HeadwayReviews of headway.co

As a therapist that uses Headway for billing BCBS for my clients I find Headway increasingly difficult to use. When I originally joined Headway it was pretty straight forward but has become increasingly more controlling related to having to schedule clients on their platform’s schedule when I have my own EHR, less user friendly for myself and my clients and only has a bot or email option for client billing issues. They try to dictate rather a client can see more than one therapist based on the client using the same email address. Now they want therapists to use a lengthy form for billing and try to force therapists to use their notes. I’m getting more and more client complaints about Headway and have lost clients over billing problems or because Headway wouldn’t let the client or client’s family member set up an account on Headway with another therapist using the email associated with the original account. Clients should able to choose who they see for therapy. There is a lawsuit in California related to if therapists are subcontractors for Headway or if Headway is acting as an employer. I hope the person who brought the lawsuit wins against Headway! If Headway wants to act like an employer and force therapists to follow their arbitrary rules that negatively effect client outcomes, then they should pay taxes as an employer. All therapists on Headway are in private practice or in a group practice so Headway should not be interfering in how the therapist runs their own business. Personally all I want for Headway to do is manage billing for my clients and otherwise stay out of my private practice. My future plan is to drop Headway all together.

It would be nice to have the ability to speak with someone. The responses to questions are scripted responses and not personal to me. You have to eneter several different tickets to speak with someone.

Headway provides a great platform. Having said that their customer service is very poor. There isn't a way to speak to anyone on the phone, the contact form on the site for therapist is confusing and limited and their email response time is either very long or they never respond with an answer.

Every appointment I've scheduled with providers ends up being cancelled or rescheduled at the last minute. Even after providing all of the details up front, providers wait until the last minute to make changes and it's unprofessional.

Provider didn't show up to two consecutive appointments, each time without any advance notice. The second time this happened, the messaging system in the patient portal was not working (the 'Send' button did nothing). I submitted a complaint/support ticket, and the link to view your open tickets requires you to log in but the login link just takes you back to that same page. As a neuropharmacologist myself, this is unacceptable for the mental health field.

I am a practitioner and have benefited from HW's ease of billing and scheduling for clients. They were fantastic in 2020-2023, but since 2024 they have made serious oversights in charging clients and have not corrected the mistakes in many circumstances. They are harming vulnerable populations seeking help. People trusted them when HW said their is no copay, and then a year later they get a bill for hundreds of dollars, because HW had the wrong information initially. A year+ later, they are billed. With absolutely no consideration of owning their oversight by offering a discount, or stretching the charge over time. Clients could have used their HSA benefits to pay, but instead they are getting stung by the company I use. I am more than disappointed, I am appalled that a human service co is so insensitive and money focused. This is continuing to happen to many of my clients so I'm getting off HW asap.

Bait and switch - not clear what the in-network insurance providers are and wastes your time if you aren't in one of them. I have Carelon Insurance. It's an option in their drop down menu for searching. You are allowed to select a provider, make a trial appointment, upload your card photo and information, and then you get a vague message saying that *you* are ineligible for coverage, or your coverage is not longer valid. You are prompted to contact your insurance company for a reference number and another email that says the same. If you continue to waste your time you can call your insurance and find out that, in fact, your insurance does not participate. I'm sure it's a helpful service for people who can get coverage - therefore 2 stars. But there isn't even an option to pay out of network prices (which I have to do locally with my kids, as well, because I live in the middle of nowhere and there aren't enough providers.) They wasted my time just to get a mention of their program with my insurance when I called. Headway - be honest. Provide a simple message saying that my insurance does not participate in your platform. Period.

Headway told my potential client that they take Magellan insurance and now they are saying the opposite. This seems like a bad system since I started care with the client and then had to stop care after the first session. When the client and I reqched out to Headway, we were given no support in getting this matter resolved.