Skip to main content

Week of July 26: type instead of dictate, right from the Dictation page

A small escape hatch that respects how you actually work.

New

  • Requested appointments show on your calendar before you approve them: when a client requests a time from the portal, that request now appears right on your calendar with a dashed outline — so you can see the tentative hold in context before deciding. Click it and Practice Harbor points you to the Appointment Requests panel to approve or decline; once approved, it becomes a regular appointment. Requests can't be dragged or edited until you approve them.

  • Client signatures on treatment plans: once you (and your supervisor, if applicable) have signed a treatment plan, a Request client signature button shares a read-only copy to the client portal, where your client — or their parent/guardian for minors — reviews it and signs electronically with a typed name. The copy is frozen at the moment you share it, so later plan edits never change what was signed. You'll see "Awaiting client" and then "Client signed" right on the plan, the signature line appears alongside yours, and you get an email when it's signed. Signing is always presented to clients as voluntary. Family charts and billing behavior are unchanged — this also gives you clean documentation of the client's participation in treatment planning, which several state Medicaid rules ask for.

  • Finish payer-enrollment tasks without leaving Practice Harbor: when a payer needs extra information mid-enrollment (like a state Medicaid Provider ID), the enrollment's details now show the task with a field to answer it directly — submit and the enrollment continues automatically. Answers are remembered so you're never asked twice.

  • Type it your way, let AI structure it: the Type button on an appointment now opens a page where you can pour out a stream-of-consciousness account of the session into a text box, pick a note format, and hit Generate note — the AI organizes your words into the template's sections, ready to review and sign. Prefer full control? "Start from a blank note instead" is right there and works like before.

  • Text message appointment reminders: turn them on under Settings → Client Texts, choose how far ahead to send, and clients who opt in (a checkbox on their intake form, or the Text reminders toggle on their profile) get a text before each appointment. Messages contain only the date and time — no practice name, no clinical details — and clients can reply STOP anytime.

Improved

  • Fix the transcript, not just the note: session transcripts on a note can now be edited — click Edit on the Transcript panel to correct what the transcription heard (a misheard medication name, a mangled family member's name), save, and regenerate the note from the corrected transcript if you like. An Edited marker appears so a corrected transcript is never mistaken for the verbatim recording, the original is always preserved in version history, and transcripts lock along with the note once it's signed.
  • Sessions stay signed in through your workweek, not forever: for security, Practice Harbor now signs you out after 72 hours without any activity — long enough that you'll never notice it during normal use (an active recording or telehealth call never triggers it), short enough that a laptop forgotten somewhere doesn't stay signed into client charts for weeks.
  • Type a note from anywhere you'd record one: appointments now offer Type alongside Record and Dictate — open an appointment, click the keyboard icon, pick a format, and a structured note opens in the full editor, linked to that session. The Dictation page gained a matching "Prefer to type?" option (in the About panel) that carries over the client, template, and session date you already picked. Handy when you're in a shared space, your headset is elsewhere, or you simply think better through your fingers.
  • A tidier appointment panel: the appointment drawer is a little wider for individual sessions, with tighter spacing, a clearer View note button once a session has a note, and a frequency-ordered action row (Type, Record, Dictate). Uploading an audio file recorded outside Practice Harbor now lives on the Live Session page ("Already have a recording?") — same capability, better home.

Fixed

  • Uploading a file from a client's Files page (Actions → Upload file) now attaches the document reliably — previously the file picker opened but the chosen file was silently never saved.
  • Document reminder emails now name each pending item — signed-consent and Good Faith Estimate items previously appeared as just "Document", including in reminders sent to a parent or guardian. One deliberate exception: treatment plans awaiting signature are described generically ("a treatment plan for your review and signature") so that plan titles, which can reference a diagnosis, never travel by email — the full title is always visible inside the secure portal.
  • Downloading a CMS-1500 (when filing a claim externally) or an EOB PDF now saves the file directly — previously the PDF opened in a new tab that some browsers silently blocked, so clicking appeared to do nothing.
  • Email and phone notifications for new appointment requests now show the client's initials rather than their full name — the details wait for you inside the app.
  • Deleted insurance payments no longer appear in the billing log or count toward your collected totals — deleting a duplicate now truly removes it everywhere.
  • Correcting a client's name now updates it on their couple/family chart too (the chart previously kept the original spelling).
  • A signed treatment plan's edit view is now clearly read-only — previously the fields looked editable even though changes were never saved, and fields stay fully legible.
  • The new-client form now tells you which required field is blocking the Create button instead of silently doing nothing.