🚗Sessions When Patients Are Not in a Private Space
This section outlines safety protocols for sessions outside private settings, prohibiting sessions with driving patients and emphasizing appropriate documentation and insurance compliance.
👉 This section covers:
🔐 First and Foremost: Safety Comes First
If your patient is operating a vehicle during a session:
Encourage them to pull over safely, or
Offer to reschedule the session.
🚫 Never continue a session if the patient’s safety is at risk. Proceeding while a patient is actively driving may pose ethical, legal, and liability concerns—and is not considered an appropriate setting for clinical care.
Note: This policy applies only to the person operating the vehicle. It does not apply to passengers, or if the patient is sitting in an unmoving vehicle.
Note: Patients are informed that sessions cannot be conducted while they are actively operating a vehicle.
❗ Important Policy Reminder
If you cancel or reschedule due to the patient’s location (e.g. passenger in a vehicle, public place), it’s considered your decision. and you will not be compensated.
Mark the appointment as a late-cancel (note: you will be compensated according to the late-cancelation policy)
You can reschedule and leverage Berry Street’s Waive vs Charge policy
Providers will be compensated for any Berry Street patients who are driving and cause for reschedule, as part of our one-time courtesy policy.
Action Steps for Providers: In the Healthie appointment note, document the situation clearly.
Example: Patient driving, rescheduled. Waive as one-time courtesy. or late reschedule, charge patient
Our administrative team will review these notes. We will ensure either:
The patient is charged appropriately as indicated or
The fee is waived under the one-time courtesy policy.
Regardless of the patient’s status, you will still be compensated for your time for scenarios like this.
NOTE: Patients are made aware in pre-appointment communications that they are subject to a reschedule fee if they are operating a vehicle when they join the session.
If a patient continues to join appointments from non-compliant places or while driving, please reach out to us at [email protected] so we can help.
✅ When It’s OK to Proceed with a Session
You can move forward with the session if any the following apply and your patient is not physically driving/operating a vehicle:
The patient is okay being in a public space; Patients are allowed to choose their environment. You, as the provider, must always be in a private, HIPAA-compliant space, but the same does not legally apply to patients.
You and your patient can clearly hear each other; If background noise is manageable, continue the session. Consider focusing on rapport- building or non-clinical goals, and save more personal or deeper clinical questions for the next session.
Use your professional judgment: if communication is difficult due to noise, or if the patient is actively engaged in another activity, then the standard of “you and your patient can clearly hear each other” is not met.
Switching to a phone call helps; Phone sessions are allowed under insurance for MNT. Simply document in the chart that the appointment was conducted by phone.
A shorter session is possible; If full attention isn’t realistic, offer a shortened session. Shorter sessions can still deliver value and show flexibility on your part.
The patient has unlimited sessions; Don’t stress if one session isn’t ideal—what matters most is building the relationship and maintaining continuity of care. 💡 Think of it this way: any session that leads to another session is a good session!
✅ Key Facts for Insurance-Rendered Services
✔️ Patients can choose their environment
Insurance does not require the patient to be in a private space.
As long as you (the provider) are in a HIPAA-compliant environment, the patient’s choice of setting (e.g., work space, park, public place) does not invalidate the session for insurance purposes.
✔️ Sessions must be synchronous
Insurance requires that services be live interaction-time (e.g., phone, telehealth/video).
Asynchronous communication (like messaging or reviewing logs outside of a session) is not billable
✔️ Phone sessions are billable
Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) is typically covered for phone sessions.
✔️ Documentation must reflect actual service delivery
If a patient is in a distracting or non-private space and you choose to continue the session, be sure to:
Accurately document the patient’s location/context (e.g., "patient attended from park while on lunch break").
Indicate if it was a phone session.
Note any shortened duration or reduced clinical scope of the session due to privacy. (e.g., “Session shortened to 20 minutes due to patient attending from a public setting; general nutrition topics discussed, no personal or sensitive concerns addressed.”)
Last updated