The Testing Psychologist Podcast

Would you rather read the transcript? Click here. Staying on top of the legal side of things is a huge pain, but we are at a point where keeping up with these digital shifts is just a core part of running a practice. In this episode, I’m walking through the 2026 HIPAA Security Rule updates and what they actually mean for you on a day-to-day basis. We’re moving away from the old “addressable” safeguards into a world where everything is mandatory, from multi-factor authentication to specific 72-hour data recovery rules. I also dig into the concept of data sovereignty, which is really just a fancy way of saying who actually controls your client data, and how to spot red flags in those long terms of service agreements that none of us ever want to read. My goal is to help you build a simple vetting process for your software so you can focus on the clinical work without worrying that your data is leaking into a global AI training model. Main Topics 00:38: The 2026 HIPAA Security Rule update and the end of addressable safeguards 01:12: Mandatory multi-factor authentication (MFA) requirements for all systems 02:20: The 72-hour recovery rule for clinical data and vendor contract obligations 03:25: Updating Business Associate Agreements (BAA) for AI-specific clauses 04:15: Defining data sovereignty vs. data residency and why control matters 07:45: A three-point vetting checklist for clinical software and AI tools 09:12: Red flag phrases to look for in Terms of Service agreements 11:35: Cross-state compliance and the impact of the Delete Act on practice inventory Cool Things Mentioned The Testing Psychologist mastermind groups and business consulting Reverb: the premier AI-powered report-writing platform for testing psychologists Featured Resources TherapyNotes is the leading EHR system for mental health practitioners. I’ve used TherapyNotes for over 10 years, and it just keeps getting better. Use this link and the promo code “testing” to get two free months and try it for yourself! www.therapynotes.com/testing The Testing Psychologist podcast is approved for CEU’s!I’ve partnered with At Health to offer CE credits for podcast episodes! Visit this link to access current and past episodes available for CE credit. You can use code “TTP10” for a discount on ALL the course credits you purchase from At Health! About Dr. Jeremy Sharp I’m a licensed psychologist and Clinical Director at the Colorado Center for Assessment & Counseling, a private practice that I founded in 2009 and have grown to over 20 clinicians. I earned my undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina before getting my Master’s and PhD in Counseling Psychology from Colorado State University. These days, I specialize in psychological and neuropsychological evaluation with kids and adolescents. As the host of the Testing Psychologist Podcast, I provide private practice consulting for psychologists and other mental health professionals who want to start or grow psychological testing services in their practices. I live in Fort Collins, Colorado with my wife (also a therapist) and two young kids. Ready to grow your testing services? Click below to get on the waitlist! Join the Waitlist

Would you rather read the transcript? Click here. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how much tele-assessment has changed since the early days of the pandemic, and we’re definitely moving past the “just trying to survive” phase into something a bit more rigorous. I wanted to sit down and look into where the research actually stands right now, especially when it comes to the “spatial problem” and why our tech setups might be accidentally measuring screen resolution instead of actual cognitive ability. Today, I’m summarizing the research on which parts of the assessment are best conducted remotely vs. in-person, along with offering some concrete tips to improve the quality of your remote protocol. At the end of the day, we’re trying to bring the rigor of the clinic into the client’s living room, and that takes a lot more than just a laptop and a prayer. Main Topics 00:15: The foundational research in tele-neuropsychology and the high reliability of remote verbal tasks 00:45: The spatial problem and how parallax or mirroring errors can create a tele-assessment penalty 01:45: Using the Tele-ASD-PEDS to observe naturalistic parent-child interactions in the home environment 03:10: Addressing the sensory bottleneck and hearing loss confounds in geriatric cognitive screening 04:40: Comparing developmental distractions in kids versus facilitator influence in older adults 06:15: The 2026 remote protocol including the three-camera setup and audio priority requirements 08:05: Technical environment audits and the importance of a 10-inch minimum screen size 09:20: Establishing a hard “discontinue threshold” to prevent powering through bad data Cool Things Mentioned The Testing Psychologist mastermind groups and business consulting Reverb: the premier AI-powered report-writing platform for testing psychologists Featured Resources TherapyNotes is the leading EHR system for mental health practitioners. I’ve used TherapyNotes for over 10 years, and it just keeps getting better. Use this link and the promo code “testing” to get two free months and try it for yourself! www.therapynotes.com/testing The Testing Psychologist podcast is approved for CEU’s! I’ve partnered with At Health to offer CE credits for podcast episodes! Visit this link to access current and past episodes available for CE credit. You can use code “TTP10” for a discount on ALL the course credits you purchase from At Health! About Dr. Jeremy Sharp I’m a licensed psychologist and Clinical Director at the Colorado Center for Assessment & Counseling, a private practice that I founded in 2009 and have grown to over 20 clinicians. I earned my undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina before getting my Master’s and PhD in Counseling Psychology from Colorado State University. These days, I specialize in psychological and neuropsychological evaluation with kids and adolescents. As the host of the Testing Psychologist Podcast, I provide private practice consulting for psychologists and other mental health professionals who want to start or grow psychological testing services in their practices. I live in Fort Collins, Colorado with my wife (also a therapist) and two young kids. Ready to grow your testing services? Click below to get on the waitlist! Join the Waitlist

Would you rather read the transcript? Click here. I’m diving back into a topic that I feel more strongly about every day, which is the intersection of professional burnout and the way we handle our documentation. Honestly, the research on clerical burden as a driver of exhaustion is pretty staggering, and in our field of assessment, it’s compounded by the fact that we’re writing these massive integrated narratives rather than simple chart notes. In this episode, I’m making a bit of an ethical plea for automation—not as a way to cut corners, but as a clinical safety measure to preserve our executive functioning for the high-level synthesis our clients actually need. I walk through the APA ethics code, the “skeleton versus soul” model of report writing, and the non-negotiables of data sovereignty in 2026. I also share a four-point protocol for integrating these tools responsibly, from the “blind edit” to clear disclosure, because at the end of the day, I’d much rather we use our brain power for conceptualization than for transcribing scores into tables. Main Topics 00:38: The documentation crisis and the burnout loop in psychological assessment 01:25: Why documentation efficiency is a clinical safety and practice issue 02:44: Navigating APA Ethics Standard 9.09 regarding automated interpretation 03:35: The skeleton versus soul model of AI-assisted report writing 04:58: Current state of research on AI writing quality and patient outcomes 05:55: Data sovereignty and the dangers of public LLMs in clinical practice 07:45: A four-point ethical efficiency protocol for clinicians 10:28: Transparency and disclosure statements for AI-assisted reports Cool Things Mentioned The Testing Psychologist mastermind groups and business consulting Reverb: the premier AI-powered report-writing platform for testing psychologists Featured Resources TherapyNotes is the leading EHR system for mental health practitioners. I’ve used TherapyNotes for over 10 years, and it just keeps getting better. Use this link and the promo code “testing” to get two free months and try it for yourself! www.therapynotes.com/testing The Testing Psychologist podcast is approved for CEU’s! I’ve partnered with At Health to offer CE credits for podcast episodes! Visit this link to access current and past episodes available for CE credit. You can use code “TTP10” for a discount on ALL the course credits you purchase from At Health! About Dr. Jeremy Sharp I’m a licensed psychologist and Clinical Director at the Colorado Center for Assessment & Counseling, a private practice that I founded in 2009 and have grown to over 20 clinicians. I earned my undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina before getting my Master’s and PhD in Counseling Psychology from Colorado State University. These days, I specialize in psychological and neuropsychological evaluation with kids and adolescents. As the host of the Testing Psychologist Podcast, I provide private practice consulting for psychologists and other mental health professionals who want to start or grow psychological testing services in their practices. I live in Fort Collins, Colorado with my wife (also a therapist) and two young kids. Ready to grow your testing services? Click below to get on the waitlist! Join the Waitlist

Would you rather read the transcript? Click here. As we continue our exploration of modern assessment, I wanted to dive deep into the long-standing debate between digital and paper-based administration. While many of us have made the switch to platforms like Q-interactive, concerns about mode effects and statistical differences in scores remain a common point of anxiety. In this discussion, I review the robust research confirming cross-mode equivalence for most cognitive subtests, but I also highlight critical nuances like technology anxiety in older adults and the tactile friction gap that can influence fine motor performance. We also look at the significant advantage of digital tools in eliminating the 5% human error rate common in manual scoring. To wrap up, I outline a 2026 mode integrity protocol to help you maintain data purity, including screening for digital literacy and proper documentation of your administration methods. Main Topics 00:35: The evolution of digital platforms and research regarding mode effects 01:15: Meta-analysis findings on cross-mode equivalence for cognitive subtests 01:50: User experience bias and the impact of technology anxiety on older adults 03:02: The tactile friction gap and how stylus-on-glass influences motor speed 04:15: Human error rates in manual scoring and the benefits of digital clerical accuracy 05:40: Granularity in timing and the value of millisecond-accurate digital precision 06:45: The 2026 mode integrity protocol for clinical practice 08:35: Best practices for documenting digital administration and AI disclosures in reports Cool Things Mentioned The Testing Psychologist mastermind groups and business consulting Reverb: the premier AI-powered report-writing platform for testing psychologists Featured Resources TherapyNotes is the leading EHR system for mental health practitioners. I’ve used TherapyNotes for over 10 years, and it just keeps getting better. Use this link and the promo code “testing” to get two free months and try it for yourself! www.therapynotes.com/testing The Testing Psychologist podcast is approved for CEU’s! I’ve partnered with At Health to offer CE credits for podcast episodes! Visit this link to access current and past episodes available for CE credit. You can use code “TTP10” for a discount on ALL the course credits you purchase from At Health!th! About Dr. Jeremy Sharp I’m a licensed psychologist and Clinical Director at the Colorado Center for Assessment & Counseling, a private practice that I founded in 2009 and have grown to over 20 clinicians. I earned my undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina before getting my Master’s and PhD in Counseling Psychology from Colorado State University. These days, I specialize in psychological and neuropsychological evaluation with kids and adolescents. As the host of the Testing Psychologist Podcast, I provide private practice consulting for psychologists and other mental health professionals who want to start or grow psychological testing services in their practices. I live in Fort Collins, Colorado with my wife (also a therapist) and two young kids. Ready to grow your testing services? Click below to get on the waitlist! Join the Waitlist

Would you rather read the transcript? Click here. I am so excited to dive into one of the most requested topics we have ever had: making the transition from an insurance-based model to a private pay practice. Many of us feel a lot of trepidation about this shift, wondering why a family would ever choose to pay out of pocket for an evaluation they could technically get elsewhere for a copay. In this episode, I break down the consumer psychology behind high-stakes assessments and why parents are often looking for a comprehensive life roadmap rather than just a bare-minimum diagnosis. We talk about the quality-price inference, how to leverage your calendar to offer the speed that hospitals cannot match, and how to create a premium experience that justifies your rates. Whether you are ready to go fully out of network or just want to test a hybrid model, this episode provides a clear path forward for valuing your expertise and your time. Main Topics 00:14: The mindset shift and consumer psychology of the quality-price inference 01:25: Moving from a minimum diagnosis model to a maximum life roadmap 02:48: Using speed and your calendar as your strongest marketing leverage 04:55: Implementing a hybrid strategy with premium private pay add-on packages 08:15: Upgrading the physical and digital client experience to match premium pricing 10:15: Turning the superbill process into a concierge marketing asset 12:40: The long-term rewards of autonomy and freedom from insurance audits Cool Things Mentioned The Testing Psychologist mastermind groups and business consulting Reverb: the premier AI-powered report-writing platform for testing psychologists Featured Resources TherapyNotes is the leading EHR system for mental health practitioners. I’ve used TherapyNotes for over 10 years, and it just keeps getting better. Use this link and the promo code “testing” to get two free months and try it for yourself! www.therapynotes.com/testing The Testing Psychologist podcast is approved for CEU’s!I’ve partnered with At Health to offer CE credits for podcast episodes! Visit this link to access current and past episodes available for CE credit. You can use code “TTP10” for a discount on ALL the course credits you purchase from At Health! About Dr. Jeremy Sharp I’m a licensed psychologist and Clinical Director at the Colorado Center for Assessment & Counseling, a private practice that I founded in 2009 and have grown to over 20 clinicians. I earned my undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina before getting my Master’s and PhD in Counseling Psychology from Colorado State University. These days, I specialize in psychological and neuropsychological evaluation with kids and adolescents. As the host of the Testing Psychologist Podcast, I provide private practice consulting for psychologists and other mental health professionals who want to start or grow psychological testing services in their practices. I live in Fort Collins, Colorado with my wife (also a therapist) and two young kids. Ready to grow your testing services? Click below to get on the waitlist! Join the Waitlist

Would you rather read the transcript? Click here. In this episode, I break down the financial and operational logic behind transitioning from a solo assessment model to a technician-led model. Many psychologists hesitate to hire a psychometrist because technician CPT codes reimburse at a lower rate, but looking at the unit’s revenue alone misses the bigger picture of your effective hourly rate. I walk through the specific math of a 15-hour evaluation case to show how delegating the six hours of administration actually increases your hourly value and frees you up to see more clients. We also dive into the reality of the supervision tax, how to handle quality control concerns, and the mindset shift required to move from being a tester to a diagnostician. Main Topics Covered 00:00 Understanding Psychometrist Codes and Reimbursement 06:21 Solo vs. Scaled Models in Assessment 08:46 The Supervision Tax and Its Impact 11:53 Quality Considerations in Psychometrist Models 14:49 When to Hire a Psychometrist Cool Things Mentioned The Testing Psychologist mastermind groups and business consulting Reverb: the premier AI-powered report-writing platform for testing psychologists Featured Resources TherapyNotes is the leading EHR system for mental health practitioners. I’ve used TherapyNotes for over 10 years, and it just keeps getting better. Use this link and the promo code “testing” to get two free months and try it for yourself! www.therapynotes.com/testing The Testing Psychologist podcast is approved for CEU’s!I’ve partnered with At Health to offer CE credits for podcast episodes! Visit this link to access current and past episodes available for CE credit. You can use code “TTP10” for a discount on ALL the course credits you purchase from At Health! and the promo code “testing” to get two free months and try it for yourself! www.therapynotes.com/testing About Dr. Jeremy Sharp I’m a licensed psychologist and Clinical Director at the Colorado Center for Assessment & Counseling, a private practice that I founded in 2009 and have grown to over 20 clinicians. I earned my undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina before getting my Master’s and PhD in Counseling Psychology from Colorado State University. These days, I specialize in psychological and neuropsychological evaluation with kids and adolescents. As the host of the Testing Psychologist Podcast, I provide private practice consulting for psychologists and other mental health professionals who want to start or grow psychological testing services in their practices. I live in Fort Collins, Colorado with my wife (also a therapist) and two young kids. Ready to grow your testing services? Click below to get on the waitlist! Join the Waitlist

Would you rather read the transcript? Click here. In this episode, I break down the essential components of the “core stack” for psychological and neuropsychological testing billing. Many clinicians leave significant revenue on the table by skipping the diagnostic interview code or miscategorizing professional integration time as simple test administration. I explain the critical differences between the 60-minute professional work codes and the 30-minute administration codes, while highlighting the “half plus one” rule that can legitimately maximize your reimbursement. We also touch on specialized codes for developmental and neurobehavioral screens and the absolute necessity of maintaining an audit-ready log to protect your practice. Main Topics Covered 00:01: Introduction to the core billing stack: 90791, 96132, and 96133 02:08: Why you must never skip the 90791 diagnostic interview code 03:25: Understanding 96132 and 96133 as 60-minute professional work units 05:20: Differentiating between psychological (96130) and neuropsychological (96132) evaluation codes 07:15: Deep dive into test administration and scoring codes 96136 and 96137 08:55: Navigating daily unit caps and insurance panel “soft caps” 10:45: Utilizing obscure codes for neurobehavioral and developmental testing 12:45: The “half plus one” timing strategy for maximizing billed units 15:20: Creating audit-ready documentation and the importance of precise time logs Cool Things Mentioned The Testing Psychologist mastermind groups and business consulting Reverb: the premier AI-powered report-writing platform for testing psychologists Featured Resources TherapyNotes is the leading EHR system for mental health practitioners. I’ve used TherapyNotes for over 10 years, and it just keeps getting better. Use this link and the promo code “testing” to get two free months and try it for yourself! www.therapynotes.com/testing The Testing Psychologist podcast is approved for CEU’s!I’ve partnered with At Health to offer CE credits for podcast episodes! Visit this link to access current and past episodes available for CE credit. You can use code “TTP10” for a discount on ALL the course credits you purchase from At Health! About Dr. Jeremy Sharp I’m a licensed psychologist and Clinical Director at the Colorado Center for Assessment & Counseling, a private practice that I founded in 2009 and have grown to over 20 clinicians. I earned my undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina before getting my Master’s and PhD in Counseling Psychology from Colorado State University. These days, I specialize in psychological and neuropsychological evaluation with kids and adolescents. As the host of the Testing Psychologist Podcast, I provide private practice consulting for psychologists and other mental health professionals who want to start or grow psychological testing services in their practices. I live in Fort Collins, Colorado with my wife (also a therapist) and two young kids. Ready to grow your testing services? Click below to get on the waitlist! Join the Waitlist

A step-by-step math approach to set an hourly rate by working backward from desired take-home pay. How hidden administrative drag and high assessment overhead secretly shrink income. Practical planning for billable capacity and folding admin time into flat-fee evaluations. Using time-tracking to audit true hourly pay and ethical reasons to price services so clinical quality is protected.

A deep dive into rethinking clinical reports for real people. Short, front-loaded clinical snapshots replace score dumps. Strategies for two-sentence syntheses, the so what rule, and explaining domain interactions are highlighted. Practical ideas for tiered recommendations and reducing reader overwhelm are explored.

Would you rather read the transcript? Click here. Clinical intuition is often little more than a coin flip when it comes to detecting suboptimal effort. We like to think we can spot a client who isn’t giving their best, but the data suggests otherwise. In this episode, I dive into the necessity of using objective performance validity indicators rather than relying on gut feelings. I discuss the prevalence of failure rates in adult ADHD evaluations, the difference between malingering and a cry for help profile, and the technical balance between sensitivity and specificity in the tools we choose. I also share a practical framework for addressing poor effort in the moment using a three stage feedback sandwich to preserve the clinical alliance while ensuring the integrity of your data. Main Topics The limitations of clinical intuition in determining optimal effort Prevalence of validity failure rates in clinical ADHD evaluations Distinguishing between malingering and the cry for help profile Balancing sensitivity and specificity in validity measure selection The shift from legacy recognition tasks to multi stage symptom validity tests The two failure rule and the utility of the $0 embedded indicator Strategic scheduling and administration of PVIs throughout a battery The feedback sandwich: affirmation, calibration, and the reset Cool Things Mentioned The Testing Psychologist mastermind groups and business consulting Reverb: the premier AI-powered report-writing platform for testing psychologists Featured Resources TherapyNotes is the leading EHR system for mental health practitioners. I’ve used TherapyNotes for over 10 years, and it just keeps getting better. Use this link and the promo code “testing” to get two free months and try it for yourself! www.therapynotes.com/testing The Testing Psychologist podcast is approved for CEU’s! I’ve partnered with At Health to offer CE credits for podcast episodes! Visit this link to access current and past episodes available for CE credit. You can use code “TTP10” for a discount on ALL the course credits you purchase from At Health! About Dr. Jeremy Sharp I’m a licensed psychologist and Clinical Director at the Colorado Center for Assessment & Counseling, a private practice that I founded in 2009 and have grown to over 20 clinicians. I earned my undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina before getting my Master’s and PhD in Counseling Psychology from Colorado State University. These days, I specialize in psychological and neuropsychological evaluation with kids and adolescents. As the host of the Testing Psychologist Podcast, I provide private practice consulting for psychologists and other mental health professionals who want to start or grow psychological testing services in their practices. I live in Fort Collins, Colorado with my wife (also a therapist) and two young kids. Ready to grow your testing services? Click below to get on the waitlist! Join the Waitlist