Supervised By: Therapist Assistant Finalization Setting

This feature is fully available for integrated WebPT EMR + WebPT Billing users and WebPT EMR + Therabill clinics.

In order to increase billing efficiency, therapist assistants can finalize notes once they’ve chosen a supervising therapist when documenting if they have the correct permissions. This removes the need for supervising therapists to cosign notes that were forwarded to them by assistants.

This feature is designed specifically for jurisdictions in the United States that do not require providers to co-sign notes for therapist assistants, and will not apply to everyone.

Previously, when therapist assistants finalized a note in the WebPT EMR, the assigned case therapist in the WebPT EMR would automatically be applied as the supervising therapist in Therabill, and therapist assistants could not choose a different supervising therapist.

We’ve enhanced this feature to support better billing practices by giving therapist assistants the option to choose a different supervising therapist for situations where the Assigned Case Therapist may not be physically present, such as when they are on leave.

For therapist assistants to use this functionality, the following criteria must be met:

The clinic must be integrated with WebPT Billing or Therabill;
The Therapist Assistant Finalization Clinic Setting must be On (click here for instructions);
The Therapist Assistant Finalization Insurance Setting must be On (click here for instructions),
Each therapist assistant must have the Finish SOAP Notes user permission enabled (click here for instructions).

For clinics integrated with Therabill, there are some additional pieces of criteria that must be met:

Both the supervisor and assistant must have a Therabill license for the note to successfully transmit.
The assistant must be correctly set up as an assistant in both WebPT and Therabill for claims to be billed under the supervisor’s NPI.

Using Supervised by When Finalizing Notes

Let’s review how the feature works when an assistant is finalizing a note and the above criteria have been met. Once the assistant reaches the billing tab of an evaluative note or the plan tab of a daily note, they will have the option of forwarding or finalizing the note. The therapist assigned to the case will populate the Supervisor drop-down by default but can be updated.

Note: when an assistant forwards or finalizes a note both the assistant's and supervising therapist’s initials will display on the patient chart.

Finalizing the Note in SOAP 1.0

Select the Supervised by button
Choose the supervising therapist from the dropdown menu
Click Preview Daily Note or Finalize Daily Note

Note: The Assigned Case Therapist will be the default option in the Supervised By dropdown. Therapist assistants will only need to choose a different therapist when the Assigned Case Therapist is not physically present, such as when they are on leave.

Finalizing the Note in SOAP 2.0

Click Sign
Choose the supervising therapist from the Select Supervising Therapist dropdown menu

Note: The Assigned Case Therapist will be the default option in the Supervised By dropdown. Therapist assistants will only need to choose a different therapist when the Assigned Case Therapist is not physically present, such as when they are on leave.
Click Apply

How does this appear in the WebPT EMR and in Analytics Reporting?

The note will show that it was finalized by the therapist assistant, with a small note in the PDF indicating it was finalized under supervision.

What does this mean for the claim in WebPT Billing and Therabill?

The claim will be billed under the provider selected in the Supervised By drop-down, just like the Forward function. This means that the supervising provider’s NPI will appear on the claim, without the provider needing to co-sign the note.