This Psychology Practice Uses Spruce as a Secure, Reliable Phone System

Meet Dr. Abi Weissman

Dr. Abi Weissman uses Spruce's secure phone system

Abi is the owner and founder of Waves, a Psychological Corporation in San Diego, California, a two-psychologist group practice. The clinicians focus primarily on queer and trans-identified people and those who love them. They also help clients celebrate the gifts of having ADHD, negotiate Jewish and queer and trans identities, and find a sense a belonging in both the hearing and deaf worlds.

“I want my clients to know that I’m on their side and I will fight for their confidentiality to the best of my ability. Giving them options like the Spruce app allows them to feel safe and secure in their identity.”

Waves’ mission is to help its clients be comfortable with their identities, develop as individuals, and thrive in a society where they may face discrimination.

Secure and reliable communication is an essential part of Abi’s group practice. She puts the needs of her clients first and seeks to build a practice that values their privacy and well-being. Spruce has allowed Abi to shape her practice to align with these goals.


Challenge

Abi knows that reliable communication is essential for her clients. The first piece of advice she got when opening her practice was to have a phone number where clients could always reach her. Looking for an affordable phone system, Abi tried one provider but soon learned that they would not sign a BAA and therefore were not viable for her practice. Abi heard about Spruce from a business training program for therapists. They recommended Spruce to their attendees as part of teaching them the business and legal best-practices for communicating with their clients. She decided to implement Spruce to minimize costs in her practice while still providing HIPAA-compliant communication for her clients.


Solution

Abi’s clients expect to be able to reach her through a secure and reliable phone system whenever they need care.

Consolidated Inbox: Abi loves having one inbox where all communication with clients is recorded and flagged for appropriate followup. She also utilizes voicemail transcription to document communication with patients and quickly understand their needs.

Internal Communication: Abi also relies on Spruce to communicate with the other psychologist in her practice. Through Spruce’s paging system, Abi and her colleague leave each other reminders of client messages and other items that they may have missed. Since their practice doesn’t have any administrative staff, this system is crucial in maintaining accountability and ensuring that all client care needs are met.

“Privacy and confidentiality are key for me, and Spruce makes it easy to access information securely. I came on for the ease and for the chance to be compliant as a really small practice. With Spruce, I could start off on a good foot.”

Benefits to Abi’s Phone System

Exceptional Client Care Interactions

Spruce ensures that Abi never accidentally misses calls from her clients. “Spruce alerts me when a patient calls, so I can immediately check the inbox and know what they need, even if I can’t get back to them right away.”

HIPAA Compliance

Abi says it best: “At the end of the day, HIPAA compliance is paramount to me. I couldn’t lead the kind of business that I want safely and securely without Spruce.”

Communication On The Go

Abi recently moved offices and was thrilled that she could effortlessly take Spruce with her, instead of transferring over her whole phone system. Spruce’s mobility ensured that she did not miss any client communication in the transition between offices.


Abi’s recipe for Spruce success:

If you’re experiencing similar challenges to Abi and want to see how Spruce can help, reach out to us at sales@sprucehealth.com

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