CUSTOMER STORY
True Joy Counseling and Consulting
Built to Serve: Veterans, Families, and the Broader Community
True Joy Counseling is a full-service mental health practice founded more than 10 years ago by Licensed Mental Health Counselor Joy Makela. They offer therapy to individuals, couples and families. Located near several military installations in the Florida Panhandle, the practice serves a large population of veterans and military families alongside the broader community.
Makela had a vision to create a mental health practice centered on compassion, efficiency and accessibility. She recognized the need for tools that would simplify workflows and allow the team to focus on delivering exceptional patient care without administrative obstacles standing in the way.
Searching for Simplicity and Efficiency
Before opening True Joy Counseling, Makela worked in a traditional practice with cumbersome, inefficient workflows. Scheduling, billing and documentation were fragmented, creating unnecessary stress for both providers and patients. That’s when Makela decided to create her own practice allowing her the flexibility to be more efficient.
“I knew there had to be a better way,” Makela said.“ We needed systems that made the work easier, not harder.”
Building with Office Ally from the Start
Shortly after launching True Joy, Makela discovered Office Ally. Impressed with what they saw, the True Joy team quickly implemented three key solutions:
- Clearinghouse software for electronic claims submission and insurance management
- Practice Management software for scheduling and patient management
- Electronic Health Record (EHR) software for clinical documentation and patient records
Office Ally established a strong foundation, and today it remains a key partner in supporting the practice’s operational excellence and continued growth. The team experienced streamlined workflows and operational clarity, which allowed them to focus more fully on patient care and continue building their practice with confidence.
“Office Ally was easy to set up, easy to use, and incredibly affordable,” said Financial Manager Dana Allen. “It just made sense.”
Growing with Confidence
As True Joy Counseling expanded, Office Ally continued to support the practice’s growth without adding complexity. When Katie Kagan joined the team as Operations Manager, she immediately recognized the strength of the system.
“Scheduling, billing, reporting — it all flows together,” Kagan said. “It’s intuitive. You don’t need a tech background to figure it out.”
For Armani Perry, Patient Care Coordinator, who joined the team as an intern, Office Ally’s user-friendly design made onboarding smooth and stress-free.
“I felt comfortable navigating the system almost immediately,” Perry said. “It gave me confidence to focus on supporting our patients.”
Simplified Workflows, Stronger Patient Focus
Since implementing Office Ally, True Joy Counseling has achieved:
- Streamlined insurance claims and faster processing
- Reduced administrative workload across the team
- Simplified onboarding for new staff
- Improved patient scheduling and access to care
- Enhanced financial predictability and reporting
Most importantly, the practice’s mission remains intact. Instead of being bogged down by administrative work, Makela and her team can focus on providing compassionate care, especially to the military families who rely on their services.
“Office Ally gave us something we didn’t realize we needed: peace of mind,” Makela said.
Looking Ahead
Today, True Joy Counseling is thriving: serving a growing community, expanding services and welcoming new staff members with confidence. Office Ally remains a trusted partner, empowering the practice to stay agile, efficient and patient-focused.
“Having a reliable system from the beginning set us up for success,” Allen said. “Office Ally made it possible for us to grow without losing what matters most.”
A Partner for Every Stage of Practice Growth
True Joy Counseling's experience demonstrates the value of using the right tools from the beginning. With Office Ally, they've not only streamlined their workflows but created a strong foundation for sustainable growth. Whether you’re starting a new practice or scaling an existing one, Office Ally solutions make it easier to focus on what matters most, your patients. Discover these solutions today:
- Service Center
Your Claim Copilot™ — a web-based clearinghouse portal to check real-time eligibility and submit claims to any payer, improving cashflow. - EHR 24/7®
Customize workflows, boost productivity, manage patient charts, order labs, and e-prescribe — all in one intuitive system. - Practice Mate®
A web-based practice management system to schedule patients, verify insurance, manage accounts, and easily store documents.
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See why healthcare providers love Office Ally
Office Ally helps greatly with the financial health of our practice. It streamlines every step of our revenue cycle from intake to claim submission, billing and reimbursement.
Joy Makela
Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Founder and Owner True Joy Counseling and Consulting
This has been my almost singular source for billing since I entered into private practice many years ago; the service has been almost entirely at no cost to me and has been great.
Tracy H.
M.A., L.P.C.
"In OA I have complete control over my clients, I can go in, I can change modifiers, I can fix whatever I want. I can set up Superbills the way I need them to…Its got a lot of customization that I can go in and just create things. I can make it do almost everything I want it to do."
Vicky M.
CPC, Masterton Billing
My experience with EHR/ 24/7 has been very good...Thumbs up Office Ally you have made this program very easy to set-up, use and personalize.
Susanne N.
Medial Billing Specialist
"Look no further for practice management software! Very customizable and minimal clutter/non essential functionality. It has been great! I have used it for 1.5 years with zero problems or outages. Very reliable and customizable."
Timothy F.
Chiropractor/Owner
It makes claim entry very efficient. Submits to a wide range of insurance companies very efficiently.
Thomas R.
Ph.D.
"Very useful, incredible support. Once it is set up, very easy and simple to use. I primarily create claims and manage billing with Practice Mate."
Stephen A.
Manager/Counselor Mental Health Care
"Excellent comprehensive services, it makes private practice much easier with scheduling and EHR very practical. I wish access patient portal services were also in Spanish or multilingual and easier for adults with limited computer skills!"
Rodrigo M.
With a few clicks I can get all my billing and accounting done. It's also easy to look up past history about patients or claims.
Rita R.
MA, MS, RD
Easy to use, for professional users. Directions simple for non-computer users.
Richard T.
Mental Health Counselor
How I love my Office Ally! The customability for all fields. The ability to just click on a sentence i use so often is great. I think its great. I know it so well I feel as if I could be one of your techs.
Michelle R.
Office Manager
We have been using office ally as a PMP and a clearing house for over 8 years. It is a great program and you cannot beat the price.
Opel
Originally posted on Softwareadvice.com
Great practice management. Ease of use and great at letting track of visits and payments. Is been great for all medical billing and makes repeat visits easy to manage.
Melissa E.
Licensed Massage Therapist
“Small business is the backbone of the United States. Healthcare providers are very fortunate to have a system that is as robust as the hospital and the big major clinics without the big price tag.”
Marie M.
MS LMT CHt
Great for submitting claims and excellent customer service. Cost effective, easy to use, good customer service
Laura
Owner
"Important tool for my practice. The ease of use with calendar and billing."
Kristy K.
Clinician
EHR 24/7 makes easy to connect with patient from any location. It also make it easy to cater for large number of patients. Assist in controlling patients under clinical medication..
Lucy N.
Originally posted on G2.com
Office Ally is the best! I've been using Office Ally for many years and it helps keep my practice organized and on-track. I find it easy to use.
Karin N.
Licensed Acupunturist
I love that I set up my practice in Practice Mate in 2007 and haven't ever felt the need to switch. It meets my needs for managing my practice calendar, visits, claims, and payments.
Julie S.
Clinical Psychologist/Relationship Coach
My errors are caught in time for me to correct before the claim goes out the door. Customer Service is courteous, smart, and patient.
Georgena F.
Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor
"I depend on Practice Mate and talk with new clinicians starting their own private practices about using it. It is easy to use and dependable. I like that I can call or email customer support and they get back to me."
Julie S.
Psychologist
"Highly recommend. Have used over 10 years. Seamless use between [EHR 24/7] and Practice Mate. Easy to use."
Jennifer D.
Dietition/Owner
"Excellent Clearinghouse. Claims status are received in a very timely manner. Nothing [negative], as everything has been working efficiently. Payor verification is helpful. EDI and claims submission is swift. Paper mail costs was eliminated."
Frederick H.
Billing and Audit Manager
Office ally is great because ... their customer service is excellent, as well as their tutorial videos and they offer training one on one.
Fazal A.
Office Manager, Health wellness and fitness
Easy to use and great customer service and technical support very helpful. Great program and great tech support.
Evelyn L.
Medical Billing | Capterra.com
"Best practice management software use. Ease of use. Serves the purpose for my practice. Been using this software since office opened 23 years ago."
Dharmesh P.
Physical therapist
"Love this EHR. Cost effective product that gives me everything I need in an intuitive format. I started using EHR in my private practice and am so happy with it that I convinced my new employer to initiate it here."
Dawn T.
Psychiatric nurse practitioner
Office Ally is so easy to use and the prompt help from customer service I have never considered using another clearing house.
Denise K.
CEO at a medical billing company
Office Ally is easy to use for claims submission. I like the drop and drag feature. Going in to correct billing is super easy and I do review the reports every week.
Dawn P.
Billing Manager
"Service Center is well worth it!!! It's very user friendly. I find it helpful and appreciate it's easy access and prompt responses. There is nothing negative ,I can say about my experience with the service."
David M.
Clinical Social Worker
"Integral to our operations. The product is integrated with our systems and increases our efficiency by minimizing the need to go to external sources, allowing our team to focus on their tasks. Easy to use."
Crissy T.
Practice Manager
Easy to onboard and set up. The functionality allows you to port over your existing clients for quick chart setup. Amazing! It has literally saved my practice!
Danielle S.
Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner
"This is the most reasonably priced and helpful Clearinghouse out there and by far the popular for that reason! They have tech support you can make an appointment with to learn it or give them a call and save your place and they will call you back."
Claire M.
Comprehensive. One platform for everything. The repairable claims feature is great.
Christopher R.
Licensed Practical Nurse
I get quick replies on status of my claims submitted for my providers. Excellent customer service.
Alicia R.
Owner of a billing company
"Amazing Product, Super Easy to use and navigate. It is so easy to navigate and find claims and batches, to upload and download claims and fix claims."
Cara B.
Office Manager
"I'm satisfied. I truly have zero issues with the the software works and the customer service has always treated me exceptionally well. I use this service to seamlessly enter in all my medical claims. I have been using the service for over 10 years and it is the best."
A Service Center User
Owner
Customer service is exceptional at trouble shooting claims that fail to process for remittance. Professionalism, knowledge and competence of office ally staff. Excellent. No complaints. Highly recommend.
Carrie M.
Carrie M., Clinical Psychologist | Capterra.com
Practice Mate-Great for the smaller clinic. I love this program. Easy to learn and use. Multiple people can use it at once [and it’s] Web based.
Cathy C.
Owner, Accounting
"Service Center is awesome! It is incredibly easy to use, helpful, saves a lot of time, completely worth it."
Barbara S.
Therapist
