SimplePractice Virtual Assistant Guide: Scheduling, Billing and Client Portal Setup

SimplePractice is the leading practice management and EHR platform for behavioral health, therapy and counseling practices in the United States. Its all-in-one design covers scheduling, documentation, billing, telehealth and the client portal in a single cloud-based system, making it a natural fit for solo practitioners and group practices alike.

A virtual medical assistant trained on SimplePractice can take over the administrative layer of the platform completely: managing appointment requests, handling billing follow-up, processing insurance claims and supporting client onboarding through the portal. This frees the provider to focus entirely on clinical care.

Setting up team member access in SimplePractice

SimplePractice supports team member accounts with role-based permissions. The Team Member role gives a virtual assistant access to scheduling, billing, client records and portal management without granting documentation or clinical note access unless explicitly enabled.

Create the team member account under Settings, assign the appropriate role and enable two-factor authentication before providing credentials. All access is covered under your SimplePractice Business Associate Agreement.

Scheduling and appointment request management

SimplePractice's online booking system sends appointment requests directly into the provider's calendar. A virtual medical assistant can review every incoming request, confirm availability, send booking confirmations and manage the waitlist for high-demand appointment types.

The VA can also handle recurring appointment scheduling for ongoing therapy clients, rescheduling requests and appointment reminder follow-up. Practices that assign this workflow to a VA typically see a 20 to 30 percent reduction in scheduling back-and-forth for the provider.

Client portal and intake form management

The SimplePractice client portal is where new clients complete intake forms, consent documents and insurance information before their first appointment. A virtual medical assistant can monitor portal completion status, send reminders to clients with incomplete intake packets and flag any missing information for the provider before the session.

The VA can also respond to client portal messages for administrative questions, appointment logistics and billing inquiries, keeping the provider's message queue focused on clinical content only.

Insurance billing and claim submission

SimplePractice has a built-in insurance billing module that handles claim submission, ERA posting and payment tracking. A virtual medical assistant focused on billing can submit claims daily, post remittance payments, work denial queues and follow up with payers on outstanding claims.

Behavioral health billing has specific coding requirements around session types, place of service and modifier usage. A VA trained on SimplePractice billing should be familiar with CPT codes 90834, 90837, 90847 and the modifiers your practice uses most frequently.

Telehealth and session logistics

SimplePractice includes a built-in HIPAA-compliant telehealth feature. A virtual medical assistant can handle the pre-session logistics: sending telehealth links, confirming client readiness, troubleshooting connection issues and documenting that the session link was delivered.

Post-session, the VA can send follow-up messages through the portal, schedule the next appointment and process any co-pay or self-pay balance due. This keeps the provider's post-session workload to a minimum.