Get ready for in-depth analysis of today’s private practice industry. Find understandings of how other mental health care practices operate and optimize their businesses in Owl’s 2018 Trends Report.
At Owl Practice, we’re big believers in data. We’ve compiled a report focused on the Canadian private mental healthcare industry in the past year. We wanted to take a deep dive into how Canadian mental health practitioners actually spend their working hours. Here’s a sneak peek at our findings!
At a Glance
Average percentage of appointments by day of the week
- Mondays – 17%
- Tuesdays – 22%
- Wednesdays – 21%
- Thursdays – 20%
- Fridays – 14%
- Saturdays – 4%
- Sundays – 1%
Week days vs. weekends
- 39% of practitioners see clients on weekends
- 20% of practitioners see clients after 5 p.m. on weekdays
Average number of sessions per month
- 41 average sessions per month
Session Trends
Patient sessions are at the heart of any mental health practice. The time you spend with your patients, spread out over the week, is what determines the total revenue for your practice. By using data to figure out which days you’re busiest and which you have some free time, you can optimize your workflow and schedule more clients into your less busy days.
Our data shows that the majority of client sessions happen in the middle of the week. 22% of all patient sessions are on Tuesday, 21% on Wednesday, and 20% on Thursdays. The beginning and end of the week are fairly busy, with Monday winning out with 17%. Friday only has 14%, still a busy day but winding down. Unsurprisingly, the weekends show the fewest client sessions, with only 4% happening on Saturday and just 1% occurring on Sunday (though these numbers are rising).
Keep in mind that a client session isn’t just the time spent in the room with them. It includes administrative work both before and after the session. The client needs to book their session by calling your practice and reminders need to be sent as their appointment gets closer. Then, after their session, it takes time to schedule a follow-up appointment, bill them, and update your session notes. Automate and optimize the administrative work of client sessions using Owl Practice.
Beyond the 9-5
The 2018 Trends Report shows that 39% of practitioners see clients on the weekends, and 20% seeing clients after 5 p.m. every weekday. Contributing to this stressful work is the time it takes to write clinical notes, schedule these appointments, and bill the clients. Owl Practice can help you develop workflows that will enable you to put in the same billable hours on the weekends and after five, while also helping to get you out of the office sooner.
Sessions Per Month?
How many sessions do you have every month?
Our data shows that the average practitioner has 41 client sessions per month. This is an average of both full- and part-time practitioners, not including non-billable clinical hours. When you factor in those extra hours, practitioners all over Canada are spending much of their time doing administrative tasks rather than spending their time with clients.
There are lots of ways that Owl Practice can help you streamline your practice’s administrative systems. For example, you can use Owl to streamline scheduling. With online booking, your clients can book their own sessions, freeing up time at your practice’s front desk. Automatic reminders can be sent out to clients the closer they get to their sessions. Even better, you can tie all billing and notes directly to a client’s session to help keep your session histories organized.
Billing can take a significant amount of time for any type business, and mental healthcare practices are no exception. By standardizing your invoices and receipts, integrating payment processing into your billing workflow (through Stripe), and using a workflow tool to help manage outstanding balances, you can significantly simplify your billing process.
Finally, taking notes in a client session is an essential part of their treatment. Instead of transcribing them in a text file or on a pad of paper, you can use Owl to write notes directly on your computer using web-based tools. You can even develop customized templates for common types of notes. And you can be assured that all of your notes will be secure on our servers using a PHIPA compliant tool that will also allow you access to them on the go.
Owl’s 2018 Trends Report on Canadian private practices confirms that much of the time practitioners spend at their office is spent on administrative tasks rather than working with clients. If you want to improve your workflow to free up more hours in the week that you can spend relaxing or seeing more clients, Owl Practice can help you with practice management tools built explicitly for Canadian therapists.
If you’d like a more in-depth look at all of our practice management features, please sign up for a free demo! If you have any questions or comments about our services, we invite you to contact us at support@owlpractice.ca.
Download the 2018 Trends Report here.
As always,
Practice Wisely
