Why Psychedelic Therapy Networks Need a Group-Wide Safety Net

Before exploring psychedelic therapy insurance solutions, it is essential to understand the primary risks unique to psychedelic therapy groups.

The Moving Target Risk: Regulatory and Legal Uncertainty Around Psychedelic Medicine

Evolving industries always face unique risks, but particularly when dealing with substances that have conflicting legal regulations. Psychedelic drugs like psilocybin and MDMA are still federally illegal, but face patchwork regulations on the state level, from medically legal to decriminalized. This increases the risk for non-compliance for businesses, particularly those that work in multiple states. Even substances like Ketamine, which hold a Schedule III designation and are known for their mental health benefits, face conflicting regulations at the state level for the treatment of mental health disorders.

The Patient Vulnerability Risk: Clinical and Safety Risks of Psychedelic Substances in Mental Health Treatment

Administering and taking psychedelic substances carries a heavy risk across the board. Patients undergoing these types of therapies have often suffered from complex mental health conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive disorder, or severe anxiety. Since psychedelic substances have such an effect on the brain, patients dealing with severe mental health disorders are often more psychologically vulnerable.

Not only do clinics need to protect against adverse side effects of treatment, but unfortunately, these organizations also need protections in place from risks that come from inside the clinic, from administrators. In altered states, the risk of inappropriate therapeutic touch, suggestability, or boundary violations can lead to the most damning lawsuits and claims.

Protection for psychedelic therapies cannot work in isolation; individual bubbles of protection fail to provide a robust safety net for the organization as a whole. A group-wide safety net helps mitigate risk for everyone in the psychedelic therapy network.

Unified Group Professional Liability & Malpractice Insurance

Traditional therapist insurance policies often fall short for psychedelic practitioners with specific exclusions for experimental treatments, controlled substances, or psychedelic compounds. A specialized, network-wide policy that explicitly includes psychedelics-assisted therapy protocols offers real protection. This policy type often has higher aggregate limits to protect an entire group’s assets against claims, offering a true safety net.

Standardized, Vetted Protocols and Training for Administration of Psychedelic Drugs

Risk mitigation takes everyone, and when it comes to insurance, consistent documentation is your friend. Every network of psychedelic therapy providers should have a single SOP (standard operating procedure) approved by everyone in the network that touches on everything from client screening and preparation to dosing sessions and integration. Establishing this in advance ensures that all providers are held to the same standard and expectations of care.

Additionally, all practitioners in a network should hold the same certificate of completion from an advanced training for psychedelics or MDMA-assisted therapies. Regardless of their background or individual licensing, holding everyone to the same training standard helps establish consistency of care and provides the base of defense against claims of negligent training or inconsistency.

Centralized Data and HIPAA Compliance

Data security needs to be a major consideration for psychedelic therapy networks. Patient data often contains sensitive information such as mental health diagnoses, trauma history, or detailed use of psychedelic drugs, and it must be protected. A data breach at a single clinic affects the network security (and reputation) of an entire network.

Here too, consistency is key. A single, robustly encrypted Electronic Health Record system (EHR) with a centralized IT security system and established breach response protocols goes a long way towards mitigating data security risks. One central system means the risk can be managed centrally, not clinic-by-clinic, exposing vulnerable loopholes.

Risk mitigation also means going on the defensive—proactively, not reactively. A few small steps go a long way towards establishing security and legal defense.

Consistent Informed Consent Procedures

A standard consent form doesn’t go far enough for psychedelic therapy. Informed consent when taking these substances is a multi-step process, one that is established in advance and uniform across all clinics. This consent process should provide explicit details about the unique and often intense psychological risks of consuming psychedelic drugs to properly establish patient expectations and ensure the same level of disclosure by every therapist across every clinic.

Quality Assurance and Peer Supervision

Often, problems within an organization grow unchecked because employees are not empowered to speak up. As part of the quality assurance process, providing an anonymous (and mandatory) peer review system ensures that people can speak freely about small issues before they grow. This peer review system gives upper management a consistent place to review difficult cases and treatment outcomes, ensuring a high standard of patient care and commitment to improvement—before something goes wrong.

Psychedelic Research

Recent years have seen interest in renewed clinical research for psychedelic drugs. Clinicians should also be encouraged to stay updated on psychedelic research and leverage these insights to update a clinic’s best practices and operating procedures in real time.

Psychedelic studies and the use of psychedelic drugs for mental health are changing and expanding rapidly. Using psychedelic medicine to treat psychiatric disorders is an area of medicine we know comparatively little about, and psychedelic studies are underway at the state and federal levels, thanks to organizations like the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). Providers must stay on top of the latest psychedelic studies to best understand the therapeutic effects of psychedelic medicine.

Building a Network-Wide Crisis Management Plan

A crisis management plan is a key piece of a risk management strategy. In a psychedelic network, there needs to be a single, clear, and accessible protocol for handling severe adverse events that all employees are trained on. This can cover a range of potential problems, from transporting a patient in acute psychological distress to one with severe physical reactions. The way problems are handled internally is the difference between a minor incident in treatment and a public relations disaster that leads to legal problems.

For visionary entrepreneurs, the psychedelic drugs landscape is rich with opportunities for mental health treatment. Further research is also solidifying the role of psychedelic compounds in spiritual significance, an aspect that should not be underrated. But with the potential for high reward comes high risk. Setting a psychedelic therapies network for long-term success requires a group-wide safety net, with the proper umbrella of insurance, as well as safety protocols for staff, patients, and data security. 

This essential investment protects your bottom line and helps you navigate the stormy seas of an emerging industry. Prioritizing a unified, comprehensive risk management plan protects your practitioners, your assets, and your network. If you’re ready to be a leader in safe and ethical psychedelics-assisted therapy, the first step is protecting your business. 

Protecting your psychedelics company can seem confusing; however, we’re a full-service insurance brokerage working with carriers worldwide to offer you the best coverage possible. We’re here to help! Please reach out to us today by email [email protected] or calling 646-854-1093 for a customized letter or learning more about your psychedelics insurance options.