How Metropolitan Psychological Services Cut Time in Half

Metropolitan Psychological Services is an award-winning mental healthcare practice that offers high-quality testing and psychotherapy to children, teens, adults, couples, and groups. Dr. Dana Lipsky founded Metro Psych Services in 2012 as the sole clinical provider. It has grown to a team of 17 clinicians operating out of two offices in Virginia. Patients are treated in person and via teletherapy sessions.

Jess Coleman is the Team Administration Assistant at Metro Psych Services. She helps clients with scheduling, billing, and appointment-related questions. We recently sat down for a virtual meeting with Jess to learn how our No-code Payments Integration® has transformed patient billing at the practice.

Integrated Payments Streamline Patient Billing at Metropolitan Psychological Services

Metropolitan Psychological Services has been a PayJunction customer since 2016, relying on our card-on-file and invoicing features to manage patient payments. Dr. Lipsky cited the user-friendly online payment portal, transparent pricing and excellent customer service as reasons for choosing PayJunction. 

MPS recently implemented our No-code Payments Integration browser extension, which allows Jess to initiate patient billing without leaving TherapyNotes*, a behavioral health practice management system (PMS).

PayJunction: Describe your primary responsibilities regarding patient billing at the practice.

Jess: I manage the intake queue for new patients, setting them up in our systems and entering card details for future payments. We primarily use the card-on-file feature to charge for services and email patients a digital receipt. We use the remote invoice feature for one-time services like patient evaluations. If a transaction gets declined, which can occur when a patient’s credit card, HSA or FSA plan changes, I’ll typically send a digital invoice so the client can enter payment details in an online form. Sometimes, I’ll take payments over the phone. I use PayJunction’s online portal to track payment status, process refunds, email receipts and run reports for each office and clinician.

PayJunction: What was the billing process like before you added No-code Payments Integration?

Jess: It took a long time. I would log into TherapyNotes to access each clinician’s calendar, look up each patient record and enter the amount due. Then I’d log into PayJunction to search for the patient, key in the billing details and charge the card saved in their record. New patients would need to be set up separately in each system.

PayJunction: Processing bills for 17 therapists and a diagnostic center sounds like a lot of work. How much time did you spend entering information?

Jess: Metro Psych Services bills for services three days a week: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. It took about four hours each day. I advised Dana that integrating payments with the PMS system would be more efficient.

PayJunction: Is that when you briefly changed processors? Tell me about that experience.

Jess: Yes. TherapyNotes offers integrated payment processing through a different provider, so we switched to try it out. We converted all patient records and implemented new processes to handle billing. Even though charging cards within one system was efficient, the new provider didn’t work for us. Dana noticed that transaction rates and fees were significantly higher, plus the solution lacked some management and reporting features. We concluded the benefits didn’t outweigh the extra costs. We reached out to PayJunction to see if you could help. 

PayJunction: We’re thrilled you did! That’s when you heard about No-code Payments Integration, our new browser extension that interacts in real-time with nearly any cloud-based software. What interested you the most?

Jess: I learned that No-code Payments Integration would let us add new clients without jumping between multiple tabs and information would automatically flow between the browser and PayJunction. So we ended up with the best of both worlds. We initiate payments without leaving TherapyNotes and get the features, rates and service we love from PayJunction.

PayJunction: Tell me what it was like to get set up.

Jess: Configuring the extension was super easy! It was accomplished in two Zoom calls. The support agent was great to work with. I walked him through the ideal user experience and he mapped the fields to make the process flow seamlessly. I told him I would like to be able to label the card type—such as HSA or Visa—and include the date it was entered into the system. He created a new custom field in a few minutes. There was no learning curve; it just worked as I described it!

PayJunction: How do you manage patient billing now?

Jess: I launch the extension and add new clients or process bills without leaving the PMS. I can run a single transaction, charge a card on file, send a digital invoice, retrieve and email a receipt, process a refund, and more. Once PayJunction approves the transaction, the information is automatically logged with the patient records in TherapyNotes.

PayJunction: How has No-code Payments Integration helped Metro Psych Services? What’s changed for you?

Jess: I love the extension! It’s cut the time I spend billing in half! I’ve freed up six hours a week to focus on strategic priorities at the practice and spend more time helping patients, Dana, and the Metro Psych Services team.

*The use of No-code Payments Integration with a browser accessing TherapyNotes does not indicate any partnership or direct integration with Therapy Notes.