The Wellness Institute of Michigan, a busy mental health practice with three locations and 33 therapists, knew they needed a change. Their current EHR was causing major headaches. “Their clinical side had never been great. We struggled with it for a long time,” Karen Gallagher, CEO, shared. Simple tasks like changing forms took weeks, bogging down the practice. Then, the EHR provider announced a new system – with a price tag almost triple their current cost. It was the final straw.
Taking Charge: From Fear to Action
Faced with a tough decision, Gallagher and her team could have stayed put. Their practice already experienced changes to payroll structure and billing leadership earlier in the year. Her clinicians were weary of change. But their EHR’s overnight price hike gave her an opportunity. This was a chance to find an EHR that truly supported her practice, her clinicians, and their patients. While she wished to wait, she knew there wouldn’t a “right” time to change EHRs – the time was now.
A New Vision: Finding the Right Partner
Gallagher’s team dove into researching EHR systems. They needed a solution that would:
- Streamline clinical work: Make documentation faster and easier for therapists.
- Maintain powerful billing tools: Keep the functionality they already loved and relied on.
- Offer responsive support: Have a partner they could trust to help them through the transition.
- Speak their language: Focus specifically on mental health.
Valant emerged as the clear choice. “What helped us pick Valant is that it is 100% mental health and has an advisory committee,” Gallagher said. “Knowing that Valant lives in this field, understands it, and gets us was huge.”
“We’re Here to Support You”: Guiding Clinicians Through Transition
Gallagher knew that a new EHR would be daunting for her clinicians. She tackled this head-on, with a leadership style built on transparency and empathy.
- She laid out the financial realities of their situation, ensuring everyone understood the why. “Our current system,” she told her team, “has introduced a financial piece that we cannot support.”
- Gallagher emphasized they would get constant support and open communication. “Yell if you need help,” she said. “Let me know what we can do to make this better. Give me feedback on the system.”
Action Plan: Making the Transition Smooth
Gallagher and Catherine Vertalka, the practice’s Clinical Director, mapped out a practical plan:
- Give flexible training: Weekly sessions held in the morning and evening accommodated everyone’s schedules.
- Learn and immediately apply: Once clinicians received training, they were instructed to apply what they learned in practice.
- Migrate treatment plans in session: Clinicians were encouraged to build their treatment plans in Valant during their next client session, using the opportunity to review active plans while bringing them into the new EHR.
- Set clear deadlines: Clinicians were given a full month to migrate treatment plans, with extra pay for utilizing session time.
- Go-live ASAP: Their tight deadline pushed them to “just get it done” and dedicate resources to the transition.
Embracing the Future of Mental Health
The transition wasn’t just about a new system – it was also about embracing the evolving field of mental health.
“Mental health is really switching to more of a medical model,” Vertalka shared that this has been a challenging shift for therapists. “Those of us who have been in the field for a while aren’t used to thinking about it from a medical mind.” Valant’s focus on measurable outcomes and compliance guardrails fit perfectly with this shift.
Vertalka saw Valant helping their therapists adapt to this new way of thinking: “it takes that thinking out of the process for us and makes it easier to hit our compliance marks,” citing Valant’s built-in treatment plan content and reportable outcome measures. For Vertalka, Valant would make it easy on her clinicians while transitioning to more measurement-based care.
Why Valant? Supporting Growth in a Changing Landscape
Valant is designed to help practices like the Wellness Institute of Michigan thrive as behavioral health evolves. Its tools streamline documentation, support medical necessity, and simplify compliance, allowing clinicians to focus on what matters most: providing excellent patient care.
By choosing Valant and leading with empathy and vision, Gallagher and her team demonstrate how practices can successfully navigate change, embrace the future of mental health, and put growth into practice.
