How Secure Is Betterhelp?
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Author bio
The Optimistminds editorial team is made up of psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health professionals. Each article is written by a team member with exposure to and experience in the subject matter. The article then gets reviewed by a more senior editorial member. This is someone with extensive knowledge of the subject matter and highly cited published material.
This article will explain how secure Betterhelp is as a mental health online platform. It will shed light on the company’s services and what steps the online giant takes to ensure that clients and service providers interact with each other in a safe and secure manner.
How Secure Is Betterhelp?
Betterhelp is as secure as it can get! The online mental health platform has taken a number of steps to ensure it provides a safe and secure platform where skills and resources can be exchanged. The website upholds quality and safety because its main aim is to be one of the best platforms for online mental health counseling.
There are a number of reasons why this website is secure:
- HIPAA Compliant
- An Established Platform
- Great Service Providers Use The Platform
- Security – The Best Measures
- Client Protection
We will look at each reason in detail in the next section
HIPAA Compliant
Yes Betterhelp is HIPAA compliant and this is evident not only from it’s terms and conditions section on its website but also the multiple procedures it follows and the security systems it has put in place to protect your data.
HIPAA stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act which is US legislation intended to protect medical information through data privacy laws and security provisions. This is a very important law keeping in mind recent years when the emergence of cyber attacks and data hacking has become a frequent phenomena; such laws ensure that different entities take all precautions when it comes to protecting data.
It covers the national standard rules of individually identifiable health information with the aim of protecting patients personal health information. It requires all entities and their business associates that are covered by HIPAA to follow this rule. The privacy rule directs doctors to inform patients about which segments of their information will be shared with who for what purposes. At the same time, the rule gives patients the right to request for their protected health information (PHI).
What information is protected under the rule? Take a look:
- A patient’s name, birth details, contact information, social security number and other personally identifiable information (PPI).
- The past, present or future health condition of an individual.
- Treatment details provided to the individual
- Payment details of treatment that can be used to identify that person.
Betterhelp is committed to the protection and confidentiality of your data. Sign up today for mental health services at Betterhelp by clicking here!
How Secure Is Betterhelp?
An Established Platform
The mission of Betterhelp is to provide professional counseling to anyone who is anywhere in the world and requires it – that too effectively, conveniently and affordably! Betterhelp has around 1700 licensed therapists who have completed 70 million successful sessions. The company is currently dealing with around 900,000 patients; the company has been able to achieve these impressive records only because they provide legitimate and quality services to their clients.
The company is associated with numerous individuals who have qualifications in a wide variety of areas from reputable institutions; they trust Betterhelp and recognize its mission to deliver to people who are in need and want help. The company also has many partners that include Mental Health America, Telemental Health Institute and Therapist Aid; its global partnership with other reputable institutions show that it is indeed a legitimate company that provides legitimate services. Why else would individuals and organisations agree to collaborate or partner with the right?
What may be surprising is that their office is located in Silicon Valley and they have iconic neighbors; their office lies close to the offices of Facebook, Google and Apple. How cool is that? The company has put in long and hard work to get where it is today. It is not only playing the field where the big players are but it has also successfully adopted the new trends taking over the world; actively participating in the online world of services to meet client needs.
Great Service Providers Use This Platform
One of the best ways to determine if a company or service is reliable and secure is to see who is using it. People who are careful about their actions will make sure that they are using secure and reliable services. So if qualified and well known individuals recommend or use a platform, it is likely that they are confident in its robustness.
Did we mention this company has around 1700 licensed therapists, counselors, psychologists and clinical social workers – I’m sure we did because they are BetterHelps pride and family! These individuals are accredited from the top institutions and universities around the world from which they have gained much experience and exposure.
It is great to work as a therapist or counselor with Betterhelp but it isn’t easy getting on board. Why? Betterhelp understands the importance of providing quality services to their clients hence the recruitment and selection process for those individuals who provide the services is tough and comprehensive; it aims to select the most capable individuals who understand mental health and the problems associated with it.
The process to recruit professional counselors or therapists involves:
- Looking at the experience, background and references
- Verification of credentials
- Video interviews and case study exams
- Platform skills test
It is also important to notice that all counselors and therapists at betterhelp have:
- Experience of 3 years
- 2000 hours of hands on experience before joining
- Qualified by their state’s professional board
Once they are onboard with Betterhelp, the professionals fall into either of the categories:
- Psychologists
- Marriage and Family Therapists
- Clinical and Social Workers
- Professional Counselors
Security – The Best Measures
This company is dedicated to your safety and the privacy of your data – they are also held responsible as they need to comply with HIPAA law – they don’t have a choice either! This is why this company has installed safe and reliable software to ensure that you and your data are given the protection that is needed in an online world.
They use an SSL encryption and banking grade 256 bit encryption, they are hosted under the most secure servers because they value your privacy and realize that sensitive information is exchanged on their platform.
Client Protection
It is interesting to note that Betterhelp claims that the service providers on it’s platforms do not represent the company nor are they their employees. Hence it strongly advises clients to change a counselor if they do not feel comfortable with them. This is because the company wants to ensure that the client has the best experience and they should immediately abort sessions with a service provider if they do not consider them suitable.
To protect the client, they ensure that no contact details of the client are visible when they are contacting the service provider for a session. Also, clients have the option to use a nickname when they speak to their service providers.
Betterhelp as a company takes necessary steps they can to ensure clients have access to a safe and secure website. Try out their services now. Click here to sign up today!
Side Note: I have tried and tested various products and services to help with my anxiety and depression. See my top recommendations here, as well as a full list of all products and services our team has tested for various mental health conditions and general wellness.
What Services Does Betterhelp Provide?
Betterhelp is a secure platform that has multiple options for clients to interact with their service providers to get the best experience from their counseling sessions.
Here are the multiple mediums they offer for the counseling sessions:
- Chatrooms: These are open 24/7 and you can drop a message any time you feel like doing so. However, your counselor will only get back to you once they have the time or chance to. Usually people like dropping questions they want opinions on from their counselor and don’t mind waiting a bit.
- Live Chatting Sessions: here you can chat with your counselor in real time and there really is no limit on the number of messages exchanged or time spent talking here. It depends on the needs of the client and the nature of the problem.
- Live Phone Calls: Kind of like Skype this platform has their own system set up where you can have audio sessions with your service provider. It does not show your contact details to the counselor for reasons of privacy and in case the counselor and counselee become direct.
- Video Sessions: clients who are more comfortable or want a more personalized experience can also opt for video sessions. Like other mediums of interaction, there is no limit on these although people mostly hold the opinion that 1 or 2 sessions per week are sufficient.
Check out these services at their website. It is easy to sign up and start availing their services!
Conclusion
This article looked at the many reasons why Betterhelp is a secure platform. It also highlighted what services the company provides and explained to the audience what the platform aims to achieve.
References
Find Hope and Healing Through Online Counseling on BetterHelp
