I think it's a sloppy practice. My T did his own billing (he didn't process insurance), but he dictated session notes and then had a freelance person transcribe his tapes. But I was never identified by name on the tape. All clients had an assigned number, and the "master list" was only in his possession. All files were similarly encoded.

Now when I saw him at the University center, there was less control; more personnel involved, billing through insurance, etc. My understanding is that all files were handled as they would be in any medical practice.