The 7 Best EHR Software Solutions
Wondering about the best EHR software for your private practice? The list below includes the top EHR software solutions, so you can make the best decision for your therapy practice.
The right electronic health record (EHR) software can be a huge asset in efficiently running a successful therapy practice, but not all EHR systems are created equal.
If you want your EHR software for private practice to make a real difference, you need to understand the different types of electronic health record systems, evaluate the best EHRs on the market, and, then, choose the platform with the right features to support you and your practice.
To help you accomplish that, this article explores what EHR systems are and how EHRs benefit therapists. Then, below, we provide a look at the best EHR software on the market, along with a ranked list of EHR software to choose from.
What is EHR software?
EHR is an acronym for electronic health record. An EHR is a digital platform that allows clinicians to manage their clients’ health information, including medical charts, treatment plans, and session notes.
The best EHR software takes things a step further, providing therapists with the tools they need to effectively and efficiently run their practices, including HIPAA-compliant client messaging, calendars and scheduling, and billing and payment features.
Why do therapists use EHR software?
Therapists use EHR software for a variety of reasons, including:
EHRs make it easy to store and manage client information
EHR software makes it easy to store and manage client information.
Instead of having to search through paper files to find what they’re looking for, therapists can easily search for specific clients—and for specific information within that client’s file, like notes from a specific session or assessment results—saving time and energy.
HIPAA compliance
Therapists are required to comply with HIPAA laws and protect their clients’ protected health information (or PHI).
The top EHR software platforms are HIPAA-compliant, which ensures that all client communication and documentation is safe, private, and compliant with all relevant laws.
It’s easy to share information with approved parties
EHR systems also make it easy for clinicians to share information—which is convenient if and when a therapist is working as part of a larger treatment team (and the client has given permission to share information).
For example, let’s say a client gives permission for their psychiatrist to share information with their therapist. Instead of the therapist having to manually request the information from the psychiatrist, which can take up valuable time and effort, the psychiatrist can simply give the client immediate access to the relevant files on their EHR system. Then, the client can share that information with their other health care providers.
EHRs offer tools to run a practice
EHR systems don’t just allow therapists to manage their client’s health records. They also provide tools for therapists to more effectively run their practices, including scheduling, client communication portals, and billing and payment functionality.
These features give therapists everything they need to manage their practices—all in one easy-to-use platform.
How to choose the best EHR software for therapists
Different types of EHR systems are going to work better for different types of clinicians.
The best EHR software for you is going to depend on your specific needs—and which platform delivers the features and functionality that align with those needs.
That being said, some EHR platforms stand out above the rest.
Let’s take a look at the top EHR software for therapists—and the pros and cons of each—so you can choose the best EHR software for your practice:
1. SimplePractice
Widely considered the top EHR software, SimplePractice is an all-in-one EHR solution that makes it easy for therapists to run, manage, and grow their practices. SimplePractice is the best EHR software, allowing therapists to streamline and reduce admin work —while simultaneously making the therapy process smoother and easier for their clients.
The SimplePractice platform comes equipped with a variety of features, including:
- Scheduling: With SimplePractice, clients can easily view therapist availability and book sessions online—no phone tag necessary. SimplePractice also syncs with a variety of calendar apps (including iCal, Google Calendar, and Outlook), giving therapists the ability to send text, voice, and/or email appointment reminders to reduce no-shows and cancellations.
- Telehealth: Remote therapy appointments are more in-demand than ever. SimplePractice offers a HIPAA-compliant video platform that allows therapists to easily host virtual sessions with clients, giving clients the flexibility to dial into their sessions from wherever they feel most comfortable.
- Documentation: SimplePractice offers hundreds of customizable templates for therapists, including progress notes, SOAP notes, intake forms, and assessments.
- Client communication portal: SimplePractice allows therapists to easily communicate with their clients—and vice versa—with a HIPAA-compliant client portal. Clients can message their therapist, get access to important documents, make an appointment, or pay their bill—24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- Custom websites: SimplePractice also has a website builder that allows therapists to easily create well-designed, fully responsive websites to market their practice and attract new clients.
- Billing and insurance: SimplePractice offers client billing features that allow therapists to get paid on time, including online billing, secure mobile payments, and autopay options. SimplePractice also helps users navigate insurance billing, allowing therapists to easily create, submit, and manage their insurance claims—all within the platform.
SimplePractice pricing ranges from $29 to $99 per month for solo practices.
For group practices, SimplePractice pricing starts at $158 per month.
SimplePractice pros and cons
SimplePractice pros include:
- All-in-one platform that includes the features you need to run your practice in an easy-to-navigate interface
- HIPAA-compliant client messaging and telehealth sessions
- Cuts back on the time spent managing administrative tasks with features like document templates, easy scheduling, and insurance claim management
- Makes it easy to bill clients and collect payments
- Quick customer service response times
- Unlimited client allotment allows you to grow your practice without increasing costs
Cons can include:
- With so many features, it can sometimes be hard to know where to start
2. Therapy Brands/TheraNest
Therapy Brands is a practice management, EHR, and billing software company that caters to a variety of practice types—including solo, group, and enterprise practices.
TheraNest, their software solution for mental health professionals, offers a variety of tools for streamlining the project management process of running a private practice, including:
- Scheduling: TheraNest offers both scheduling and calendar features—and sends appointment reminders to reduce client no-shows and cancellations.
- Telehealth: TheraNest offers a HIPAA-compliant telehealth platform, allowing therapists to safely and securely meet with their clients virtually.
- Credit card processing: Thanks to the platform’s credit card processing feature, clients can pay for therapy directly within the platform.
- Unlimited file storage: There is a lot of documentation that goes with running a therapy practice. TheraNest offers unlimited file storage so therapists can easily store and manage all of their client documentation and information in one place.
Pricing for TheraNest ranges from $39 per month (for up to 30 active clients) to $91 per month (for up to 80 active clients). Prices increase for 100+ active clients, although the price isn’t currently available on TheraNest’s website—you need to contact them directly for a quote.
TheraNest pros and cons
Pros of TheraNest include:
- Unlimited file storage makes it a good option for high-volume practices
- HIPAA-compliant
- Comes equipped with a variety of features to streamline the practice management process
Cons may include:
- Pricing model means you’ll pay more as your practice grows
- Because TheraNest also caters to other types of businesses (including nonprofits and educational organizations), therapists may find features they don’t want or need
3. TherapyNotes
Included among the list of top EHR software, TherapyNotes is an EHR software that markets itself as “a complete practice management system with everything you need to manage patient records, schedule appointments, meet with patients remotely, create rich documentation, and bill insurance, right at your fingertips.”
TherapyNotes offers different tools and features that allow therapists to more efficiently run their practices, including:
- To-do list and calendar integration: TherapyNotes allows therapists to connect their to-do list and calendar to other features within the platform, including billing, records, and notes—allowing them to keep information more organized.
- Client portal: The TherapyNotes client portal allows clients to book sessions online. It also allows therapists to securely share documentation with clients and, when necessary, collect signatures—saving time in session.
- Document templates: TherapyNotes offers templates for common therapy paperwork, like intake forms.
- Billing and payments: With TherapyNotes, therapists can bill clients and insurance directly through the portal. The platform also offers payment processing, allowing clients to use credit, debit, HSA, or FSA cards to pay for their treatment.
- Outcome measures: TherapyNotes offers therapists the option to incorporate measurement-based care into their sessions (using measures such as the PHQ-9 and GAD-7), allowing therapists to better track client outcomes over time.
TherapyNotes pricing ranges from $49 per month (for a solo practitioner) to $59 per month for the first clinician—and $30 for each additional clinician—for group and enterprise practices.
TherapyNotes pros and cons
Pros include:
- Assessment integrations makes it easy for therapists to monitor patient progress and outcomes—and adjust care accordingly
- Variety of payment options (including credit, debit, HSA, and FSA cards)
- HIPAA-compliant
- According to reviews, TherapyNotes often makes improvements and updates based on customer feedback
Some of the cons include:
- Reviews also state that those updates and improvements can lead to challenges with the software, like data alignment issues or a temporary inability to use certain features
- Certain features, like appointment reminders, payment processing, and electronic billing carry an extra fee
4. BreezyNotes
BreezyNotes is a simple EHR solution designed for therapists by a therapist.
BreezyNotes simplifies practice management by breaking the process down into three steps, which it defines as:
- Schedule the client: BreezyNotes allows you to easily schedule sessions with a drag and drop feature—just click a client in your client list and drop their name directly into your calendar. The calendar app also allows users to review client profiles, update appointments, or open progress notes with a single click. Plus, all appointments are color coded so therapists can easily determine which clients they’ve seen, who needs to be billed, and appointments that have already been billed and/or paid—with options to view a daily, weekly, or monthly calendar.
- Write the note: After opening the progress note on the calendar, therapists can easily add new progress notes to each session. BreezyNotes also automatically imports details from the client’s previous sessions, making it quick and easy for therapists to review and update their notes.
- Save, sign, and submit: Once the session note is complete, BreezyNotes allows therapists to save, sign, and submit session documentation directly to the insurance company for billing.
BreezyNotes also offers additional features that support therapists in running practices and supporting their clients, including appointment reminders, pre-populated notes, a client portal, and billing and payment functionality.
BreezyNotes’ pricing structure is based on the number of notes created each month—and includes both a base rate (which ranges from $19 to $189 per month) and an additional cost for each note (which ranges from $0.34 to $.50 per note). Certain features also may incur additional fees.
BreezyNotes pros and cons
Pros of BreezyNotes include:
- Simple and straightforward
- May be a good option for less tech-savvy clinicians
- The at-a-glance calendar feature can be helpful for therapists that prefer to organize their schedules in a more visual way
- HIPAA-compliant
Some BreezyNotes cons are:
- Confusing pricing structure
- Many features are not included in the base price and carry extra fees—including the client portal (which ranges between $20 and $50 per month) and appointment reminders (which, depending on the number of notes you create each month, may carry a base price of up to $19 per month and $0.15 per reminder)
- Depending on the plan, phone support can run up to $99 per hour
5. Healthie
Healthie is an EHR platform that supports wellness professionals in managing and growing their practices. Healthie has a variety of use cases—including for nutritionists, health coaches, and functional medicine clinics—but it’s well-known as an EHR platform for therapists and mental health professionals.
Healthie offers therapists a variety of tools to manage and grow their practices, including:
- Streamlined scheduling: Healthie offers a scheduling tool that streamlines the scheduling process, allowing for easy scheduling across different clinicians, specialities, locations, and insurances—making it a helpful tool for group practices with therapists in multiple cities and/or states.
- Custom forms: Healthie comes equipped with common therapy forms templates—including assessments like the PHQ-9 and GAD-7—and also allows users to customize their own forms to better support their practices.
- Charting: Healthie features different charts to support different types of practitioners, including templates that can be tailored to specifically support a therapist or mental health practitioner.
- Telehealth: Healthie offers HIPAA-compliant video chats. The platform also directly integrates with Zoom, allowing therapists to host compliant group calls and/or webinars outside of the Healthie platform.
- Secure patient portal: Healthie’s secure patient portal allows clients to book appointments, access virtual calls, and share notes or messages with their therapist. Therapists can also customize the portal with their logo and/or brand color palette.
Healthie offers a free starter package for new therapists with 10 or fewer clients. After that, prices range from $49 per month to $149+ per month.
Healthie pros and cons
Some pros include:
- Wide range of features allows therapists to build a workflow that supports their specific practice
- HIPAA-compliant
- Wide variety of form and document templates
- The ability to add a practice’s logo and colors to the client portal can support brand recognition
Potential cons of Healthie include:
- Because Healthie is built to support a variety of health professionals—not only therapists—it will take more customization than other options (and there may be features therapists don’t want or need)
6. Valant
Valant is an EHR designed specifically for behavioral health practitioners, both in solo and group practices.
Often included on lists of the best EHR software, the Valant platform has a variety of features that allow therapists and mental health practitioners to more efficiently care for their clients and run their practices, including:
- Clinical documentation: Valant comes equipped with all of the documentation clinicians need to run their practices, including assessments, notes, and client tracking forms. Valant also offers documents tailored to different types of therapies—including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), marriage and family therapy (MFT), and trauma-management therapy (TMT)—as well as behavioral health worksheets to share with clients.
- Group therapy: Valant offers a host of features tailored to group therapy, including attendance tracking, multi-participant telehealth sessions, group appointment scheduling, and an automatic integration of group notes with individual client notes.
- Patient portal: Valant offers a patient portal called MYIO where clients can schedule appointments, access telehealth sessions, message their therapist, and pay their bills. The MYIO patient portal also has a mobile app, giving clients access to the portal from a variety of devices.
- Billing: Valant’s billing features make it easy to submit bills and track payments, including electronic remittance advice (ERA) posting, rule-based fee schedules, and a superbill generator.
- E-prescribing: Valant also has functionality to support prescribing clinicians (like psychiatrists), including e-prescribing, prescription tracking, and medication interaction alerts.
Valant offers custom pricing packages—and, as such, potential users need to get a price quote in order to learn more about this EHR’s pricing.
Valant pros and cons
Pros of Valant include:
- Tailored to support behavioral health professionals, including prescribers
- Patient portal mobile app allows clients to access the portal and/or attend sessions on the go
Cons may include:
- No upfront pricing information available
7. BestNotes
BestNotes is an EHR platform built for behavioral health and addiction treatment.
In addition to its EHR functionality, BestNotes offers a variety of tools for managing a practice, including:
- Built-in CRM: If you’re trying to build your practice, the BestNotes built-in customer relationship management (CRM) allows you to better organize and track key information related to your practice’s growth, including new client inquiries, referral sources, and previous contact information.
- Telehealth: The BestNotes platform offers HIPAA-compliant video conferencing, both for individual and group sessions.
- Patient portal: BestNotes’ patient portal allows clinicians to share important documentation with clients and securely collect signatures. The patient portal also connects directly to therapists’ websites.
- Human resources: BestNotes also offers a host of human resources features that allow users to better manage their teams, including secure storage for employee files, ongoing education credit tracking, and customizable job applications.
BestNotes’ pricing structure is based on the number of users, with prices ranging from $11 per user per month, for larger group practices of 101 or more, or $55 per user per month, for smaller practices of 1 to 10.
BestNotes pros and cons
Pros may include:
- The platform’s lead management features can be helpful for therapists actively growing their practices
- HIPAA-compliant
Potential cons of BestNotes are:
- One of BestNotes’ use cases is for addiction treatment centers; as such, there are a variety of features (such as e-Prescribing and medication management) that therapists may not want or need
- Patient portal offers limited functionality when compared to other EHR options
- The HR features are helpful for large treatment centers or therapy practices—but may not be worth the cost for solo therapists or smaller group practices
Choosing an EHR for your practice
When evaluating the top EHR software, if you’re looking for an EHR that delivers everything you need to manage, build, and grow a thriving practice, SimplePractice may be the best EHR software for therapists in private practice.
From scheduling to billing to a secure client portal, and just about everything in between, SimplePractice offers all of the features therapists’ need for both client and practice management. And, with a 96% satisfaction rate, SimplePractice is undoubtedly the best EHR software on the market. SimplePractice has helped more than 200,000 private practice clinicians take their practices to the next level.
Ready to find out how SimplePractice can help you better build, expand, and manage your practice? Get started with a free 30-day trial today—no credit card required.
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.