How is MHDS compliance relevant to therapists?
When selecting an MHDS-compliant booking system, therapists can rest assured that if ever they decide to switch to a different system at a later time, they can do so quickly and with ease across MHDS-compliant systems. Therapists do not have this luxury when it comes to MHDS non-compliant systems.
How is MHDS compliance relevant to developers?
MHDS compliance eliminates the risk that therapists take on when switching to a new booking system. This is not only the case because of the speedy importability and inter-operability of MHDS-compliant data, but also because of the ease with which therapists can switch to a different system if they are unsatisfied with their current system. For developers looking to acquire new therapists, MHDS compliance is an important selling-point which offers peace of mind in making an important investment decision.
How is MHDS compliance relevant to clients?
The process of switching to a bookings system that is not MHDS-compliant is a hassle that is dreaded by most therapists. Firstly, such bookings systems do not have the ability to seamlessly import data. As such, the onus is on the therapist to manually import data via data-entry. This is a long and tedious process for the therapist – one that can take weeks if not months, depending on the number of client files and, in the case of mental health clinics, the size of the administrative staff.
This can interfere with a therapist or clinic’s ability to administer client files, thereby leading to delays in providing legal or medical documents, letters, invoices, receipts, and so on, to their clients. Therefore, therapists who use MHDS non-compliant booking systems impose some degree of risk upon their clients. As such, the use of a MHDS-compliant booking system is an important consideration when selecting a therapist.
Why would a booking system not comply with MHDS?
For booking systems that are newer and less “tried and true”, it makes sense to comply with MHDS as a way to eliminate the risk posed to therapists, and by doing so, therapists have less to lose by giving such systems a try. However, more established systems have a financial incentive to avoid MHDS-compliance, as a way of making it more difficult for therapists to switch to a different system, thereby exploiting the system’s market share.
We refer to this coercive business practice as “holding client data hostage” and it is a moral affront to therapists and clients alike.
Who administers MHDS?
MHDS is created and administered by the Nobility International Humanitarian Economic Liberty Project (“HELP”). HELP is a research and development agency of the Nobility International humanitarian organization; the agency fights “the labor displacement problem of automation with the labor enhancing effect of Noble technology.” For more information on MHDS as a Noble technology project, please visit HELP’s MHDS announcement.