When you get ready to close your private practice, for whatever reason, you can’t just shut the door and walk away. Did you know that? Attorney Richard S. Leslie has written a thoughtful article in the January 2010 issue of the CPH & Associates Avoiding Liability Bulletin. In it he details some of the following for your consideration when you decide to close up shop:
- Ask yourself who needs to be notified – clients, former clients, insurance panels, landlords, supervisees, colleagues and business associates, referral sources, and your licensing boards;
“You Couldn’t Have Planned This if You Tried” by Ken Douglas / Today is a Good Day
- Your state may dictate certain actions that you must take when you close your practice;
- Consider the possible circumstances that might result in you closing your door – retirement, geographical relocation, health emergencies, financial circumstances, your own death, your spouse’ or partner’s death,and other unforeseen circumstances;
- Your professional code of ethics and HIPPA will certainly have standards that you must adhere to when closing your practice;
- How to notify existing clients;
- Subsequent maintenance, storage, and access to records;
- How to provide public notice of the closing;
- When and how to notify former clients;
- Why you may not want to terminate liability insurance policies when you close your practice;
- And, in the event of your death or incapacity to handle these things, who does it for you?
Every mental health professional and every professional coach is required to responsibly close their private practice – regardless of whether their closing is planned or unforeseen. Whether you’ve been in business for years or you are just now getting started, now is the time to take the steps necessary to prepare for the eventual closure of your practice.
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Great article, Tamara. As you know, I recently had to close my Louisiana practice when I moved here to Denver. I wrote a form letter to all current clients, clients I had seen in the past 7 years, and clients who I had seen as children under 18 years plus 7. I found that to be ethical one must have a Practice “Will”, stating who will be entrusted with keeping my client’s therapy records. I am very thankful to my peer who had the space and willingness to take my files. It was up to her to set her fee for anyone who needed access to them for therapeutic or legal purposes.
Claudia Trevithick, ATR-BC,
Registered Psychotherapist
Hi, Claudia! Welcome back!! Yes, Louisiana’s loss was Colorado’s gain!
You’re right, of course. We all need to have a directive in place to take care of our clients and their records when we no longer can do so. How fortunate for you that your colleague was willing and able to take over the care of your current and past clients. Moving out of state is technically different than a therapist dying or becoming incapacitated; nevertheless, they are all important things to consider when shutting the door to a practice.
Although the American Counseling Association has stated that every counselor needs to make these arrangements ahead of time, I wonder how many here in our online community have actually done so . . . .
I ran across this article and thought it had some additional good info in it – Issues to Consider When Changing Jobs and Terminating Client Relationships – http://ct.counseling.org/2016/07/issues-consider-changing-jobs-terminating-client-relationships/ .
And, this one, too – The Loss of a Meaningful Relationship – http://ct.counseling.org/2016/05/the-loss-of-a-meaningful-relationship/ .
Thanks ACA for keeping up the great work!