I feel obligated to share my experience so other providers know what they’re signing up for.
Providers are expected to see patients without a required card on file, which means many services go unpaid. I personally lost thousands of dollars for visits I completed because payments were never collected. In addition, if insurance denies a claim, the provider is not paid, even though the service was rendered.
Providers can only be paid for no-shows if the patient actually pays the fee but since there is no card-on-file requirement, many patients simply never pay. Even when they do, LifeStance takes at least 40% of the fee. The same applies to collateral services like FMLA ppwk, where the provider completes all the work but the company still takes a large percentage.
There is also a significant unpaid administrative burden All portal messages go directly to the provider, so clinicians end up handling scheduling, cancellations, paperwork, and medication questions themselves without compensation.
Operational support was minimal, management was difficult to reach, and prior authorization support was extremely limited (at one point one person handled PAs for all NPs in the state), which created delays and even more portal messages.
There is no PTO, no raises, and the company operates like many private-equity backed systems focused on cutting costs.
I ultimately left because I respect my time and my work, and I’m very glad I did.
