Camille Folley,
Williamstown Psychology
Camille originally wanted to become a lawyer but plans changed when she interned at a law firm in her last year at school. During her time there, she was handed a murder file to read through and while reviewing the case, she discovered a psychologist’s report. At that moment, she decided to change her plans and study psychology. Initially, she was set on forensic psychology but later learned about family therapy and shifted her focus to counselling.
After finishing her studies, Camille worked at a few places then moved into private practice, which she describes as “a daunting change” at the time. Her mentor was moving out of private practice and handed over 16 of her cases, and from there the practice grew organically. Camille is quick to acknowledge that she has made many mistakes and learnt as she’s gone along, but she’s always just “run with an idea, and the growth has followed.”
Owning her own business, Camille has become adept at resolving problems as they come up, identifying where things aren’t working and not being afraid to ask questions to uncover the ideal solution.
Within a year, Williamstown Psychology was running at full capacity and Camille took on an extra practitioner, and another, growing quickly through GP referrals and word of mouth. The practice expanded further, taking on more team members as the caseload grew. Camille notes that, “as soon as we started referring clients to other practices, we knew it was time to take on another practitioner”. At the moment they have two clinics that the psychologists rotate between. This means they use yet another of Power Diary’s features: multi-location management, which makes it easy to run the practice from two different locations.
Camille had always had a dream of having a bigger practice, especially when she started out. She has an affinity for the western suburbs and wanted to provide the best possible service for people in the west, to offer them something that was good quality, particularly for the LGBTQIA community.
Helping people is at the heart of what Camille and her team do. She finds the process of making progress and helping people manage trauma incredibly rewarding. In her own words, “It is a privilege to work with people who choose to share their life stories with you. Sometimes you work with someone, and they come back years later and want to continue on the journey. I feel privileged that they want to share that with me. They’ve been able to make progress on their own, and as they find that they need help, they know they can reconnect and continue the journey.” For her, it’s a sign that she’s done her job well when the client gets to the point where they feel like they can keep going on their own.
Camille’s business partner specialises in trauma, and other psychologists in the practice focus on issues including work stress, working with children, weight loss, depression and anxiety, LGBT+. Camille herself enjoys working with members of the LGBTQIA community, as well as IVF and infertility, grief and loss, and couples counselling as her main focus areas. Experience has taught her that the reasons most people seek out counselling are based on grief or loss, but it may present differently for different people.
As she grew the practice, Camille was also on a technology journey, moving from a “pen and paper practice” to online accounting and then on to a full practice management software with Power Diary and Xero. Camille says they were “drowning in paper – paper receipts, paper diaries, and paper notes. As the practice grew, it became hard to manage.”
She initially trialled Cliniko then, Googling ‘practice management software‘, Power Diary popped up, “it was very intuitive, but it was also much more affordable.” She started a free trial, and Camille decided then and there that this was the system for her.
“I thought, if I could use it, anyone could use it!”
Williamstown Psychology has been using the software for over six years, during which time they’ve adopted many of Power Diary’s features and integrations including email and SMS reminders, multiple calendars, appointment booking, Medicare integration, Xero integration, template letters, client emails, telehealth, record keeping, file uploads, referrals letters, session packs (mental health plans), electronic notes and more.
In fact, Camille says she is one of Power Diary’s leading proponents! The wide range of features and functionality, the system’s usability and its affordable price point put the system in a league of its own. For Camille, the most important features were the ones that led her to choose Power Diary over six years ago: the diary and invoicing features. But, as Power Diary has grown, so has her use of the system.
Her top picks include:
- Remote access, it’s easy to get into Power Diary, and she can do so from anywhere in the world.
- Ease of use for new contractors and practice partners, a few pointers to get staff started is all the training required because it’s intuitive.
- Her accountant can access financial information, and it connects with Xero, making accounting easier and smoother.
- Invoicing is straightforward with easy-to-print or email invoices and statements.
- Integration with Medicare which makes it easy for the client and the practice. No need for a HICAPS machine, simply press a button to connect, which easily adds up to a couple of hours a day time-saving.
- The reporting system makes it easy to work out how many clients the contractors saw in a two-week period and pay them, saving a lot of time.
- Help desk support staff are knowledgeable and offers quick turnaround times. “The support desk is fantastic and quick, a quick email and there’s a response within a few hours.” Camille also notes that Power Diary takes feature requests onboard. One of her team members will put in a feature request and, more often than not, they’ll see the new feature integrated in the next few months.
Working as the practice manager Camille says;
“I have all the information at my fingertips. If one of the consultants has an issue, I can log in and resolve it immediately, and I don’t have to be in the office to do it.”
With Williamstown Psychology currently falling under Stage 4 restrictions, 99% of the practice’s clients have moved to Telehealth. They have found that clients, in general, are responsive and open to moving to Telehealth, especially as most are already working remotely. Power Diary has made it easy for practitioners to switch over to online appointments where, for the session itself, they can send a link through to the client who opens it and can immediately start the session. They also make use of an updated template Intake Form for Telehealth, which they email to the client before their first session. Then, either before or after the session, the practitioner makes use of Power Diary’s Stripe integration to take payment at the time of the appointment. This integration, although a bit more expensive in terms of card fees, has been really useful, especially with the current COVID situation.
And Camille’s advice for practices that still rely on paper systems? “Make the switch; Power Diary is simple and easy to use. It’s intuitive; you can pick it up and get going straight away. It’s efficient, it will make your life so much simpler, and you won’t have to spend any time training your employees and contractors how to use it.”
“If anyone mentions that they’re looking for a psychology practice management system, I always say, Power Diary is great.”
