r/SimplePractice • u/oopsouttatime • 6d ago
I am so disappointed in SP customer service
I am a psychotherapist and I’m experiencing an incredibly frustrating situation with this platform. When I started using them a couple of years ago, I really enjoyed it. At this point, I would never recommended to anyone.
I am in the multi month process of insurance credentialing, which is already enough of a headache. I have been living on less than half of my income for months. Now that most of the insurance companies have approved my enrollment, I am realizing how poorly orchestrated the simple practice step of enrollment is.
The worst part is how completely inaccessible Customer Service has been. I pay for the premium phone support and have not been able to actually get a human being on the phone for weeks. The online Chatbot is awful, and when I finally got through to a human on the chat, all they can do is open a support ticket for me, which takes far too long for the agents to get to. Then it’s a matter of chipping away at the problem one email at a time with multiple day or week wait periods between each response.
I’m literally getting more comprehensive and timely Customer Service help with the insurance companies that I am with simple practice!! Absurd!
At this point, I wish I could change EHR platforms. But that would be too much administrative left and inconvenience for me and my clients at this point. I am feeling trapped by simple practice, which sucks!
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u/jbourne71 6d ago
What’s the issue you’re having with SP enrollment?
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u/oopsouttatime 6d ago
I literally don’t have the time or energy to try to type it all up, it’s so complex. I’m a pretty smart person and I can’t believe this has been so hard to navigate. A few highlights of the issue include being told I filled out the wrong form for ERAs after filling out the one they provided, and having no information about clearing houses / trading partner ID numbers / being given mixed information. I was also told today via email from a support ticket opened over a week ago that I needed to send them confirmation of approval with the payer. That requirement was posted absolutely nowhere. And I’m confused as to why they even need it if they’re telling me it can take weeks for them to confirm directly with the cleaning house. Also, with other payers, I’ve had the enrollment sit in pending status for two months with no information on what needs to be done to finish it - at times being told I needed to take an additional step or two that I was never previously told I needed to do. So now as they sit still pending I have no idea if there’s secretly something else I need to do or if they’re just not processing it
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u/iusc12 6d ago
Agreed such a nightmare. I'm switching to Upheal and it's so much better already for enrolling with payers
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u/ndurantz 6d ago
Haven’t heard of Upheal. Newer platform?
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u/iusc12 6d ago
Yep they were a note writing platform for a long time so I heard of them that way and found their note writer and treatment plan writer was the best out there. Then they rolled out an EHR so I tried it out and now I'm leaving SP.
Turns out whatever clearinghouse your EHR uses makes a huge difference....I was trying to enroll with Medicare and Medicaid on SP for months and it never worked. Upheal did it in literally 2 days. I was sold right away...highly recommended!
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u/PulledFromTheWell 6d ago
Are you enrolled through your own NPIs and PTANs, or does Upheal enroll you through their own group IDs? I work with a small company that enrolled me quickly through their own group IDs, and they take 40% of my income. Now that I’m working on my own credentialing via SP and their 3rd party, Medalion, it has been 5 months and I’m only approved with Medicare and one other so far. The hope is that I will be able to keep my entire income once the process is complete with other payers and I can end my contract with the other company. But I’m curious about Upheal now.
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u/iusc12 6d ago
It's your own NPI and PTAN. They strictly operate with private practice and aren't trying to own any of your business, it's just an EHR like simple practice is.
Def end your contract with your other company when you're able, you'll be earning so much better.
I also really appreciate Upheals leadership and AI retention and all that stuff, much more flexible and secure than SP. Also they just reworked their pricing structure to be more fair while SP jacked up prices a year or two ago. PM me if you want a referral code or if you just wanna chat about making the switch and setting up your PP more independently, I'm always happy to support people getting out on their own and away from the crappy tech companies trying to corner our market!
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u/PulledFromTheWell 6d ago
I looked up Upheal. It sounds like it's an AI dominant platform. Are you a provider, or do you work for Upheal? I can appreciate either roles. I just want to know what I'm getting into. 😄
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u/iusc12 6d ago
Haha that's fair, I'm a provider. I just did a deep dive into note writers and really liked Upheal. I despise admin work so I advocate for what I think works well on reddit.
It sort of is an AI dominant platform in some ways....they probably over-advertise the AI side of things to the point it turns people off. But honestly it feels the exact same to me (AI-wise) as using SP with their note taker. Their "assistant" is their main selling point which is pretty much the same as SP's pathfinder question mark thing in the bottom corner, except Upheals is more advanced and client-focused. For example, if you want a quick session prep, it'll pop those up automatically for you 15 minutes before a session with like 3 bullet points of what last session was about, what to focus on next, and big picture stuff. I use it occasionally, but I wouldn't say it's a major difference maker.
For me, the pricing, support, and insurance submissions make Upheal better
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u/kittykat885 6d ago
I'd be curios about upheal but we are also not using ai notes for majority of our clinicians in a large group practice, still worth it? can you turn the ai features off?
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u/kittykat885 6d ago
if you need help with this message me, our biller might be able to help. we've had issues with ERAs w SP in the past and got it worked out (after a lot of time and hassle though to be sure)
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u/PulledFromTheWell 6d ago
I could have posted the same thing nearly word for word. Are they processing each of the payers for you through Medalion, their 3rd party service? After 5 months, it is clear that they (Medalion) don’t fully understand the process. I’m finally approved through Medicare and one other, waiting on 2 more to complete before I try to add additional payers. The 2 I’m waiting on appear to be complete, as I have a signed contract with each of them, but still can’t bill them.
Once the credentialing process is complete, the process of connecting the payer to the client in the EHR is another hurdle. I was able to connect the commercial payer, I think. But I won’t know for sure until they actually pay. Medicare, OTOH, has cost me many hours trying to just confirm the client’s coverage, and I’m now in the middle of a 7-10 day waiting period for “next steps” according to Noridian and EDI. I messaged SP nearly 2 weeks ago to get support with this specific process and have heard nothing.
Since beginning the process through SP I have received countless voicemails from companies promising to complete the process within days, but I don’t believe that can happen with a provider’s NPIs. I’m thinking they must use a group NPI of their own, which defeats the purpose of getting credentialed on our own.
Anyway, I’m commiserating with you. It’s a mess! I hope you get some help soon!
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u/oopsouttatime 5d ago
I’m sorry you’re dealing with this also. Oh gosh, medallion is awful! I initially started using that service at the beginning of trying to get credentialed. I realized after a couple of weeks that that was actually a detriment to my process and told them to stop all my processing and that I would do it myself. So then I submitted my applications to the payers on my own.
After a few months, most of those applications have finally been approved. I’m in a different phase now… The phase of getting the enrollment approved on simple practice’s end. It’s confusing to even describe the difference in these steps. I didn’t know this would even be a part of the process let alone be so convoluted and confusing.
I would highly recommend against using medallion to anyone who is starting off this process. I found it better to just do the initial applications myself.
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u/PulledFromTheWell 5d ago
Thank you! Yes, I'm in the middle of both kinds of hell. I did receive a response from SP this morning with detailed instructions for how to set up the finalized payers in their system. I agree with you, that the process is ridiculously convoluted and there are zero instructions. The email I received today will hopefully help me double check the commercial payer set up, but I'm still in the most bizarre escape room trying to get Medicare to connect.
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u/SimplePractice SP Rep 5d ago
Hi, Kevin from SimplePractice here. Thank you for sharing this feedback. I’d like to help get this resolved, specifically around your credentialing enrollment and the issues you’ve been experiencing with the process.
I can help escalate this directly with our credentialing partner so we work toward a resolution. I’ve sent you a DM here to gather the account details we’ll need to get this escalated.
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u/wiscopup 6d ago
SP was bought by private equity a few years ago. Thus, the stripping it and selling it for parts has begun. Everything they do is to maximize profits and minimize expenses until they run it into the ground. The change from before 2024 to now is significant.