NASW CT is proud to announce our new partnership with Wecounsel, the premiere client engagement and lead generation software for behavioral health providers. Wecounsel is undoubtedly one of the oldest and most experienced cloud based software providing modern telehealth solutions to connect behavioral health providers and their clients.
This partnership allows the NASW CT network of providers to join Wecounsel at a discounted rate. Utilizing the Wecounsel software allows providers to become more connected to their existing clients online by leveraging the engagement toolset and also broaden their reach to new clients across the country in the Wecounsel Directory.
Wecounsel’s engagement toolset includes a myriad of features that help to connect clients and their behavioral health providers. Tools like HIPAA compliant video conferencing, secure e-mail, instant chat, E-Sign, document storage & sharing and whiteboard are just a few of the revolutionary capabilities you get with the Wecounsel platform. Tools like these are proven to help improve practice outcomes by improving the level of connection and ease of engagement that clients have with their providers regardless of distance, physical mobility or schedule restrictions.
In addition to the software solutions Wecounsel offers its members and partners, they also have the Wecounsel Directory which allows clients to search for a listed provider who can meet their needs and engage directly and immediately with that provider. This service bridges the lack of access to behavioral health services for clients everywhere. It also allows providers to increase their clientele and add additional streams of revenue to their practice.
Why do social workers need online engagement?
It is no secret that there is a shortage of social workers. Many have warned the shortage is at crisis level and this doesn’t even account for the limited to no availability in rural areas.
“Eighty percent of social workers are employed in metropolitan areas, and large states have a relatively low number of licensed social workers per capita. Furthermore, there are 2,157 health professional shortage areas in rural and frontier areas as defined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.”
Are telehealth solutions part of the answer?
Online technology are breaking-down barriers formerly caused by location limitations. This is changing the face of the mental health care community.
Solutions designed to allow providers and clients to connect online are shifting the landscape and creating efficiencies that were not available before.
Online video sessions, interactive chat, secure messaging, online scheduling and document sharing are just a few of the engagement tools social workers can utilize to remain cost effective while breaking down geographic barriers.
University of Southern California School of Social Work’s USC Telehealth, which opened in early 2012. Since the launch of this program, licensed social workers — in partnership with health care settings and social service agencies — have delivered 17,000 to 20,000 successful live interactive sessions and served approximately 1,200 clients in California, some of who live in underserved areas.
You can learn more about our partnership and the services offered by visiting Wecounsel at http://marketing.wecounsel.com/naswct/.
