July 7, 2020
To all of our clients at Mass Bay Counseling–
We know the last few months have been a whirlwind, a mixture of emotions across the spectrum. For many, 2020 has been challenging to say the least. We at Mass Bay Counseling are so grateful to be able to provide support to our community while everyone navigates this ‘new normal’ (anyone else getting sick of that phrase? I know we are!). Thank you for all of your continued patience and understanding as we also navigate through uncharted waters and shift our business model to best serve our clients.
While Massachusetts continues to show strong improvements in several key areas, and with us now being in Phase 3 Part 1, we are hopeful that by continuing on the same course will result in even better outcomes. For this reason, Mass Bay Counseling will continue to offer telehealth sessions to our clients. Insurance companies have continued to not only cover telehealth, but many have extended their cost-sharing programs until late 2020. In accordance with our the guidelines and recommendations from out professional organzations we will continue to engage in virtual services whenever possible.
With that said, we are preparing to return to the office and limited face to face sessions when the time is right. As many of you know, we have a beautiful new office space where each office allows at least six feet of space and all with windows for ventilation. We have made sure to be stocked with all necessary cleaning and disinfecting supplies. We have created policies and procedures around what the return to the office will look like, and want to share them with you so that if you are one of our returning clients, you will have an idea what to expect when we are ready to move back to in person sessions.
Our COVID19 Informed Consent reviews information pertaining to Risks of Opting for In-Person Services and Your Responsibility to Minimize Your Exposure, Policies around In Person Sessions, If You or Your Clinician Are Sick, and Your Confidentiality in the Case of Infection. Clients would be required to sign this form before returning to any in person visits.
Our COVID 19 Daily Attestation form would be filled out by the client EACH time they have an in person session, attesting they are not experiencing any symptoms and have not traveled to any high risk areas.
Your clinician will keep you informed as to when we are able to offer in person sessions. Please keep in mind that we will only begin operating at a very limited capacity, so priority will be given to clients that meet specific clinical criteria, such as being a possibly safety risk or needing a higher level of care.
As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the owner Alyson with any questions or concerns (alyson@massbaycounseling.com).
March 15, 2020
To all of our clients at Mass Bay Counseling–
As you may have heard, Governor Baker has made the decision to close all public and private K-12 schools in the State of Massachusetts until April 7th. Additionally, multiple unprecedented restrictions have been put into place with an emphasis on extreme social distancing.
It is with this recommendation that Mass Bay Counseling is transitioning to telehealth sessions effective this Tuesday. We know that for many clients this might be something you’ve never considered, but telehealth sessions are a vital tool in continuing to provide excellent treatment while protecting our clients, our staff, our families, and the community we serve.
As of Tuesday, March 17th, Mass Bay Counseling will ONLY offer telehealth sessions for our clients.
A few things to mention about this time-limited transition:
- On March 15th Governor Baker ordered that all commercial insurance companies lift any telehealth barriers during this pandemic. Your patient financial responsibility should remain the same. We are still working on identifying Medicare’s policies but believe they will follow suit as well.
- According to Gov. Baker’s order, both telephone and video sessions should be covered by all insurance plans.
- Your therapist will be reaching out to you to discuss scheduling. Because Mass Bay Counseling understands the ability to schedule sessions at the same time in these circumstances may not be the same as in-person, please speak with your clinician about your availability and scheduling.
- You will most likely receive an email to create an account on our patient portal through Theranest, our electronic health care system. This will allow you to make payments online and fill out any paperwork that may be required.
- If you have concerns about what an online session is like, reach out to Katey at support@massbaycounseling.com and we can schedule a short test run.
- Mass Bay Counseling respects everyone who prefers in-person sessions. We want to work with you where you are more comfortable; however, the need to be responsible stewards of health is a priority.
- All video sessions will be conducted via our electronic health care record platform. No additional software is required, and sessions can be done on most smartphones, tablets, or computers.
- Your clinician will switch the location of your session from in office to telehealth.
- Appointments will resume at the office once the spread of COVID 19 has slowed and local and federal governments lift restrictions.
As such, and as always, the priorities of Mass Bay Counseling remain the same: To optimize our clients well-being. We ask you do not automatically disqualify the idea of a telehealth session and Mass Bay Counseling will return that consideration and work with you on being reasonably flexible on the cancellation policy.
We have an amazing team here at Mass Bay Counseling and I know that we will be able to continue to provide you with the support you need in order to move through this challenging time.
Alyson Skok, Owner