Private Practitioners Group Resources

The Private Practitioners Group aims to support Licensed Clinical Social Workers working in part time and full time solo private practice as well as those contemplating developing a private practice. 

• Subscribe to the free PPG Newsletter for LCSWs
• Frequently Asked Questions about the Private Practitioners Group

Resources/Links

Please note: while most of the following links are accessible to anyone, some require NASW membership, and members will be asked to log in using their ID number and password.  

Practice Building

• Build Your Private Practice in 8 Easy Steps
  
• 12 Tips for Managing Managed Care
  
• Grow Your Private Practice is an occasional topic of the Private Practitioners Group meetings.
  
• Niche Marketing: Is It Right For Me?
  
• Getting the Most From Your Online Directory Listing
  
• Using Strategic Networking to Build Your Private Practice
  
• For Eager Clinicians: Getting Ready for Private Practice
  
• Beginning and Ending With Practice Building In Mind
  
• Private Practice Marketing
  
• Ethics and the Business of Private Practice
  
• "Creating A Prosperous Private Practice"
  NASW NYC's Continuing Education workshop
  
• Breaking Free of Managed Care: A Step-by-Step Guide to Regaining Control of Your Practice, By Dana Ackley
  excerpt
  
• Psychotherapy Finances

Licensure

 NY State Education Department

Is An LCSW Authorized to Practice Everything Under The LCSW Scope Of Practice?

Social Work Licensure & Practice in NYS: an NASW NYS Informational Video

Part 1: Overview of Licensed Practice
Part 2: Requirements and Scope of Practice
Parts 3 & 4: FAQs

General Resources for Private Practitioners
NASW National's Directory of Resources for Clinical Social Workers in Private Practice

Insurance and Managed Care Issues

• Licensed Clinical Social Worker "R" Psychotherapy Privilege
  Office of the Professions, NYS Education Department

• 12 Tips for Managing Managed Care
  
• Obtaining the NPI
• Legal Issues in Health Insurance Audits
• Waiver of Copayments and Deductibles (Legal Issue of the Month)
  
• In & Out of Network Providers' Rights & FAQs re Challenging Adverse MCO Determinations

• Insurance Company Collection of Overpayments Generally Restricted to 24 month Look-back

• Big Squeeze: No Research? No Reimbursement” in Psychotherapy Networker, January/February 2010
  
• Mental Health Parity
• MIB Group, Inc.
  “MIB is an association of over 500 U.S. and Canadian life insurance companies providing information and database management services to the financial services industry. ..MIB's core fraud protection services protect insurers…. from attempts to conceal or omit information material to the sound and equitable underwriting of life, health, disability, and long term care insurance. Fair pricing of insurance products is largely dependent on accurate "risk assessment", "risk classification", and "risk selection". A determination of these factors begins with the assurance of accurate health information supplied on the insurance application concerning the proposed insured.”
  
• Filing Complaints with the New York State Department of Financial Services
  
• Reform of the Out-Of-Network Reimbursement System
  
• Open Letter to NASW-NYC Members Regarding HIP's Plan to Decrease Reimbursement Rates

Diagnostic Coding

♦ Why you need to purchase or have ready access to the DSM-5

♦ DSM-5

♦ ICD-10 Required On October 1, 2015: Here’s What You Need To Know

CMS 1500 Claim Form

♦  CMS 1500 Claim Form Instruction Manual & Sample CMS 1500 Claim Form
♦  CMS 1500 FAQ
♦  New CMS-1500 Claim Form Required Starting April 1, 2014

CPT Codes

♦  Most Frequently Used CPT* Codes

♦  New Psychotherapy Codes Take Effect January 2013

♦  2013 Psychotherapy Codes, American Psychological Association Practice Organization

♦  CPT Code Changes, American Clinical Social Work Association

♦  NASW Webinar: Psychotherapy Codes: Major Changes for 2013 [available on demand (archived) in mid-January; NASW members only (have your NASW ID number ready]

♦  CPT Coding 2013 Changes, American Medical Association's 1-hour Webinar

♦  CPT Code Changes for 2013, American Psychiatric Association

 CAQH

♦  CAQH Home Page

♦  CAQH Provider Guide

♦  CAQH Registration

♦  CAQH List of Participating Health Plans

♦  CAQH Provider Help

                               1-888-599-1771

Silent PPOs

♦  Assurance of Discontinuance Agreement Between NYS Attorney General & Multiplan (2010)

♦ Alert to Clinical Social Workers Re: Insurance Payment

♦  Special Alert for Private Practice Members- Three Rivers

Medicare

♦  2013 Medicare Changes (NASW Practice Perspectives)

♦  Medicare Enrollment Application (855I)

♦  Documenting For Medicare

♦  PECOS (Internet-based Provider Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System)

♦  National Government Services (Medicare Local Contractor)
    866-837-0241

♦  Medicare Claims Processing Manual

♦  National Government Services Provider Enrollment Specialist:
    888-379-3807 or 717-565-3948

♦  Medicare Requires New Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) to Replace Social Security Number On CMS 1500 Claim Forms Effective April 2018

PQRS
           ♦ PQRS Frequently Asked Questions 

              ♦ Using PQRS Measures (NASW members only)
              ♦ Reporting PQRS Measures: NASW Archived Webinar (March 18, 2013)              
              ♦ PQRS Financial Incentive Program   

Medicaid

♦  Medicaid Enrollment

♦  December 1, 2017 Deadline for Managed Care & CHP Providers to Enroll in Medicaid & Medicare

• A Few Notes About Documentation
  
• Office of the Professions, NYS Education Department Practice Guidelines: Documenting the Provision of Services
  
• Psychotherapy Notes and Reimbursement Claims
  
• Prudent Practice: A Guide For Managing Malpractice Risk
  including sample forms on CD-Rom and paper
  Houston-Vega, M. K., Nuehring, E. M., & Daguio, E. R.
  NASW Press
  
• The Paper Office for the Digital Age: Forms, Guidelines and Resources to Make Your Practice Work Ethically, Legally and Profitably
  by Edward L. Zuckerman and Keely Kolmes
  Guildford Press
  
• Clinical Record Making & Keeping: Essentials for Risk Management & Ethical Practice
  Edward Zuckerman PhD
  3 or 6 hour presentations available on DVD, CD or streaming video free sample audio and handouts
  
• Documenting For Medicare

• Release of Records and Client Privacy (Legal Issue of the Month, Oct 2011)

• Children’s Treatment Records: Parental Access and Denial (Legal Issue of the Month, June 2010)

• Privacy Protections for Deceased Clients’ Records (Legal Issue of the Month, October 2010)

 HIPAA

♦  Practice Update: Omnibus HIPAA September 2013
♦  HIPAA Highlights for Social Workers, NASW
♦  HIPAA Compliance Manual for Small Mental Health Practices in New York State
    Bruce Hillowe, J.D., PhD
♦  HIPAA Help by Edward L. Zuckerman PhD
♦  HIPAA Help: The American Mental Health Alliance
 

TelePractice

• Office of Professions’ TelePractice Guidelines
• Guidelines for the Practice of TelePsychology
• Draft of Technology Standards in Social Work Practice (July 2016)
• Practice Guidelines for Video-Based Online Mental Health Services 
• Practice Guidelines: Engaging in TelePractice
  Office of the Professions, NYS Education Department
  
• Online Exposure: Social Networks, Mobile Phones, and Scams Can Threaten Your Security
  
• Social Workers & Skype, Part I, (NASW Legal Issue of the Month)
  
  • Social Workers and Skype, Part II, Telemental Health Law
    (Legal Issue of the Month, April 2012)
  • The Skype Therapy Illusion and the Myth of Functional Equivalence
    

• Using Social Media in Private Practice
   
• Online Therapy and the Clinical Social Worker
  
• Social Workers and E-Therapy
  
• Telehealth, Tele-Medicine, E-Therapy, Online Counseling, & Tele-Mental Health OnLine Resources
  
• Practicing Distance Therapy, Legally & Ethically, APA Monitor On Psychology, March 2012

• Social Workers, Smartphones and Electronic Health Information
  (Legal Issue of the Month, May 2012)

• TeleHealth Summit: An Online Course

Taxes

• Obtaining an EIN (Employer ID Number) as a TIN (Tax Identification Number) Can Protect You From Identity Theft
  
• IRS Tax Center for Self-Employed Individuals
  
• NY State Estimated Tax Forms and Instructions (IT-2105)
  
• NYC Unincorporated Business Tax Reduction Begins with 2009 Tax Year
  
• Business Expense Deductions for Psychotherapy

Ethics

• Free Ethics Consultations for NASW Members
  NASW Office of Ethics and Professional Review
  202-336-8231
  Tuesdays 10am - 1pm
  Thursdays 1pm - 4 pm
  
• Ethics and the Business of Private Practice
  
• Ethical Standards in Social Work: A Critical Review of the NASW Code of Ethics

Risk Management Resources

• Free Risk Management Hotline for NASW Members
  800-897-0033
  This hotline provides risk management consultations intended to help NASW members avoid licensing board complaints and malpractice lawsuits.
  
• NASW Assurance Services provides professional liability insurance (including the aforementioned risk management hotline benefit) through NASW.
  Insureds with other questions about their professional insurance can contact NASW Member Services for more information: 800-742-4089.
  
• Prudent Practice: A Guide For Managing Malpractice Risk including sample forms on CD-Rom and paper. Houston-Vega, M. K., Nuehring, E. M., & Daguio, E. R. NASW Press
  
• NASW Assurance Services Practice Pointers

• Is An LCSW Authorized to Practice Everything Under The LCSW Scope Of Practice?

Legal

• NASW: Legal Issue of the Month
  The “Legal Issue of the Month” is a compilation of articles authored by NASW’s legal staff. Each article provides an overview of a specific legal topic of relevance to social workers. Topics are updated monthly and previous topics remain available for viewing. Titles include Social Workers and Psychotherapy Notes, Social Workers and Record Retention Requirements, and Children’s Rights to Confidentiality, among others. NASW membership ID and password are required for access to this valuable members only resource.
  
• Closing a Social Work Private Practice (Legal Issue of the Month, June 2011)

• Professional Wills

Gun Control Legislation Reporting Requirements (2013)

♦  NY SAFE Act FAQs

Protecting Ourselves

• Keeping Ourselves Safe
  
• Organizing for Office Safety

• Identity Theft Precautions for Private Practitioners

LMSWs Preparing for Private Practice:

• For Eager Clinicians: Getting Ready for Private Practice
  
• NYS Education Department: LMSWs and Private Practice
  
• Engaging in Clinical Private Practice Without the LCSW: What LMSWs and Supervisors Need to Know

Just For Fun

• Discount Theater Tickets for Freelancers through Theatre Development Fund