Everyone is being told to put AI in their practice, and almost nobody is talking about where it helps versus where it makes things worse. So Whitney brought on Meredith Eaton and Jennifer Crawford, co-CEOs of Move Forward Virtual Assistants, who bought the company in 2022 and grew it from fewer than 40 clients to over 100. They have been inside the day-to-day operations of mental health practices since 2018, so this is not speculation. It's what they have watched land in real practices. This conversation is from their perspective in mental health, but it applies just as much to dietitians, functional medicine practitioners, and nurses. They cover a decision rule for when to use a tool versus a person, the admin work AI is genuinely good at, the moment where handing a call to a bot costs you a client and costs someone their one attempt at getting help, and why competing with the AI therapy apps on price and speed is the wrong move entirely.

Takeaways:

• Change the question. Jennifer's reframe is that instead of asking "Can AI do this?" we should be asking "Should AI be doing this?" Those get very different answers.
• Use a decision rule you can apply on the fly. Jennifer's version: if the value comes from efficiency, technology is the right tool. If the value comes from your humanity, expertise, judgment, or the relationship, a person leads.
• Start with the low-risk wins. Meredith points to meeting notes, call summaries with a human spot-checking them, spreadsheet formulas, and first drafts. Build the editing step into the system so AI's voice doesn't slowly become yours.
• Keep a healthy skepticism about client data. Jennifer's open question about AI notetakers is where that information actually goes, and whether protected health information is secure. She isn't claiming to have the answer. She's saying the question deserves asking before you adopt.
• Stop competing with AI platforms on price and availability. Meredith's advice is to go the other direction and be loud about the human part, because connection is the product and venture capital can't buy it.

Connect with Jennifer & Meredith:

• Website: https://moveforwardvirtualassistants.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moveforwardvas
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MoveForwardVAs
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@moveforwardvas
• LinkedIn (Jennifer): https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenrunsbusiness/
• LinkedIn (Meredith): https://www.linkedin.com/in/meredith-eaton/
• LinkedIn (company): https://www.linkedin.com/company/move-forward-virtual-assistants/

Resources Mentioned

TheraBrain waitlist: https://moveforwardvirtualassistants.com/thera-brain

Connect with Whitney:

Follow Whitney on Instagram @whitneybateson

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