put my own forms for clients to fill out and sign online without them having to print and pdf forms back to me.
There was a slight learning curve when I first started using the software, but once over that - it is fantastic for keeping all my documents, billing, email organized! I do wish it had the feature to put business expenses on here for ease of submitting for taxes.
Jennifer S.
Mental Health Care, self-employed
Used daily for 1-2 years
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This program has streamlined my practice. I have been able to lessen time on paperwork, billing, etc. and spend more time face-to-face with my clients.I also love the referral program where you get a discount for referring someone else! I also love that Counsol is on top of HIPAA compliancy and making the program more and more easy to use, current with the times, and improving the overall quality of the program. Thank you!
Very user friendly Modeled and tailored specifically for mental health providers This program has cut my "paperwork time" down significantly I appreciate that I can conduct nearly all my business through this program (billing, documentation, reminders for client appointments, video counseling, etc.) Customer service is very quick to respond and very helpful
Not much I would change. I really like this program! I wish there was a way to view upload files to the program (like maybe a "preview") without having to download them. I wonder if there is a way to build faxing ability into the program? (i.e. If I needed to fax a treatment plan to another provider, it would be incredibly time saving and convenient and also money saving (because I could eliminate separate fax service), if I could just fax through the program some how. Not sure if that is a possibility, but it would be great if there was a way. Lastly, I wish you could change margins, text size, etc. or something, so when you print a document it doesn't take up so many pages (this is hard to fax or mail and also creates excess paper files)
Allison S.
Mental Health Care, self-employed
Used daily for 2+ years
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I absolutely love Counsol. I have had several other EHR programs and feel this is the best fit for my practice. There are so many features, such as telehealth, secure email, secure journal, easy billing and credit processing, progress notes. The customer service is AMAZING! You get your own dedicated customer service person who responds very quickly and takes care of all of your questions and needs. They can customize forms and questionnaires for you as well.
The appearance of the program could be a little better but it is still pleasant. The advanced features for setting up labels for patients to fill out certain forms can be a little confusing but still a great feature that other programs don't have. The telehealth video conferencing doesn't have screen share or whiteboard features.
Davi S.
Professional Training & Coaching, self-employed
Used daily for 2+ years
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What is so great about CounSol is that everything you need for electronic medical records, billing and overall practice management can be found in this platform. It has been very user friendly to set up and clients can access anything they need from forms, handouts and superbills.
I needed plenty of time to set up a description of services offered as well as establishing the platform and billing third parties. But I was provided with support for these matters and once it is set up, it is very easy to use and modify as needed.
Elizabeth A.
Used daily for 1-2 years
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When looking for practice management systems, I researched many different options. I originally landed on Counsel because they offered the video feature within the practice management system, however I stayed with Counsol for the ease in features. I was able to upload my own forms, which made it feel like a more personal fit for my clients. The client portal allows clients to have access to their...
My major struggle is with the video component. It did not work well for me. Most of my clients did not have a large enough bandwidth to allow for the video to work. I finally ended up dropping the video portion of the system, and I'm using another video platform. I signed up for the video feature, however I stayed with Counsol because the rest of the features are so good.
David W.
Verified reviewer
Mental Health Care, 1-10 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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I'm very glad I was recommended to go with this program.
They allow us to influence direction, functions and reports. They're very receptive to comments and requests.
I wish invoice, client numbers, payment numbers and other program generated numbers had core digits sync'd somehow.
Kristina L.
Individual & Family Services, self-employed
Used daily for 2+ years
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My no-show rate wasn't great before I got CounSol. Now, it's very rare for me to have a no-show with their reminder texts. Confusion around scheduling is virtually eliminated. I used to have to do a lot by hand to create invoices, write notes, log communications and reschedule clients. CounSol has streamlined all of that. The option for clients to reschedule, print invoices, communicate with me and sign forms all online and all on the same interface is so great. My practice and my professional life are very organized now. Thanks CounSol for all you've done for me in all the times I've had to reach out. You've been consistently awesome!
The reminder texts has reduced my cancellations by 75% and increased my revenue as a result. The customer service has been amazing. I probably hound them too much about possible changes and they always hear my needs and and either forward ideas to their tech team or give me a really understandable reason why my request is may not help others. They've incorporated several of the suggestions I've made. They're really open to helping and taking feedback whenever they can and I've see the database grow steadily and quickly as a result. It's VERY easy to use which makes it great for those who are intimidated by technology.
Only tiny personal preferences really. Most of my requests they've incorporated. Pretty awesome.
Jonathan S.
Mental Health Care, self-employed
Used daily for 2+ years
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I tried and tested over 10 different online scheduling, billing, practice management options. Many had good features, but none had the range of flexibility I needed for my unique needs--except for CounSol, that is. For example, I primarily need it for scheduling and billing, but not for an online medical record (which it does very well though) as I use old school paper charts still. I can opt out...
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Christopher S.
Verified reviewer
Religious Institutions, 201-500 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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The platform is a real savings in my business and streamlines a lot of the work in my practice, from when I was a part-time solo practice to now being a multi-staff group practice. When other clinicians think about not taking this step, I think about the number of ways that it pays for itself - saved costs on handling billing, saved time on not handling client appointments, lowered no show rates from clients being notified, etc.
The customer service and ability to get adapted for the way you want things done is fantastic. Over the years I have been with them, this has been the case in small and large ways. The integration to be able to handle things all together, from billing to running a group practice is great. Clients appreciate the features in the client portal and I like the way I can integrate EHR features (like appointments) into other areas of my life outside of the EHR.
While having integrated online tools is a great feature and is helpful to help clients find it, there are limitations with the video platform that prevent me from recommending it as my primary video platform, although it is good enough as a backup platform. Additionally, as one of the smaller companies, there are a smaller number of colleagues to consult with compared to other EHR platforms, but that has been changing in recent years.
Chris M.
Health, Wellness and Fitness, 1-10 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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Its been great having everything in one place: my calendar, notes, treatment goals, billing and insurance. It is very easy to learn and find your away around. If I struggle with something my account manager rep is outstanding in service and gets back to me within a few minutes.
I love the video component, it has worked well for me most of the time. There have been a few call drops but not very often.
Right now I'm trying to get the office ally linked up to bill insurance and its been a pain in the neck. It will be helpful to have the ERAs sent to me so my accounts can be reconciled quicker.
Thank you for taking the time to write your honest review of CounSol.com. Please contact your account manager to assist you with connecting the clearinghouse and getting ERAs to post into your Counsol.com account automatically. Thank You CounSol.com Team
Michael S.
Verified reviewer
Health, Wellness and Fitness, 1-10 employees
Used daily for 6-12 months
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My overall experience after signing up for the software has been very good. The only hiccup I have had doesn't have to do with Counsol.com but instead with the individual insurance companies. I have received excellent support from my customer service representative at Counsol.com
The ease of use across multiple devices has been extremely helpful during the pandemic. The features within the software are intuitive and solved many of the problems I was having using a paper chart. I also liked that the clearing house they use to submit claims has been established in the industry for a long time. The integrated payment options have been a great time saver.
At first there were a few issues were not working well for me and my practice. This wasn't a problem for the developers at Counsol.com. They have resolved the issues and added features that I asked for. Having an online system is great because the modifications are available right away!
Fran P.
Mental Health Care, self-employed
Used daily for 2+ years
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I started using CounSol after transitioning from a large community mental health agency to my own solo practice. As I did not have the resources to hire someone to manage my scheduling etc, I needed a HIPAA compliant practice management program that would really manage my practice. CounSol has been extremely valuable. I have used it since I started my practice and still see no need to hire office management...
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Kim P.
Mental Health Care, 1-10 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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The customer service is outstanding! I have one person assigned to me and I can directly call him and ask questions, troubleshoot, etc. easily.
I work primarily with kids and many of the EHRs for psychologists are geared for adult clients. I love that CounSol allows you to create personalized forms, note templates, etc. I also really like the client portal feature so that I can be completely paperless and clients can access what they need 24/7 without having to contact me. I also really appreciated that it was very little work for me to set things up in the portal--I have direct access to a person who I sent my existing forms to and he magically made them show up in the portal.
One issue that I have is very specific to working with children, which I realize not all practitioners would need. I have many children I work with who have divorced parents and it would be very helpful to have the possibility of 2 separate parent log ins (2 separate passwords) for 1 child account. My understanding is that the coding involved in this would be extensive but it is complicated to explain to parents that they have to create 2 separate accounts to complete paperwork for 1 child and that only one of the 2 accounts is a "real" account.
Kaleigh B.
Mental Health Care, 1-10 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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Overall, customer service and general functionality has been great. From doing demos with other software companies, this one seems to be the best for practice management software.
This software is easy to use, it's pretty intuitive, and has all the features I need - scheduling, messaging, billing, reports, client portal. The customer service has been great and has always been very responsive.
It can look a little clunky and outdated. I also tried the video feature and it worked very poorly, so I discontinued using it. I'm not sure if it has improved since I used it.