HeadwayReviews of headway.co

Ease of use for provider and client and elimination of past billing issues

I have been impressed with Headway’s efficiency regarding the new client process, the billing process and the rates.

I love how easy it is for me to see clients, do my notes and get paid. I wish I had more clients that had the insurance's that headway is credentialed for. I wish headway had a better referral program that focused on clients with those insurances.

Great platform

I had an experience with Headway that I found disturbing, both from the therapist’s behavior and the company’s response to it. I booked an appointment with a therapist, and prior to the session I filled out both paperwork from Headway and really extensive background paperwork from the therapist herself. I was very honest about the things that were going on in my life and how much I was struggling with depression. In our session, I flat out told the therapist I was concerned about my depression and that I was having dark thoughts and that this was not normal for me. I thought the appointment I booked was a full hour-long appointment, since that’s what was indicated, but after about 25 minutes of talking the therapist said “these things don’t usually take this long,” and I was honestly confused by what she meant and then she said the consultation call is usually only 15 minutes. I was caught off guard since I didn’t know it was meant to be a quick intake call and not an actual session, since that hadn’t been explained to me. It felt abrupt for me, especially given the things I’d just said about having dark thoughts, and I was surprised she’d cut it short. So basically the session ended and I said I’d set up another one. A couple days later, the therapist called me when I was at work. At first I didn’t realize who it was and I apologized and said I wasn’t expecting her call. She didn’t ask if it was a good time for me to talk – it wasn’t, I was surrounded by my coworkers, and in general I’d rather not unexpectedly have a therapist call me to talk about therapy during the workday. She asked about setting up my next appointment, and I said I wasn’t in front of my calendar and that I’d book it through Headway later. She told me that she only uses Headway for billing and instead to use her direct calendar link for booking instead. I wasn’t nuts about this because part of why I wanted to use Headway was the ease of booking and having everything done through their platform. She also sent me an email instructing me to do my insurance through Alma instead (a Headway competitor). We ended the call with me saying I’d book my appointment later on when I got home. The next morning, I received an email from the therapist saying she was dropping me as a client because she hadn’t been able to establish a connection with me and it was becoming challenging for her…..it had been 5 days since our initial meeting. That was it. I had done all the requested paperwork, I was very open and honest in our first intake session, I had answered her unplanned call, yet somehow she decided I wasn’t doing enough to prove I was serious about therapy. I found it to be really unprofessional, inappropriate, and honestly concerning behavior for a therapist to drop a new patient like that, especially one who had just openly told them about having suicidal thoughts. It takes a lot for some people to reach out and openly share what they’re struggling with, and I don’t think it’s crazy that someone might take more than a few days to book their next appointment. I don’t think that proves they aren’t serious about therapy. I’ve also honestly never heard of a therapist dumping someone like that. If I had been in a darker place, I could see how this might have really made my depression worse. I found the whole thing really upsetting. I reached out and asked Headway to refund the session, both because it was never a full session to begin with, and because it had been a waste of my time since now she wouldn’t see me as a patient. I said I was open to seeing someone else on Headway still. They refused and said I’d been billed correctly and they sided with the therapist in the dispute. I also told them about how the therapist had tried to push me out of using Headway and into other platforms instead, as well as my concerns about her treatment of me in general, and Headway didn’t acknowledge either of those concerns and showed very little sympathy or concern about the situation. They just said they “understood that this situation has been frustrating for you.” It all just felt like template responses and nothing genuine. I also wasn't able to speak to anyone on the phone about this, which might have helped. It all had to happen slowly over email. I think when mental health is involved, you should be able to actually speak to someone directly. This woman is still a therapist listed on their platform, months later. I hope for anyone else who sees her that their mental health concerns are not dismissed, and I hope Headway would start taking patient feedback more seriously.

As a patient I love my therapist. I’m not sure of the exact business relationship between her and Headway, but Headway handles the billing. My therapist is in-network, as verified by Headway. Six months into this calendar year I discovered that Headway has not been submitting claims to my insurance and is charging me “full price.” They told me that they are waiting for some kind of system update by my insurance company, but reps from my insurance company say all systems are up to date. Because Headway has not submitted my claims, my insurance company has no record of the payments I have made. These payments put me beyond my deductible, so my insurance should be paying for my medical procedures. But because Headway is sitting on six months of claims, I’m still having to pay. I have explained this to Headway and demanded they file the claims, but they refused. They say they will do it after my insurance company verifies they have “updated their system.” My insurance company has tried to contact Headway on my behalf, but Headway does not have a phone number! Needless to say, this has been very frustrating. *Update: Headway’s response below is to repeat what I have been doing, i.e. contact them via their online support. This is how I know they are refusing to submit my claims. To be clear, I’ve already done what they suggested below. Now what?

Right now I can't confirm my recent appointments and I am frustrated by that. I know it will get figured out but I will start the week off with work from last week.

As a new private practice provider, I had/have a lot of questions. Headway has been so helpful every step of the way! It feels like everyone I have dealt with wants me to succeed and are willing to go above and beyond to make sure I have the tools I need to do so. I am grateful that I chose to use Headway to start my private practice journey and would definitely recommend them.