The 7 Best EHRs for Therapists
Looking for the best EHR for therapists? Electronic health records (EHRs) are part of a competitive market, which means you often have a choice between several different models—and the one you choose will depend on your practice’s unique needs.
This can be overwhelming if you are not sure which EHR is the best EHR for mental health practices like yours.
When picking the best software for therapists, you will want to consider what features the service provides, what needs to be added on for additional costs, and which tools will help your practice run smoothly and set you up for scalable growth. Most EHR systems offer similar features, but they can vary greatly in their applicability to your specific needs.
Pricing, customer support, mobile app access, telehealth options, and ease-of-use are all factors in determining if an EHR solution will work for you.
This list will highlight the features and packages that some of the best EHR for therapists systems have to offer.
Benefits of EHRs for therapists
The best EHR for therapists will provide several benefits to your private practice, including:
- Coding for insurance billing
- Premade and customizable forms that help ensure compliance and allow you to spend less time on paperwork
- Integrated billing capabilities
- Workflows that can include reminders and alerts
- E-prescription services
- Dashboards, analytic reports, and other means to display and find client data quickly
- Patient engagement that can include portals, messaging, billing, and appointment reminders
- Telehealth for virtual visits
- Access to learning materials and training manuals
- Calendars
- Mobile apps
In other words, the best EHR for mental health practices will let you focus less on tedious tasks like filling out paperwork and allow you to spend more time treating your clients.
What are the top EHRs for therapists?
The best EHRs for therapists are typically all inclusive, meaning they provide support for clinicians, office managers and other staff members, as well as clients.
Some of the best EHRs will:
- Scale with your practice
- Offer comprehensive features per package
- Provide adequate training and support
- Offer learning opportunities, which may include credentialing for different specialities or continuing education (CE), and additional resources for private practices
- Have mobile apps
- Insurance billing and online payment features
- Let you meet with clients virtually
- Provide customizable forms to fit your needs
Here is a list of some of the best EHRs for therapists.
1. SimplePractice
SimplePractice is one of the best EHRs for therapists, whether they’re in solo or group practices.
SimplePractice offers a simple, affordable EHR solution that provides you with the flexibility to grow as your practice grows—making it one of the best EHRs for mental health professionals.
SimplePractice offers an EHR system geared towards several different professional career paths that other mental health EHR systems often do not support.
Supported professions include:
- Mental health professionals
- Speech-language pathologists (SLPs)
- Physical therapists (PTs)
- Chiropractors
- Social workers
- Lactation consultants
- Massage therapists
- Occupational therapists (OTs)
- Substance use counselors
- Dietitians and nutritionists
- Acupuncturists
If you’re in a multi-disciplinary practice, this means SimplePractice can accommodate the different specialities and services your practice offers without the need for separate systems.
SimplePractice offers multiple avenues of support as you transition to their system—whether this is your first EHR system or you plan to switch from a different EHR solution. You can get started on your own with self-service resources or with guided help from SimplePractice’s customer support team—to get your practice up and running quickly and smoothly.
SimplePractice offers a 30-day free trial with no credit card needed. If you decide to continue using the service past the trial, you will get set up with a payment plan based on your practice’s needs.
SimplePractice offers three levels of plans to suit different needs, including:
SimplePractice Starter Plan
This plan includes everything you need to get started—from treatment plans, templates, and progress notes, to credit card processing and automated billing for patients.
You get access to live customer support, something that isn’t always available in other EHR software systems. This plan also includes paperless intake and a client portal so you can stay connected with clients 24/7. You can make a professional website for your practice to increase your web presence, and for a small additional fee, you can add HIPAA-compliant telehealth.
SimplePractice Essential Plan
The Essential plan offers everything that the Starter plan includes, with some added features. Telehealth comes included in the plan price, and you can file up to 10 insurance claims for free.
Additionally, you gain access to features such as a professional website, customizable notes, analytics dashboard, secure client messaging, online appointment requests, Monarch directory (a listing that potential clients can find you on), and appointment reminders.
You can also add the Wiley Treatment Planner for a small monthly fee.
SimplePractice Plus Plan
This plan is the most scalable option of the three, providing all the benefits of each of the smaller plans, in addition to a client waitlist feature, the Wiley Treatment Planner for free, ability to add appointment request widgets to an external website, up to 35 insurance claims filed for free, and calendar syncing. You can also add practice managers and additional clinicians for a monthly fee per user.
SimplePractice offers several levels of support to help you get started and support you as your practice grows. They provide phone support during business hours, unlimited email support, video chats upon request, and live chat during extended business hours.
You will also gain access to their extensive Help Center. The Help Center includes videos, documents, and “how to’s” for every aspect of the system.
SimplePractice offers virtual learning, including pre-recorded webinars discussing popular practice management topics. To get invitations for upcoming webinars, sign up for their Pollen blog newsletter. Their website also provides free downloadable resources, packed with letter templates, diagnosis guidelines, eBooks, and more.
SimplePractice offers some additional options to help practitioners at every stage, including:
- Track Your Hours: Mental health clinicians seeking certification in New York, Texas, or California can use this tool to track the hours needed to achieve their credentials. There are several supported licensures based on the state you live in.
- Monarch: Monarch is a nation-wide database that connects people seeking therapy with the right therapists across the United States. The Essential and Plus plans allow you to place your practice on the directory for free.
SimplePractice pros and cons
SimplePractice offers several pros, including:
- HIPAA compliant, HITRUST CSF Certified, and PCI compliant, meaning your data and clients are safe
- Upfront and affordable pricing for smaller practices
- Unlimited, free client storage
- Reliable support that includes learning opportunities
- One of the best EHRs for mental health solo practices and group practices that can scale with your needs
- Free 30-day trial period with no credit card required to get started
Some cons may include:
- Lowest priced option may not include everything your practice needs to work efficiently
- May need to add on services to fit your needs
2. TherapyAppointment
TherapyAppointment offers solutions for small and growing mental health practices. Like most of the best EHRs for therapists, their base plan comes with their standard offerings, with options to add all the bells and whistles as available add-ons, at a cost.
Included features:
- Enhanced data security
- Customizable calendar
- Paperless notes and charting
- Calendar sync
- Problem claim notifications
- Secure client portal
- Data and reporting dashboard
- HIPAA-compliant templates
- Insurance filing and tracking
- Automated reminders
- Live customer support
- Secure online notes
- Automated documentation
- Customized reporting
Add-on features for additional costs include:
- TherapyAppointment Telehealth: Cost is per provider. Telehealth allows therapists and clients to meet virtually.
- Electronic insurance claims: Priced per claim, this feature allows your practice to submit to insurance for payment faster.
- Zoom-integrated telehealth: Integrates Zoom to provide individual or group sessions.
- Real time insurance eligibility: Helps to determine if a claim is valid and likely to get accepted by insurance companies.
They also offer special pricing for non-profit providers and educators. You need to call to see if you qualify for this discounted rate.
They offer both solo and group priced plans. The plans are based on the number of sessions each therapist has per month.
TherapyAppointment solo plans include three tiers:
- Individual Starter Plan: Price includes 1 to 10 sessions per month.
- Individual Growth Plan: Price includes 11 to 39 sessions per month.
- Individual Standard Plan: Price includes 40 plus sessions per month.
The group plan changes the pricing structure from session-based to provider-based. The base group plan starts at $20 a month and increases based on each added therapist.
TherapyAppointment allows clients to schedule their appointments and see their information on a secure portal like many of the other best EHRs for mental health practices. You can bill insurance and accept online bill payment from clients.
Office managers and billers can bill clients and insurance and receive support to make sure the claims will get paid when submitted. They can also access and see therapist schedules and help provide next available appointment dates to clients.
Like some of the other best EHR for therapists examples on this list, they offer a 30-day trial period to test out their software. If you decide to continue with their service, you will get billed after the trial period ends.
TherapyAppointment pros and cons
TherapyAppointment offers several potential pros including:
- The same features are available on all plans
- Pricing scales are based on the number of clients
- Complete treatment plans, notes, and billing all in one platform
Some potential cons with TherapyAppointment can include:
- Limited customizations available
3. BreezyNotes
Like some of the other best EHRs for therapists, BreezyNotes is an integrated EHR system that also offers a billing service. Pricing structures are based on how big your practice is and your needs. They charge based on completed billable notes and other forms.
BreezyNotes features include:
- Client portal
- Appointment reminders
- Client scheduling
- Visual calendar
- Pre-populated notes
- Reports to show how much you need to pay each therapist
- Simplified supervision with reminders
- Billing to clients and insurance providers
BreezyNotes claims that their pricing structure is straightforward. They bill you for the services you use and adjust prices based on what level of plan you have.
BreezyNotes plan tiers include:
- Solo: This is their most basic plan that supports only one provider and allows the creation of an unlimited number of staff accounts, such as billing or office managers. You will pay a base price as well as the highest price per note submitted.
- Starter: For smaller, multi-provider practices, the starter plan has a higher monthly price but charges a lower cost per note. It allows up to 100 notes per month.
- Enterprise: For medium-sized practices, this plan allows the submission of 101 to 750 notes per month. The price per month is higher, but the cost per note is less than the starter or solo plan.
- Unlimited: The highest plan for larger practices, this plan allows for unlimited note submission. It has the highest monthly cost, but also the lowest note submission cost.
- BreezyBilling: Their managed billing software gets billed monthly and includes the EHR system. The price varies and requires a sales call to get a quote for your practice.
All group plans allow for unlimited provider accounts. Plans change based on the number of submitted notes, not providers.
The client portal will cost an additional fee per month for all plans except the Unlimited plan. The cost goes up based on the plan selected, with Solo paying the least and Enterprise paying the most.
Appointment reminders can be added to any plan. For Solo and Starter, it will cost an additional fee to add this feature, plus a per appointment reminder fee. Enterprise and Unlimited plans do not have a monthly fee for appointment reminders, but will still pay per reminder sent.
Eligibility checks for insurance are a flat rate per check across all plans.
Phone support costs the most for a Solo account. A Starter account offers one hour of free phone support, while the Enterprise and Unlimited accounts offer free phone support. All plans include email support for no additional charge.
Each plan requires a startup fee that scales up based on plan size. BreezyNotes does not offer a free trial period, though a demo is available prior to purchasing a plan.
Electronic claims submission incurs an added fee for Solo plans, but is included in all others.
Scheduling, billing, and training is included on all plans.
BreezyNotes pros and cons
Some potential pros of BreezyNotes include:
- Do not need to pay for services if you do not use them
- Note prices drop for larger submissions
Some cons with using BreezyNotes include:
- Charge for set up
- Features not available or need to be added for an additional cost at lower plan levels
- Lowest plan rate charges per hour of phone support
- Service costs may add up quickly and may vary greatly between months
4. TherapyNotes
Like other EHR software examples, TherapyNotes includes features that help therapists, billers, and office staff perform their jobs and stress less about paperwork.
Therapists will have access to notes, treatment plans, scheduling, and telehealth with their clients. Office managers and supervisors can access calendars, billing, and other integrated services to help keep the office running smoothly.
Their service provides notes and treatment plans for therapists with an integrated practice management system and billing service.
TherapyNotes offers three main plans.
The following features are included in each plan:
- Unlimited clients, appointments, and notes
- Free 30-day trial
- Unlimited one-on-one telehealth sessions
- Phone and email support
- Free client data import from another EHR
- Custom client portals
- Intake forms and workflows
- Secure backups
- Automatic software updates
- Unlimited file storage
- Telehealth services
- E-prescriptions
You can also add on one or more of the following features to each plan:
- Electronic billing: The cost is per claim or eligibility check each month.
- Appointment reminders: The costs are per text or phone call, but free for emails.
- Payment processing: They charge a percentage plus a small transaction fee per charge.
- ePrescribe: Cost is per month based on the number of prescribers in your practice.
- MIPS reporting: This gets billed annually for each included clinician.
- Medical billing services: This is a full medical billing service with a TherapyNotes billing partner. Costs vary, so you will need to call for a quote.
Although not specifically mentioned in their prices, you can add telehealth for group sessions. A basic, one-to-one model is available with all plans, but the group telehealth feature allows you to host multiple participants, on separate devices, in a virtual session.
The basic plans include:
- Solo: A monthly charge based on one user.
- Group: This plan is for small to medium practices. It has a base cost for the first clinician and an additional cost for each added clinician. You can add as many non-clinical staff as needed or desired, at no cost.
- Enterprise: A good option for large practices, the pricing is the same as the Group plan, but comes with a designated account manager from the Therapy Notes support team, who can provide more specialized assistance with the software.
TherapyNotes pros and cons
Some of the pros of using TherapyNotes may include:
- Free phone and email support
- 30-day trial and demos
- Offers several features for a generally low price
Some cons with using TherapyNotes may include:
- Analytics dashboards included may be basic compared to other EHR systems, the MIPS dashboard costs extra
- Practice management features are generally more basic compared to other EHR systems
5. CounSol.com
Another of the next best EHRs for therapists is CounSol.com. This EHR is most useful for clinicians who prescribe medications, such as psychiatrists.
CounSol.com offers many essential services in each of their plans, ranking it among the best EHRs for mental health practice owners. You can also add services at a monthly cost for each plan level.
Features included at each plan level are:
- Complete practice management—from client notes and records, to appointments and billing
- Custom client portals where clients can view emails from you, schedule new appointments, view and pay bills, and write in a private journal
- Secure messaging
- Custom forms and questionnaires
- Appointment reminders through text, calls, or email
- Treatment plans and client notes
- Calendar scheduling with calendar sync across devices
- Client billing and invoicing
- Ability to schedule group sessions
- Online booking and availability
- Client journals
- Client birthday notifications
- Task lists to ensure clients complete necessary forms
- HIPAA compliance
- Personal account manager to provide one-to-one support for your practice’s needs
Plans include a base price and additional price per clinician.
Available plans include:
- Standard: The most basic plan that includes most features but does not include video, online chat, or electronic insurance billing. They suggest it is best for practices that do not accept insurance, hold their appointments in-person, or use a different video hosting platform for virtual sessions.
- Standard Plus: Similar to the Standard plan, except it includes the ability to bill insurance electronically. It may be best for smaller practices that accept and process insurance claims.
- Premium: Premium offers video and chat sessions, but it does not include insurance processing.
- Premium Plus: Offers the same features as Premium, but with the added electronic insurance billing functionality.
Most plans, except the Standard plan, include a listing with CounselorListing.com. This directory helps advertise your practice profile to potential clients.
You can add two additional services to each plan:
- Wiley Practice Planner: Helps practitioners create high quality treatment plans and progress notes that most third party and state agencies will accept more readily.
- E-prescription service: This service varies in price, based on whether your clinician will prescribe controlled or non-controlled substances.
You can try CounSol.com for free for 14 days or view a demo before committing.
CounSol.com pros and cons
Some of the pros that CounSol.com offers include:
- Offers sale prices at times
- Can scale from one to many practitioners
Some cons of using CounSol.com may include:
- E-prescriptions and a robust treatment planner both cost extra per month
- Offer a shorter trial period compared to some competitors
- Does not include mobile support
6. CR Essentials (formerly Behaviorsoft)
CR Essentials is an EHR best suited for small and startup practices that specialize in applied behavior analysis (ABA) to treat neurodivergent clients, like those with autism spectrum disorder.
Because the service focuses on ABA therapy, it may not be the best option for therapists who do not use this specialty care. It also may not work as well for larger practices.
If your practice uses ABA therapy or intends to expand into this focus, CR Essentials may be a good option. Their added features include training and credentialing for staff on ABA therapy.
CR Essentials offers a Startup Package for a single practitioner, or other small startup clinic. You are eligible to use the free service if you only treat one client. Once your practice accepts a second client, you will need to upgrade to a paid subscription.
The Startup Package includes several features, such as:
- HIPAA compliant platform
- Reports on billing and payroll, that provide insights into your practice’s business performance
- Unlimited storage for clinical documentation, certificates, credentials, and more
- Build ABA programs and track learners' progress with CR Elements clinical programs
- Training and onboarding support
- Support in both English and Spanish
- No contract or commitment required
- Custom form building
- Auto populating progress notes
- E-sign documents
- Practice management features including scheduling, telehealth, calendars, and more
- Billing support including electronic insurance claims, invoicing, billing, online payments, and more
- Staff management including payroll, credential tracking, and compliance tracking
Their Small Business Practice plan offers everything in the Startup Package, as well as:
- A month-to-month subscription with no commitment
- PHI-compliant credit card processing through their Caregiver Portal
- Group therapy notes and documents
You can also add-on additional features for an extra monthly fee.
Potential add-ons include:
- EVV-Mobile Application: Associated cost is per user per month.
- Premium Clinical Programs - Cost is per therapist per month.
- CR Care Coordinator: Provides training on CR Care Coordinator and ABA Parent Training for additional client support, at home and in treatment.
- Change Healthcare Claims Processing
- CR Institute ABA training and certificate programs.
- CR Assessments: Includes software for ABA assessments.
Costs for some of the add-ons are not clearly marked on their website. The training and assessment add-ons are all geared towards ABA therapy providers and facilitators—to train new employees, help parents support their client child, or enhance current clinical skill sets.
Small, established practices can try the Small Business Practice plan for 30 days before committing. They provide training and onboarding to help get your practice up and running.
You can also request a demo to see how the software works. This may be helpful if you use a different EHR and are thinking of switching to a system that better fits your needs.
CR Essentials pros and cons
CR Essentials may be one of the best EHR for mental health practices that specialize in ABA therapy.
Some pros of using CR Essentials include:
- 30-day free trial
- Month to month commitment
- ABA documents and skills tracking
- Training and certification for ABA therapists and staff available
- Credential tracking
- Customizable forms
Some cons of using CR Essentials may include:
- Mobile app is an add-on with a per user monthly cost
- Targeted only towards therapists who treat intellectual or developmental disabilities
- May not be the best solution for medium to large scale practices, which could be a problem if your practice is growth-oriented
7. TheraNest
Another EHR included in our list of the best EHRs for therapists is TheraNest.
TheraNest offers several pre-made forms and reports, as well as the ability to customize reports to fit your private practice’s needs. You can fill out unlimited forms for each of your clients at each of its several price points.
Different from other behavioral health EHR vendors on this list, TheraNest breaks down its pricing structure based on the number of clients you serve. The first package begins at up to 30 active clients, with up-selling options for:
- Up to 40 active clients
- Up to 50 active clients
- Up to 80 active clients
- 80+ active clients (pricing is only available on this plan by contacting TheraNest)
Features of TheraNest include:
- Client portal with client self-scheduling
- Add unlimited staff members
- Customer support, including live phone support
- Automatic email, phone, and text appointment reminders
- Full-featured calendar
- Unlimited note templates with custom forms
- Customizable intake forms
- Batch payments feature for payment collection
- Integrated credit card processing that allows you to store and charge cards
- HIPAA compliant and secure messaging
- Over 25 reports available
You can also pay for these add-on services:
- Wiley Practice Planners: This service provides access to over 1,000 pre-written treatment goals, objectives, and notes. It also allows clinicians to add personal notes into the templated treatment planner.
- Telehealth: This feature is priced based on each therapist that uses it on the plan. Like other telehealth features, it allows for face-to-face virtual sessions from anywhere at any time.
- Multiple client portals: This allows you to add additional client portals for clients seeing multiple therapists in your practice, or clients receiving multiple kinds of therapy (e.g., couples and individual therapy).
Therapists can add coded diagnoses to forms and notes that are connected to treatment goals and objectives. Notes can be added for both individual and group sessions.
Prescribing therapists can submit prescriptions from the platform directly.
Supervisors can receive notifications when notes need to be reviewed or co-signed. Office managers and billers can bill and run payments from the software.
Your clients can access their appointments, receive messages, and fill out electronic forms you share through their portal.
With TheraNest, you have a 21-day free trial to decide if you want to continue with the service, before even entering your credit card information.
If you decide to continue, they will bill you based on the number of clients you service.
TheraNest pros and cons
Some of TheraNest’s pros include:
- Practice management including connected billing and supervisor notifications
- Customer service, including access to live phone calls
- Add as many therapists and staff as needed
- Tiered pricing
- 21-day free trial
Some cons with using TheraNest may include:
- Treatment plans require an added price per month
- Costs can be high for practices with large caseloads
How SimplePractice streamlines running your practice
SimplePractice is HIPAA-compliant practice management software with everything you need to run your practice built into the platform—from booking and scheduling to insurance and client billing.
If you’ve been considering switching to an EHR system, SimplePractice empowers you to streamline appointment bookings, reminders, and rescheduling and simplify the billing and coding process—so you get more time for the things that matter most to you.
Try SimplePractice free for 30 days. No credit card required.