Essential Therapy Solutions Reduces eSignature Stress and Costs

A Better Way to Sign

Essential Therapy Solutions is a pediatric therapy provider that supports children and families across Arizona through speech, occupational, and physical therapy services. Their clinicians work in homes and clinics, often coordinating care with families who have very different schedules, locations, and levels of access to technology.

Before using Blueink, Essential Therapy Solutions relied on DocuSign for digital signatures under a per envelope contract. The organization was paying fifty cents per envelope for up to 2,500 envelopes every six months, and also being pushed toward a much more expensive unlimited plan for a broader group of users.

As CEO Amber Neubauer explained during a pricing discussion about DocuSign, “They do have an unlimited plan, but to do that, we’re talking at about like $12,000 per year with a three year contract to do that with 26 users.”

Despite that cost, the team was still “running out of envelopes” and facing pressure around renewals. Neubauer shared, “Every year she haggles with them because they try to come out with $4 an envelope. And I’m like, that’s just, that’s obscene. That’s obscene. So I’m like, and she was always been able to get them down, but now they’re like not budging.”

In her words, the renewal cycle with DocuSign had become “stressful” for the organization.

Premium Features at Half the Cost

Essential Therapy Solutions already used Blueink on a Business Pro plan and began exploring how to move more signatures onto the platform, both for their own team and for a cooperative group of partner providers.

For Neubauer, the priority was to keep the features that were working, while escaping high and unpredictable DocuSign costs.

When asked whether they needed more functionality than what Blueink already provided, she was clear: “No, I think what I currently have is exactly what we need. I mean, one of the features that I was telling my colleague that we really like is the texting feature.”

She reiterated that the current Blueink toolkit was sufficient. In addition to the demo conversation, Neubauer highlighted in her feedback form that Blueink’s texting capability and shared templates have directly supported their operational goals.

“The texting capability has saved us a lot of time and efficiencies. The shared templates have also been great.”

For a pediatric therapy provider that meets families in person, online, and across a wide geography, the ability to send documents by text makes it much easier to complete paperwork quickly.

Faster Completion for Families Without Email

One of the most practical benefits for Essential Therapy Solutions is the ability to work with families who do not rely on email at all.

Neubauer shared a specific success story:  “We worked with a family that did not have email, but we were still successful in getting the documents the same day by texting them the documents.”

Instead of asking caregivers to create and monitor email accounts or print forms they cannot easily access, staff can send a secure text link that parents open on their phone and sign immediately.

This is particularly important in pediatric therapy, where consistent services often depend on up to date consents, intake forms, and ongoing documentation that must be signed in order to continue or adjust care.

Reducing Tool Sprawl and Extra Software Costs

Beyond eSignatures themselves, Essential Therapy Solutions is also looking at how Blueink can simplify their tech stack and reduce additional document related expenses.

Discussing Blueink’s in person signing option, Neubauer said, “What I do like about that, though, is that what we do get for those that are on tablets is PDF Expert and that is also an additional cost. So that might take away that cost potentially. That could potentially take away some cost there.”

Because Blueink can store signed documents electronically and support both remote and in person workflows, it gives the team options to consolidate tools over time and avoid paying for separate apps just to annotate or capture signatures on tablets.

Moving Away From DocuSign Pricing Stress

As the company evaluated the next phase of their eSignature strategy, pricing predictability and the overall experience with vendors played a major role.

Neubauer described the yearly negotiation cycle with DocuSign as both expensive and draining: “And it’s just, it’s stressful. It’s stressful every year. It’s like, oh, here we go. This meeting again. Like, what am I going to have to do.”

She contrasted that experience with Blueink’s unlimited envelope model and straightforward billing. In her words, “Well, and I do appreciate that it’s unlimited with you guys. It just takes the stress out of everything. So it’s easier.”

In her written recommendation for new users, she also emphasized the ease of use and that the cost is affordable.

By keeping pricing simple and eliminating per envelope charges, Blueink helps Essential Therapy Solutions avoid overage fears and high pressure renewals, so they can focus on serving families rather than tracking envelope counts.

Results That Matter for Pediatric Therapy Providers

Based on their ongoing use of Blueink and the evaluation conversations, Essential Therapy Solutions has already realized several meaningful benefits and is planning further expansion.

• Time savings and efficiency
• Better access for families without email
• Less stress for staff
• Reduced tool and envelope related costs

Use Cases for Blueink at Essential Therapy Solutions

While the organization continues to refine how it will roll out Blueink more broadly, several clear use cases are already in place or under consideration:

• Family intake and consent forms
  Sending documents by text or email, especially for families who prefer mobile access or do not use email regularly.
• Virtual and hybrid visits
  Collecting signatures for teletherapy sessions and online meetings that became more common after the pandemic and remain part of family preferences.
• Supervisor and cooperative workflows
  Exploring how a larger group of therapists and supervisors can share Blueink seats, instead of each user having a separate per envelope DocuSign contract.
• Tablet based document completion
  Considering in person signing on tablets to reduce printing and reliance on separate PDF tools.

Through all of these scenarios, Essential Therapy Solutions aims to keep the process simple for caregivers while protecting staff time and budget.

A Simple Choice for Growing Therapy Practices

For pediatric therapy organizations that serve busy families across large regions, collecting signatures should not be the hardest part of care.

Essential Therapy Solutions chose to lean into Blueink because it combines:

• Text based signing that works even when families do not have email
• Shared templates that standardize routine paperwork
• Affordable, unlimited envelope pricing that removes per envelope stress
• An experience that, in Neubauer’s words, feels “sufficient” for what they need without unnecessary complexity

Her recommendation for other decision makers is straightforward:  “The ease of use and cost is affordable.”

If your therapy practice is ready to reduce eSignature stress, simplify paperwork for families, and move away from expensive per envelope contracts, Blueink can help.

Talk to Blueink to see how your team can save time, lower costs, and make signing easier for every family you serve. Schedule a demo today.