KidSense Therapy Group is a Pediatric treatment group that helps kids make sense of their world by providing focused executive functioning and social cognition therapy.
They specifically treat children ages birth thru young adult with varying needs in areas of Occupational Therapy, Speech and Language, Physical Therapy, Feeding, Social Cognition and Mental Health Counseling.
When we first met Co-Owner Amanda Griffin, KidSense had little control of their website.
- Their old web developer was no longer able to assist with the site
- They weren’t in control of their hosting or domain services
- They couldn’t make needed changes to the website
- New clients couldn’t get started without calling or sending an email.
- Appointment requests were made via phone and followed by a drawn out on-boarding process that was paperwork heavy
- Initial visits were often burdened with sorting out new account and billing details
This cumbersome onboarding process caused appointment back-ups, hampered the team’s ability to fill their schedule and ensured inconsistencies in cash flow despite projections based on bookings.
This coupled with an outdated website meant it was hard to onboard new clients, forecast accounts receivable and reconcile their current business model against growth needs (like expanding to a new location).
Goals for the Project
- 1Allow clients to complete HIPAA Complaint onboarding materials online and push them through a targeted funneling system that gets them in the hands of relevant clinicians and related scheduling and billing staff.
- 2Allow clients to sign/download legal waivers and policy updates
- 3Adjust website flow to provide clear direction on “where to start” for new clients
- 4Allow existing clients to update their profiles
- 5Easily update staff, services and make changes to the site
Setting Expectations
Once we received the project application, the first conversation we had to have was about goals and budget. While their budget was adequate for my services, their goals required extensive research to ensure that any new technologies we enlisted were compatible with the pieces of their existing tech stack which they wanted to keep. Another major consideration was user training; identifying internal stakeholders which would be effected by the project and ensuring we had needed buy-in wherever possible.
During this initial discovery process, we uncovered several opportunities for system improvements including migrating to a new CMS. This would add considerable time/cost to their project but ultimately would create a system that was both scalable as well as flexible.
We proceeded through a month-long Discovery process that involved digging into the details such as:
- Mapping what their customer journey SHOULD look like
- How the website could support their day-to-day operations
- What is the customer journey from visiting website, to booking first appointment, to follow-up
- What’s the team’s process for managing a client from their initial inquiry through to their first appointment (and after)
- What Platforms/software was already in place, might need to be upgraded or sourced ‘from scratch”
- What technical support they would need once the site was live.
Project Process
The North Star team knows from years of experience that a client ‘not knowing what they don’t know’ can sometimes be the biggest barrier to a successful project so the discovery process included several touch-points to thoughtfully review/discuss/pick-apart their customer journey and team’s needs so we could develop the best solution possible to meet the needs of all stakeholders
We worked on the project for four months during the ‘slow’ season and launched on time and on budget in time for the start of 2019.
The new website included:
- Discovery and planning
- Strategy
- Custom Design
- Email marketing, automations and CRM setup
- Customer segmentation
- Website training and support
Benefits of the new site include:
- Improved client experience (initial check-in is now 5 minutes vs 40 minutes, interactive onboarding form with logic functions means clients only see questions relevant to them and don’t get ‘scarred’ into thinking more is wrong with their child than actually is because the Q was put in front of them))
- Deliver better service because clinicians can prepare in advance for clients, Their team is no longer saying “Oh, what, they just got here and they don’t have any of their paperwork done AND I have no idea what I’m doing the kid. I don’t know what the concerns are and I don’t know what the parents were expecting”
- Happier the clinicians and staff, not wasting time doing double duty or dealing with exhausted/annoyed clients who hate the paperwork/forms
- Peace of mind knowing their digital front door, client portal and marketing efforts are supported by a team of experienced professionals.
“I’m in love with our site. It’s easy, I don’t have to think about ‘how to do it”, it gives me a happy, calm feeling when I look at it because everything is just right.”
~ Amanda Griffith, Co-owner – KidSense Therapy Group
Company Stability and Growth, Despite Covid.
While the benefits of the website were immediately felt by the team, one of the most important value-adds of the website was the ability to pivot when Covid hit from in person to virtual therapy. The system had been built with key features including automated ‘service change’ notifications and homepage ticker updates. These flexible features had been originally intended to communicate inclement weather notifications, and now they could quickly be retooled to deliver covid related scheduling, process and appointment details.
More important than the cash flow fluctuations this prevented, was that clients in desperate need of regular, supportive care can still receive uninterrupted treatment and their care givers can keep the support they’ve come to rely upon. With this new foundation in place, the KidSense team is well positioned to keep streamlining their business for future growth and profits.
This is what the KidSense Team had to say about the process:
“Working with North Star really is ‘all that’. I love the fact that you really took the time to understand what we’re looking for and what our wants and needs are but more importantly, you presented options and were solution minded every step of the way. It’s been a whole process and you just made it as painless as possible by taking as much off our plate as possible and making sure we focused on the right things at the right time”
~ Amanda Griffith, Co-owner – KidSense Therapy Group
This is what the KidSense Team had to say about their new site:
“What I hear all the time now is, ‘Hello, who is doing your website now because it’s beautiful, beautiful!’ This is the feedback that we get from other professionals, therapists & employees. We love it, it looks professional and welcoming.”
~ Amanda Griffith, Co-owner – KidSense Therapy Group
Continued Support
The North Star team continues to support KidSense with technical website support and maintenance to keep their new site working smoothly. In 2019, we helped develop new functionality for client onboarding and operations management, and we continue to offer support such as managing their website, related integrations and creating new custom forms with related automated follow-up campaigns. An on-page SEO push is scheduled to begin October 2021 which we are proud to be spearheading for KidSense.
Case Study by Tara Meeker | Updated April 4, 2022
Tara Meeker
The North Star team continues to support Hope After Loss with technical website support, occasional branding needs and user training to help onboard new team members. In fall of 2020, we helped implement new global changes to support new fundraising initiatives and we continue to offer support such as creating new custom forms with related automated follow-up campaigns. In spring of 2022 we’ll be rolling out an on-page SEO strategy including optimized content for 15+ services pages.
