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Getting Started: Launching Your Virtual Care Business

This guide walks healthcare entrepreneurs through the process of launching a virtual care practice on CareLaunch. Whether you're a solo practitioner starting your first telehealth practice or an experienced clinician expanding into virtual care, this guide will help you go from signup to seeing your first patient.

Before You Begin​

What You'll Need​

Before setting up your CareLaunch account, gather the following:

  • Business Information: Your practice name, address, and contact details
  • Professional Credentials: NPI number, state licenses, and relevant certifications
  • Branding Assets: Logo (PNG or SVG), brand colors, and any taglines
  • Payment Processing: Bank account information for receiving payments

Choosing Your Practice Model​

CareLaunch supports various virtual care business models:

  • Direct-to-Consumer (DTC): Patients pay out-of-pocket for services
  • Membership/Subscription: Recurring membership fees for ongoing care
  • Package Pricing: Bundled visit packages at discounted rates
  • B2B Services: Provide virtual care services to employers or other organizations

Step 1: Create Your Account​

  1. For a solo practice, check signup availability. The signup page will tell you if an invitation code is required.
  2. If an invitation is required, contact support@carelaunch.health. For a group practice, contact sales@carelaunch.health for assisted setup.
  3. After your account is active, sign in. The onboarding wizard opens on first login. Use the Launch your practice checklist on Home to finish setup and unlock your patient registration link.

See Create Your Account for a step-by-step walkthrough of signup, checkout, and activation.

Step 2: Configure Your Practice​

Organization Settings​

Navigate to Settings > Organization to configure your practice:

  1. Practice Name: Enter your official practice name
  2. Contact Information: Add your practice phone, email, and address
  3. Time Zone: Set the default time zone

Weekly hours for booking are set per provider. See Provider Availability below.

Branding Your Patient Portal​

Make your patient portal reflect your brand. There is no Settings > Branding page.

  1. Open My Instance (Solo) or Instances, select your instance, and open Identity under Brand & website. Instances is an Enterprise feature.
  2. Choose your logo and icon from your assets, or upload new ones.
  3. Set the instance color, or use Detect from logo.
  4. Set the patient-facing name on the same card. The headline, subtitle, and background image are on the Home page card and are used when the home page is the template microsite.
  5. Save from the unsaved-changes bar at the bottom of the page.

The organization logo is set separately under Settings > Organization. See Instance Configuration and the onboarding wizard.

Custom Domain (Optional)​

For a fully branded experience, you can use a custom domain:

  1. Contact CareLaunch support to enable custom domains
  2. Configure DNS settings as provided
  3. Your patients will access your portal at your custom URL (e.g., portal.yourpractice.com)

Step 3: Set Up Your Team​

Adding Providers​

For each provider in your practice:

  1. Open Providers and click New. A solo practice sets up its one provider in the onboarding wizard, and the Providers menu is hidden on Solo.
  2. Enter provider details:
    • Name
    • NPI number
    • Licenses, under Qualifications
    • Biography and photo
  3. Set weekly hours from Schedule > MANAGE > Manage Recurring Hours. See Manage Recurring Hours.

Services patients book are healthcare services, not fields on the provider. See Services Patients Can Book below and Provider Management.

Adding Team Members​

Add people who will help manage your practice:

  1. Go to Settings > Users
  2. Click New
  3. Enter their email and select roles under Roles & Permissions on the user form. The built-in roles are:
    • Platform Admin: Full access to all platform features and settings. The practice owner has this role.
    • Organization Admin: Manages organization settings and users
    • Instance Admin: Manages settings for one instance
    • Base Admin: Basic administrative access
    • Schedule Manager: Manages schedules and appointments. Only a Platform Admin or a Schedule Manager can assign it.
  4. They receive an email invitation to set up their account

There is no Staff, Billing, or Billing Admin role. Clinicians are added under Providers, not as a role on the user form. On Practice and Enterprise plans, a Platform Admin can also create custom role definitions, with their own permissions, under Settings > Custom Roles. Solo does not include that page. Provider role types, which are separate from these sign-in roles, are under Settings > Provider Roles for a Platform Admin on Practice and Enterprise. Assign the fewest roles a person needs. See User Management.

Step 4: Configure Patient Intake​

Registration Workflow​

Design how patients join your practice:

  1. Navigate to Settings > Registration
  2. Configure registration steps:
    • Account creation (email/password)
    • Demographics collection
    • Consent forms
    • Custom intake questionnaires
  3. Set the order of steps and which are required

Custom Forms​

Create intake forms specific to your practice:

  1. Go to Forms and click New
  2. Add fields using the drag-and-drop builder
  3. Configure conditional logic if needed
  4. Preview and publish your form
  5. Add the form to your registration workflow

Collect the consents your practice requires. There is no Settings > Documents page, and CareLaunch does not include state-specific consent templates.

  1. Go to Forms and create a consent form, or click Import from Library and start from the Consent Form or Telehealth Consent & Acknowledgement template. Typical documents a practice writes itself include a HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices, practice policies, and a financial agreement.
  2. Add a signature field when the form needs an e-signature. See Forms and E-Signatures.
  3. Add the form to Settings > Registration. For a short statement the patient agrees to, you can add a Consent step to the workflow instead.
  4. To have patients upload files, add a Documents step in that workflow and attach files from Assets. See Patient Registration.

Step 5: Set Up Scheduling​

Services Patients Can Book​

Define the services you offer. There is no Settings > Appointment Types page. Services are healthcare services.

  1. Go to Settings > Healthcare Services
  2. Create a service:
    • Name (for example, "Initial Consultation" or "Follow-up Visit")
    • Estimated duration in minutes
    • Payment product, when the service is cash-pay (the product comes from your connected Stripe account)
    • Whether an appointment is required
  3. Add a description patients will see

See Healthcare Services.

Provider Availability​

Configure when each provider is available:

  1. Open Schedule
  2. Click MANAGE, then Manage Recurring Hours
  3. Set the weekly hours for that provider's role
  4. Use Out of Office, or a one-time block on the calendar, for holidays and time off

Buffer time and how far ahead patients can book are under Settings > Scheduling. See Manage Recurring Hours.

Booking Rules​

Control how patients book appointments:

  1. Go to Settings > Scheduling
  2. Configure:
    • Minimum advance booking time
    • Maximum future booking window
    • Cancellation policy and deadlines
    • Rescheduling rules

Step 6: Configure Payments​

Payment Processing​

Set up payment collection:

  1. Open Integrations and connect your Stripe account if payments are enabled for your organization.
  2. Complete Stripe's account and payout setup.
  3. Configure the payment step in Settings > Registration if your intake workflow collects payment. See Patient Registration.

Pricing​

Set your service prices:

  1. Set up products and prices in your connected Stripe account.
  2. Go to Settings > Healthcare Services and select the payment product for each service that requires payment. See Healthcare Services.
  3. If you offer packages, discounts, or memberships, confirm how they should be presented in registration or booking with your CareLaunch contact.

Step 7: Test Your Setup​

Before going live, test the entire patient experience:

  1. Create a Test Patient: Register as a patient using a personal email
  2. Complete Registration: Go through your intake workflow
  3. Book an Appointment: Schedule a test appointment
  4. Join a Video Visit: Test the telehealth functionality
  5. Process a Payment: Complete a test transaction
  6. Send Messages: Test the secure messaging system

Step 8: Launch Your Practice​

Go-Live Checklist​

Before accepting real patients, verify:

  • All provider profiles are complete with photos and bios
  • Branding is configured and looks professional
  • Registration workflow collects all necessary information
  • Consent documents are uploaded and configured
  • Healthcare services and pricing are set correctly
  • Provider availability is configured
  • Payment processing is connected and tested if you collect payments
  • You've completed a full test as a patient

Inviting Your First Patients​

Start seeing patients:

  1. Share your patient portal URL with existing patients
  2. Add your booking link to your website and social media
  3. Include your portal link in email signatures
  4. Consider a soft launch with a small group before full marketing

Next Steps​

Now that your practice is set up, explore these resources:

Getting Help​

If you need assistance at any point:

Welcome to CareLaunch! We're excited to help you build your virtual care practice.