Frequently asked questions

Quick answers to the questions clinicians ask most, each with a link to the deeper page. Calories, the journal, coins and streaks, your corrections, timing, and the crisis flow.

Short answers to the questions that come up most often. Each one links to the page that covers it in full. If you are chasing a specific problem instead, see Common issues.

Can the patient see their calorie count?

No. A calorie number is never shown to the patient anywhere in the app, because visible calorie tallies are unsafe for eating-disorder recovery. Even the optional progress bar is a fill with no number attached, and the one prescribed exception is protein and fiber grams via nutrition visibility, never calories. See What you can never see.

Can I see the patient's journal?

No. The private journal is local-only, never synced to the cloud, and never visible to you, a guardian, or anyone else. Consent does not change this. See What you can never see.

Do my calorie corrections change what the patient sees?

No. A calorie correction you make on a meal is dashboard-only. It never syncs back to the patient's app and never changes what they were shown. Your corrected value is what your own analytics prefer. See The Food Log.

Why are coins and streaks the way they are?

They are motivational, not clinical, and intentionally opaque. Coin amounts are not shown as a formula, and streaks forgive missed and rest days rather than punish them, so score-keeping does not creep into recovery. Do not read a coin or streak number as an adherence measure. See What you can never see.

When does a setting I change reach the app?

Settings ride the patient's profile, which the app refreshes about every 30 seconds and immediately when the patient foregrounds the app. So a change lands within seconds, faster if they open the app. A few settings, like the meal check-in delay and the purge follow-up question, are read when the check-in opens, so they apply to the next check-in. See Common issues.

Why can I not see a patient's data even though they use Pippa?

Detailed access is consent-gated and per-clinician. You see full detail only after that specific patient grants consent to you. A grant to a colleague does not extend to you, and nobody can share access on someone else's behalf. See The consent model.

Can I sign into the patient app myself?

Yes. Use your dashboard email and password in the app's email sign-in, and you get the full app (chat, logging, everything your patients have) so you can learn it, demo it in session, or walk a patient through a flow on your own phone. Your account is a normal, private app account: what you log there belongs to you, you never appear on your clinic's roster, and it never uses a member seat. Entering your clinic's join code does nothing for staff, so you can't accidentally add yourself as a patient.

Do I need to sign anything before I can open patient records?

Yes. Each staff member signs a one-time HIPAA attestation before any patient records load. Until you do, the dashboard holds you at a sign-wall. See The consent model.

Can I set a patient's weight, height, or calorie goal from the dashboard?

Yes. Those are clinician-owned and set from the dashboard. The patient's app cannot overwrite them, so your values are authoritative. See The Nutrition tab.

Who can edit the meal plan and grocery list?

By default both you and the patient can edit them, and they sync both ways with the most recent edit winning. You can lock the meal plan to care-team-managed, after which the patient sees it read-only. The grocery list is never locked. See Meal plans.

Is Pippa's chat a real clinician or a bot?

It is an AI chat, and the patient is told so with a first-time disclosure and an always-on banner. It is built to refuse pro-eating-disorder framing, avoid sycophancy, and hand off to crisis resources rather than play counselor. See Conversations.

What hotlines does the crisis flow use?

For eating-disorder concerns it points to ANAD at (888) 375-7767 and the Crisis Text Line (text HOME to 741741). For self-harm it surfaces the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Medical red flags are told to seek same-day care or 911. See Conversations and The safety plan.

Am I alerted if a patient discloses something dangerous?

Yes, for the crisis subset. A self-harm disclosure in chat or in a mood note, or a high-risk measure score, emails every clinician who holds consent for that patient. Other flagged content is recorded without paging you, to avoid alert fatigue. See Roster and concerns.

Why did notifications stop for a patient?

The most common reason is that they signed out. Pippa never schedules notifications while signed out, and signing out cancels everything. After that, check the OS notification permission and the specific reminder toggle. See Common issues.

What happens to a patient's data if their account is deleted?

Deletion is two-stage: the account is disabled immediately with a tombstone, then the data is purged after a 30-day window. Some records, like access logs and consent history, are retained for about six years for compliance. See Data lifecycle.

Can I add any Pippa user to my roster?

Only by their email, and only if they already have a Pippa account. There is no cross-clinic or non-member lookup. If no account exists for that email, the add is refused. See Onboarding a patient.