Therapist Assistant: Note Finalization Process (SOAP 2.0)

Therapist assistants can finalize notes in SOAP 2.0 as long as all three related settings are turned on. The user must have permissions at multiple levels:

• Clinic Setting
• Insurance Setting
• User Settings 

Let’s review how to turn on each permission.

Clinic Setting

1. As a Clinic or Company Admin, open the company drop-down on the EMR Dashboard, and select Clinic Settings.
   
2. Under Therapist Assistant Note Finalization, select On and click Save Settings. This permission defaults to ON for all clinics.
   

For more information on clinic settings, click here.

Insurance (Payer) Setting

For an assistant to finalize documentation, they must also have permissions for each insurance payer they will be creating documentation for. Edit the insurance record, check the box for Allow therapist assistance to finalize notes, then Save.

For more information on insurance settings, click here.

User Settings

1. Click User Manager from the Company Drop-down.

   

2. Enter the user information in the User Search to find the therapist assistant you want to allow to sign notes.

   

3. Once you've found the user, click Edit.
4. Select Finish SOAP Notes from the Permissions drop-down.
   
5. When the dialog box appears, select Yes, I understand to confirm a signature is selected and Save User.
   

For more information on user permissions, click here.

Therapist Assistant Note Finalization

Once the permissions are enabled, the Sign option becomes available for the therapist assistant in SOAP 2.0. 

1. Complete the documentation and click Sign.
   
2. Select the Supervising Therapist from the Select Supervising Therapist drop-down and click Apply. 
   
   Note: The therapist assigned to the case will populate the Supervisor drop-down by default, this can be changed using the drop-down.
3. Both the assistant and supervising therapist's names will appear on the finalized note.
   
4. The patient’s chart will show the assistant’s name in the Therapist column.
   

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

Billing Integrations

If you have a billing integration, allowing your assistants to finalize notes may impact your subscription. Please contact your billing software to determine whether you will need to add additional licenses for assistants who finalize documentation.

WebPT Billing

If your therapist assistant was not entered into WebPT Billing during your database setup, contact claims@webpt.com to add your assistant into WebPT Billing once the note has been finalized in the EMR. 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 in WebPT Billing, without the provider needing to co-sign the note. This is specifically designed for jurisdictions in the United States that do not require providers to co-sign notes for therapist assistants, and will not apply to everyone.

Therabill

Anyone who finalizes notes in WebPT must be a Provider in Therabill (this includes assistants). Because Therabill charges per provider, you will need to purchase an additional provider license for each assistant who finalizes notes in WebPT. If you choose to allow an assistant to finalize notes in WebPT but do not add them as a provider in Therabill, any notes the assistant finalizes will create an HL7 error.

For more information about adding providers in Therabill, check out this article.