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Clients have the right to complain about their care, about privacy, about billing, or about how they were treated, and to have the complaint taken seriously without any effect on their care. HIPAA requires a complaint process for privacy concerns. We use one process for everything.

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How clients complain

Clients can raise a concern with any of us, in any form: in session, by phone, in writing, through the portal. Our Notice of Privacy Practices tells them how, and it tells them they can also complain to the federal Department of Health and Human Services. Clients are never discouraged from complaining, and never retaliated against for doing so.

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If a client complains to you

  1. Listen. Don’t defend, don’t explain yet. Understand what happened from their side.
  2. Thank them. A complaint is information we need.
  3. Don’t promise an outcome. Say you’ll make sure it reaches the right person and that they’ll hear back.
  4. Report it the same day to the practice manager and, if it involves clinical care, to Helen. In writing, with what the client said, in their words where possible.
  5. Document in the record that a concern was raised and passed on, without editorializing.
If the complaint is about you, report it anyway, and don’t try to resolve it privately with the client. That’s not distrust of you; it’s how the process protects everyone, including you.

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What the practice does

The practice manager logs every complaint, assigns it, and tracks it to a response. Clinical complaints go to Helen. Privacy complaints are also assessed under Breach and incident reporting. Billing complaints go to the practice manager. The client receives a response, usually within 10 business days, and the resolution is documented.

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Complaints to outside bodies

Clients can complain to DOPL about a licensed clinician, to HHS about privacy, or to a payer about billing. If you learn a client has done so, tell Helen and the practice manager immediately, and don’t contact the client about it. The practice will manage the response, with legal help where needed.

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Complaints about a colleague

If a client complains to you about another clinician or staff member, follow the same steps. Don’t investigate it yourself, and don’t discuss it with the colleague before the practice manager does.

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Learning from it

Complaints that reveal a process problem lead to a fix, usually an SOP change. The point of the log isn’t blame. It’s finding the things we didn’t know were broken.