🖥️ For practice admins using Practice HQ on the web. You need the Settings permission to manage default services and note templates.
This article shows you how to set up the services your practice books and bills, including billing codes and add-on services, and how to manage the note templates that shape your providers' AI-generated notes.
In this article
1. Default services
Default services are the session types your whole practice can book.
Go to Settings → Clinical → Default services. The list shows each service's Service Name, whether it's a Default or Additional service, Duration, Price, CPT Code and Usage (how many providers use it).
Click Add Service and choose the kind of service:
Add Default Service: a session a provider or client can book.
Add Group Service: a group session. This only appears if your practice has group sessions turned on.
Add Additional Service: a per-unit add-on attached to a booked session. See Additional services (add-ons).
💡 Tip: A service's kind (default, additional or group) is fixed once you create it. To change it, create a new service of the right kind.
2. Creating a service
Each service has a name, duration, delivery mode and, if it's billable, its pricing and billing code.
Click Add Service → Add Default Service.
Enter a Service Name and a Duration (min).
If your practice has couple and family charts turned on, choose who the service Can Be Scheduled For: Individual, Couple and/or Family.
Optionally add a Description and a Client Display Name (or Patient Display Name), the name clients see instead of the internal name.
Choose a Delivery Mode: All (In-Person, Telehealth & Phone), In-Person Only, Telehealth Only (Video) or Phone Only (Audio).
If your practice uses Oasys billing, turn on Billable Service to add pricing and a CPT code.
Enter the Price, No-Show Fee and, optionally, Late Cancel Fee, then choose a CPT Code.
Click Create Service.
Pricing and fees can be set once for the service, or split by session mode. Turn off Use the same pricing for all session types to set a price, no-show fee, late-cancel fee and CPT code for In-Person, Telehealth and Phone (Audio) separately.
Price and no-show fee are required for a billable service. The no-show fee can be higher than the regular price.
A CPT code is optional on a default service. Insurance sessions for a service without one can't be billed until a code is set.
Each service needs a unique name (capital letters and extra spaces are ignored). If another service already has that name, you'll see "A template with a similar name already exists".
A client's own pricing rule takes priority over the service's default price and fees.
Group services work the same way, with a few differences: their delivery mode is fixed to All (In-Person & Telehealth) (group sessions support in-person and telehealth only), they have no Client Display Name or Can Be Scheduled For choice, and they can only use the group and family codes listed in the next section.
3. Billing codes on services
A service's billing code is picked from a fixed, searchable list of mental-health codes. There's no free-text entry.
Use Search CPT codes... to find a code by number or description.
The list for default services includes HCPCS codes H0004, H2000, H2015 and T1016, as well as CPT codes.
Add-on codes aren't offered on default services, including when you set a different CPT code for each session mode. They're only available on additional services.
When you edit a service, a code that was saved earlier stays visible even if it isn't offered in the list.
Group services can only use the group and family codes 90846, 90847, 90849 and 90853.
If the code you need isn't listed, contact Oasys support to have it added. Once added, it's available to the whole practice.
Cognitive function intervention
Choose 97129 (initial 15 minutes) on the default service.
Create an additional service with 97130, a 15-minute duration per unit, and your price per unit for each additional 15 minutes.
When booking, attach the 97130 service to the 97129 session and set the number of additional units. For example, one additional unit gives a 97129 x1 line and a 97130 x1 line on the superbill and claim. Units are entered by hand.
💡 Tip: Diagnosis (ICD-10) codes aren't a practice-wide setting. They're recorded on each client's clinical profile and selected per claim, not on services.
4. Additional services (add-ons)
An additional service is a per-unit add-on that can be attached to an appointment on top of its main service.
Click Add Service → Add Additional Service.
Enter a Service Name and the minutes each unit adds in Duration (min). Use 0 if it doesn't add time ("0 = does not add time").
Enter a Price per unit of $10,000 or less.
Choose an add-on CPT Code.
Click Create Service.
Add-on codes: 90785, 90833, 90836, 90838, 90840, 96131, 96133, 96137, 96139, 97130, 99050 and 99051.
An additional service always has billing on and always needs an add-on CPT code. It can't be saved without one. It has no no-show or late-cancel fee and no per-mode pricing, and it can't be a provider's default service.
Additional services can't be booked on their own, and clients don't see them as booking options.
After-hours services
99050 is for office care outside the practice's regular hours. 99051 is for office care during scheduled evening, weekend or holiday hours.
Set your own fee and use a duration of 0. These codes don't represent extra therapy minutes.
Add the after-hours service by hand when booking or editing a session. Appointment time doesn't add the charge automatically.
Having these codes in Oasys doesn't establish insurance coverage. Reimbursement depends on the payer, provider type and setting, so check the payer's after-hours policy.
Using additional services on appointments
On a billable appointment, the main service can be booked for 1-24 Units, and additional services are added as separate lines with their own units.
An appointment can carry up to 5 additional services. Each one can be attached once; to add more of the same, increase its units.
In Practice HQ, units and additional services need the Billing permission. They aren't available on recurring or group appointments, and they can't be changed once the appointment has been invoiced or claimed.
For booking details, see Practice scheduling.
5. Service policies
Service policies control how providers can use your practice services. You'll find two switches at the top of Default services.
Allow provider customization: lets providers modify a service's details when they add it to their own services.
Require default services: automatically adds every practice service to every provider and prevents custom services. Turning this on also turns off Allow provider customization ("Disabled when template usage is required").
💡 Tip: Whether staff can book outside a provider's hours is set in Feature settings, not here. See Scheduling outside provider availability.
6. Editing, archiving and deleting services
Use the ⋮ menu on a service to change or remove it.
Edit opens the service so you can change it, then click Update Service.
Delete first checks whether the service is in use. If nothing depends on it, you can delete it permanently with Delete Template.
If the service is still in use, Oasys lists what depends on it (providers using it, booking add-on attachments, active bookings, recurring series or unbilled sessions) and offers Archive Template instead.
Archiving hides the service from active use, keeps all its history, and can be undone at any time with Restore from the same menu. If Require default services is on, archiving also archives the matching service for every provider.
⚠️ Important: Once a session has been billed, you can't change its service type in place, because the service type sets the price. To correct it, void or refund the invoice under Billing, change the service type on the appointment, then bill it again.
7. Note templates
Note templates control how AI-generated session notes are structured and formatted. They're managed separately from document templates.
Go to Settings → Clinical → Note templates. This needs the Settings permission (not Documents), and Oasys enforces it.
A practice starts with a ready-made set of templates: Standard Progress Note (the default), Intake Note, Crisis Psychotherapy Note, Family or Couples Therapy Note, Group Therapy Note, Treatment Plan Review and Termination Session Note. You can edit, duplicate or delete any of them.
Click Create (or the Create template card) to build a template.
From a template's ⋮ menu, choose Set as default, Duplicate or Delete. The default template is marked Default.
Deleting a template can't be undone in Practice HQ.
If your practice is set up in Charter School mode, the starter progress-note template uses the GIRP format, and the Include Health Data option isn't shown.
⚠️ Important: Note templates control the structure of clinical session notes (SOAP, DAP and so on). Document templates are the client-facing forms, assessments and signable documents, managed in the Documents tab. See Documents and templates.
8. Building and editing a note template
Click a template to open it in the editor, or click Create to start a new one.
Enter a Template Name and, optionally, a Description to help your team choose the right template.
Choose whether to Allow clinicians to adjust prompts (see How providers use your note templates).
On the Session Summary tab, pick a Note Format.
Under Note sections, drag to reorder, toggle to turn sections on or off, and expand a section to edit its heading and AI prompt. Click Add Section to add your own (a Section Heading and an AI Prompt).
Set the Note Length and the other options (listed below).
Use the Template Structure tab to set the fields that appear on the note's PDF.
Click Save Template (for a new template) or Save Changes.
Note formats
Standard Progress Note, SOAP Note, DAP Note, BIRP Note and GIRP Note.
Intake Note, Crisis Psychotherapy Note, Family or Couples Therapy Note, Group Therapy Note, Treatment Plan Review and Termination Session Note.
Custom: in Choose starting template, pick one of the standard formats to start from and click Start Customizing. A Custom template always starts from a standard format's sections, which you then edit.
Every format's sections and prompts are fully editable. Click Reset to restore a format's default sections and prompts.
Other options
Note Length: Concise, Normal or Detailed.
Include Health Data: lets the AI use the client's health metrics and wearable data.
Include Quality Measures: lets the AI include standardized quality metrics and outcome measures.
Therapeutic Modalities: helps the AI tailor the note to specific therapeutic approaches.
Additional Instructions: practice-wide guidance for AI note generation, such as tone, focus areas or documentation requirements.
9. How providers use your note templates
Two settings decide how much of a practice template your providers can change.
Allow providers to create their own templates
This switch is under Practice template settings at the top of Note templates. Providers always have the practice templates.
When it's off, providers use your practice templates for AI note generation instead of personal ones. They choose from your practice templates and can pick which one is their default.
When it's on, providers can also create and use their own personal templates, and still see and pick from your practice templates.
Either way, the template sets the note format, length, sections and included data. A template's therapeutic modalities and additional instructions fill in the provider's session settings as a starting point. The provider can change or clear them, and the note uses whatever is left in those fields.
Allow clinicians to adjust prompts
This switch is on each practice template, under Description in the editor. It's on for a template unless you turn it off.
When it's on, each clinician can rewrite any section's AI prompt for their own notes, up to 4,000 characters per section. Sections, their order and PDF fields stay as you set them.
Clinicians see your practice prompt next to their own, can reset a section to the practice prompt, and see how many sections they've customized.
When it's off, clinicians' notes use your practice prompts for that template. Any wording they saved is kept but not used, and it's used again if you turn the switch back on.
Frequently asked questions
Can I have different services for different providers?
Default services are practice-wide. If your service policies allow it, individual providers can also define their own services in their personal settings.
The CPT code I need isn't in the list. What do I do?
Contact Oasys support to have it added. Once added, it's available to the whole practice.
Why can't I delete a service?
It's still in use, for example by providers, bookings or unbilled sessions. Choose Archive Template instead. You can restore it later.
We require practice note templates. Why can a provider still change modalities and instructions?
That's intended. The practice template controls the note's format, length and sections, not the provider's modalities or additional instructions.
How do I stop clinicians from rewriting a template's prompts?
Open the template and turn off Allow clinicians to adjust prompts, then save. Their notes then use your practice prompts for that template.
Which services need a CPT code?
Additional services always need an add-on CPT code. A default service can be saved without one, but insurance sessions for it can't be billed until it has a CPT code.
Can I build a note template from scratch?
You can click Create without duplicating an existing template, but every template is built on a standard note format. A new template starts on Standard Progress Note. To design your own sections, choose Custom and pick a standard format to start from in Choose starting template.
Can admins book outside a provider's hours?
That's controlled by Allow administrators to schedule outside availability under Settings → Organization → Feature settings → Scheduling. See Feature settings.