Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of Terms

By creating an account on the Tandem Alliance platform ("Platform"), you ("Therapist," "you," or "Member") agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"), our Privacy Policy, and all applicable laws and regulations. If you do not agree to these Terms, you may not use the Platform. Tandem Alliance reserves the right to modify these Terms at any time. We will notify Members of material changes via email or Platform notification. Continued use of the Platform after such notice constitutes acceptance of the modified Terms. If you use the public directory or its guided intake, or submit an introduction request as a prospective client (“Prospective Client,” “you”), you agree to be bound by the portions of these Terms that apply to that use, including Sections 3, 10, and 16.

2. Eligibility and Account Requirements

To use the Platform, you must: hold an active, unrestricted professional license to practice as a mental health provider (including psychotherapy, counseling, marriage and family therapy, social work, psychology, psychiatry, psychiatric-mental health nursing, or an equivalent regulated mental health profession) in at least one U.S. state or territory; be in good standing with all licensing board(s) in every state or territory where you hold licensure, with no current disciplinary actions, suspensions, or probationary conditions that restrict your ability to practice in any jurisdiction; provide accurate and current information during registration, including your full legal name, license type, license number, and all state(s) of licensure; maintain current and valid professional liability (malpractice) insurance covering all jurisdictions in which you practice throughout your use of the Platform; comply with all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations governing your professional practice, including but not limited to telehealth regulations, interstate practice requirements, and advertising rules specific to your state(s) of licensure; and be at least 18 years of age.

Tandem Alliance reserves the right to verify your credentials and may revoke access at any time if your license status changes in any jurisdiction or if any information provided is found to be inaccurate or misleading.

3. Platform Description

Tandem Alliance operates a professional networking and referral platform for licensed mental health providers, including a curated public directory, a private referral discussion board, a provider dashboard, and administrative tools. For the public, the directory includes an optional guided intake that filters listed specialists based on the criteria a visitor selects. Results are generated solely from the visitor's own selections; Tandem Alliance does not recommend or endorse any specific therapist. Tandem Alliance is NOT a healthcare provider, clinical supervision service, or employer, and does not provide clinical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or therapeutic services. The guided intake is an informational aid only: it does not constitute a recommendation, endorsement, or clinical advice and does not guarantee that any therapist shown in your results will be available, accept a given form of payment or insurance, or be a suitable fit. All clinical decisions, and the therapist–client relationship itself, remain solely between the prospective client and the licensed therapist they choose.

Mobile application. Tandem Alliance also offers a mobile application for licensed mental health providers (the “App”). The App provides access to the referral discussion board, the member directory, direct messaging between Members, introduction requests, and your own profile. The App is part of the Platform, and every provision of these Terms – including Section 4 (PHI and HIPAA), Section 5 (Referral Discussion Board Rules) and Section 7 (Account Conduct) – applies to your use of it in full. References in these Terms to the Platform, the Services, or the Site include the App unless stated otherwise. The App is a professional networking tool only: it is not a clinical record system, not an electronic health record, and not a channel for transmitting client information.

4. Protected Health Information (PHI) and HIPAA Compliance

THE PLATFORM IS NOT A HIPAA-COMPLIANT COMMUNICATION CHANNEL. You are strictly prohibited from sharing any Protected Health Information (PHI) as defined under HIPAA and its implementing regulations (45 CFR Parts 160 and 164), as well as any information protected under applicable state privacy and confidentiality laws (including but not limited to state laws that may impose stricter protections than HIPAA), on this Platform. PHI includes any information that could identify a specific individual in connection with their health condition, treatment, or payment, including names, geographic data more specific than a state, dates related to an individual, contact information, Social Security numbers, medical record numbers, photographs, or any combination that could identify a specific person.

When using the Referral Board, you must use only de-identified, generalized descriptions, never reference specific cases that could allow identification, and report any suspected PHI disclosures to privacy@tandemalliance.com immediately. Any Member found to have shared PHI may face immediate account termination and reporting to the appropriate licensing board and/or HHS Office for Civil Rights.

This prohibition applies identically in the App. Tandem Alliance is not a HIPAA Business Associate and does not enter into Business Associate Agreements. No feature of the Platform – including board posts, replies, direct messages, introduction requests, or push notifications – may be used to transmit PHI or any client-identifying information. Introduction requests between Members are for describing the type of referral you are seeking and your availability; they must never contain client names, initials, dates, contact details, clinical history, or any other information that could identify an individual. Once two Members have connected, all client-specific communication must move to a channel the Members themselves maintain that is appropriate for protected information.

Before sending messages in a conversation in the App, you will be asked to confirm that the conversation will contain no client-identifying information. That confirmation is recorded. It does not make the conversation secure, and it does not transfer responsibility to Tandem Alliance: you remain solely responsible for your compliance with HIPAA, applicable state privacy law, and your professional and ethical obligations.

5. Referral Discussion Board Rules

The board is for approved therapists to discuss referral opportunities and network professionally. You shall not post PHI, solicit clients directly, post defamatory or discriminatory content, share board content with non-members, practice outside your scope, or misrepresent your credentials. Anonymous posting hides your identity from Members but Tandem Alliance retains the ability to identify authors for moderation. You retain ownership of your content but grant Tandem Alliance a license to display and moderate it.

5.4 Interstate Referrals

The Platform facilitates professional networking among mental health providers licensed in multiple states. When making or receiving referrals that cross state lines, you are solely responsible for ensuring compliance with all applicable interstate practice laws, telehealth regulations, and licensing requirements in both the originating and receiving states. Tandem Alliance does not verify whether a referral complies with interstate practice rules and assumes no liability for cross-state referrals. You acknowledge that licensure requirements, scope of practice, mandatory reporting obligations, and client privacy protections may vary by state, and that you are solely responsible for understanding and complying with the laws of every jurisdiction in which you practice or to which you refer.

6. Public Directory Listing

Listed mental health providers have profiles managed by Tandem Alliance subject to editorial control. Profile changes must be submitted through your dashboard for review. You are responsible for ensuring all information is accurate and must promptly notify us of changes to licensure status, insurance participation, or availability.

Your profile content. You retain all ownership of the content you provide for your listing — your name, credentials, photograph, headline, biography, specialties, and practice details (“Profile Content”). You grant Tandem Alliance a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, store, reproduce, display, and distribute your Profile Content, and to make non-substantive formatting, cropping, and editorial edits to it, for the purpose of operating and promoting the Platform. This license covers your listing wherever it appears on the Platform, including the public directory, individual profile pages, state and city pages, specialty guides, the guided intake, the App, and Platform-related communications and social posts. You represent that you own or have the necessary rights to all Profile Content you submit, including any photograph — if a photographer, practice, or other third party holds rights in your headshot, you confirm you have permission to license it to us on these terms. The license lasts while your listing is published and ends when your listing is removed or your account is closed, except that we may retain archival copies and need not recall material already distributed. Tandem Alliance does not sell your Profile Content or license it to third parties for their own advertising.

7. Account Conduct

You are responsible for your account credentials. You shall not share your account, attempt unauthorized access, interfere with the Platform, reverse-engineer the Platform, or use automated means to access it.

Zero tolerance for objectionable content and abusive behaviour. Tandem Alliance has zero tolerance for objectionable content and for abusive Members. Objectionable content includes, without limitation, content that is unlawful, harassing, threatening, hateful, discriminatory, defamatory, obscene, sexually explicit, deceptive, or that contains client-identifying information. Posting such content, or behaving abusively toward another Member, is grounds for immediate removal of the content and termination of your account without notice.

We review every report within 24 hours. Where a report is upheld we remove the content and terminate the account responsible, and where appropriate – including any matter affecting a Member’s professional conduct – we notify the relevant state licensing board. Blocking a Member immediately removes their posts, replies and profile from your view and notifies Tandem Alliance for review. The Member is not told they have been blocked.

Reporting and blocking. The Platform provides tools to report posts, comments, messages and Members, and to block another Member. You agree not to post or send content that is unlawful, harassing, discriminatory, deceptive, or that contains client-identifying information. Tandem Alliance reviews reports and may remove content, suspend or terminate accounts, and where appropriate notify a licensing board. Reports may be submitted in the App or by email to privacy@tandemalliance.com. You may delete your account at any time from within the App or by contacting us.

What we can see when something is reported. Messages between Members are private in ordinary use, and Tandem Alliance staff do not read them. When a message or a conversation is reported, authorised Tandem Alliance staff may review the reported message together with the surrounding conversation, because a single message read in isolation is often impossible to assess fairly. That access is limited to conversations for which a report has been made, and is used only to decide what action a report requires. It is not a general ability to read Member messages, and we do not monitor conversations that have not been reported. Reported posts and comments are visible to staff in the same way.

Removal of content. Tandem Alliance may remove or hide any post, comment or listing at its discretion, with or without a report, where it believes the content breaches these Terms – including any content that appears to contain client-identifying information. Where content is removed we generally retain an internal record of what was removed and why, so that repeat behaviour can be identified and so that we can respond to a licensing board or legal request. Removal may happen without prior notice, and we are not obliged to restore removed content.

8. Fees and Payment

Certain features may require payment. Fee schedules will be communicated before charges are incurred. Tandem Alliance may change fees with 30 days' notice. Non-payment may result in account suspension.

9. Intellectual Property

The Platform and all Tandem Alliance content are protected by intellectual property laws. The Tandem Alliance name, logo, and "Tandem Verified" designation are trademarks and may not be used without written permission.

10. Disclaimers and Limitation of Liability

Inclusion in the directory does not constitute endorsement of clinical competence. Tandem Alliance does not participate in, supervise, or take responsibility for any referrals made between Members, whether within a single state or across state lines. THE PLATFORM IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND. TANDEM ALLIANCE SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES. TOTAL LIABILITY SHALL NOT EXCEED FEES PAID IN THE PRECEDING 12 MONTHS.

11. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Tandem Alliance from claims arising from: your use of the Platform; content you post; violations of these Terms; violations of HIPAA or any applicable state privacy law or your professional ethical obligations; any malpractice claim, licensing complaint, or regulatory action in any jurisdiction; any referral you make or receive through the Platform including interstate referrals; or your failure to comply with any applicable federal, state, or local law, regulation, or professional licensing requirement.

12. Termination

Tandem Alliance may suspend or terminate your account at any time for violation of Terms, PHI sharing, loss or suspension of your professional license in any jurisdiction, non-payment, violation of any applicable federal or state law or regulation, harmful conduct, or any fraudulent or misleading activity.

13. Dispute Resolution

Disputes shall first be subject to good-faith negotiation, then binding arbitration under AAA Commercial Arbitration Rules in Delaware (or by videoconference at either party's election). You waive class action rights. Either party may seek injunctive relief in any court of competent jurisdiction. If any portion of this arbitration provision is unenforceable in your state of residence, the remaining provisions apply to the fullest extent permitted by law.

14. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, without regard to conflict of law provisions. To the extent any claim is not subject to arbitration, you consent to exclusive jurisdiction in Delaware state and federal courts.

15. Miscellaneous

Unenforceable provisions do not affect remaining Terms. These Terms and the Privacy Policy constitute the entire agreement.

16. Prospective Clients and Introduction Requests

This section applies to members of the public who use the public directory or its guided intake, or who submit an introduction request (“Prospective Clients”). The directory and guided intake are informational resources to help you find a licensed mental health provider. They do not provide medical or mental-health advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and using them does not create a therapist–client relationship with Tandem Alliance.

Not for emergencies. The directory and intake form are not for use in a crisis or emergency. If you are experiencing a mental-health emergency or thinking about harming yourself or others, call or text 988 (the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) or call 911.

No endorsement or guarantee. Tandem Alliance does not employ, supervise, or direct the listed mental health providers. Inclusion in the directory — including any “Tandem Verified” designation — reflects completion of our listing and review process only; it is not a guarantee of any therapist’s competence, qualifications, availability, insurance participation, or suitability for you, and is not an endorsement. Results are generated solely from the criteria you select and are informational only; Tandem Alliance does not recommend or endorse any specific therapist. You are responsible for independently verifying a therapist’s license, insurance participation, and fit before beginning care.

Information you submit. Information you provide through an introduction request (such as your contact details, state, payment or insurance preference, and the concerns and preferences you select) is used to facilitate your request and may be shared with the therapist you request an introduction to, as described in our Privacy Policy. You must be 18 or older to submit a request; where a request concerns a minor, it must be submitted by the minor’s parent or legal guardian.

Limitation of liability. To the fullest extent permitted by law, the disclaimers and limitations of liability in Section 10 apply to Prospective Clients and to all use of the directory and guided intake, which are provided “as is” and without warranties of any kind. Tandem Alliance is not responsible for the acts, omissions, advice, or services of any therapist listed in or contacted through the directory.

17. Contact

Tandem Alliance — info@tandemalliance.com — www.tandemalliance.com