Whether you run solo therapy practice or work in a group clinic, it’s important to understand client management and how it relates to the success of your practice. With the help of advanced electronic health record (EHR) software and combining it with practice management software (PMS), therapists and coaches can easily automate their day-to-day tasks and spend more time with clients. The best software will not only help you stay on track and organize medical records, but it should also keep within your budget, fit your practice size, and provide you with room to grow. In this article we’ll take a look at three client relationship management (CRM) platforms you can use with your private practice.
TherapyNotes Overview
If you run your own private practice or work at a mental health clinic, you’ve probably heard of TherapyNotes. TherapyNotes is a popular EHR platform for medical professionals—specifically therapists and counselors—to help streamline daily workflows and tasks. With its advanced features and room to grow your business, you can run your healthcare practice without the hassle of operating out of multiple programs, like Google Calendar or Gmail.
Important Features
Here’s a quick look at some key features available to TherapyNotes users:
- Electronic patient records and documentation
- Appointment scheduling and calendar sync
- Telehealth sessions
- Invoicing and paperless billing
- Credit card processing
- Client portals
- HIPAA compliant
- Customer support access
- Insurance management
- E-prescriptions available
Pricing
TherapyNotes offers an extended trial period, allowing interested practitioners to test out the software with a 30-day free trial. You can also book a free demonstration with the support team to go over the platform. Plans are priced depending on how many practitioners you have on your team. Each added clinician will cost you $30 in addition to your regular monthly subscription. Users will gain access to patient portals, data import ability, and one-on-one telehealth sessions with every plan. Take a look at the individual plans for monthly pricing:
- Solo Plan: $49 per month
- Group Plan: $59 per month (from 2 to 29 clinicians)
- Enterprise Plan: $59 per month (from 30 to unlimited clinicians)
Customer service
At TherapyNotes, their customer support team is available 7 days a week through their live support line. You can call from 8 am to midnight throughout the week and on weekends from 8 am to 4 pm Eastern Time. If you need help troubleshooting issues outside of those hours, you can also send a message through email that will be addressed when a team member is available. Many users also use the online Help Center which has detailed guides and tutorials to guide them through any problems or issues.
Benefits
One of TherapyNotes’ best features is its extended trial period, so no matter what plan you want to try, you’ll receive 30 days of the software for free. Another advantage to using TherapyNotes over other software is that you can prescribe clients with prescriptions electronically. This cuts out the risk of errors and back-and-forth communication between you, your client, and pharmacies. TherapyNotes is also HIPAA compliant, and you’ll have access to a 24-month period of electronic medical records (EMR) to further support your clients with their needs.
Who Should Consider TherapyNotes?
TherapyNotes is an advanced electronic health record software that caters to behavioral health practitioners. Whether you run a private practice or a small business, TherapyNotes provides all the necessary tools and features to help with daily operations. It also allows you to continue to grow your business with more clinicians as reflected in their 3 subscription plans. With over 100,000 mental health professionals using TherapyNotes, and a 4.7 rating on Capterra, one mental health therapist said, “It is also easy to send documents to clients, and you can also send assessment instruments for them to complete.” Therapists enjoy how easy the platform is to use, especially for SOAP note documentation, session notes, and treatment plans.
Simple Practice Overview
In the debate between Simple Practice versus Therapy Notes, they’re very closely matched. SimplePractice has become a trusted EHR platform for healthcare practitioners. It offers users the ability to manage client forms, documentation, and payments, plus provide session notes and create intake forms. SimplePractice operates similarly to other software like Jane App, Theranest, and Centralreach. However, users continue to choose SimplePractice over other platforms for its user-friendly interface, customer support, and affordable monthly subscriptions.
Important Features
Let’s go over a few features you’ll have access to with SimplePractice:
- Appointment scheduling and calendar sync
- Invoicing and payment processing
- Client portals
- Documentation and records management
- Telehealth sessions
- HIPAA compliant
- Customer support
- Insurance management
- Customizable website builder
- Companion mobile app
- Wiley Treatment Planners
Pricing
With SimplePractice, users can choose between subscribing to the platform as a Solo Practice or a Group Practice. If you anticipate working as a clinic or group and need to add more clinicians, you can do so with the Group Plan for $59 for each additional practitioner you bring on. Each plan comes with access to unlimited clients, credit card processing, automated invoicing and billing, and patient portals. For more advanced features and customization, consider upgrading to the Essential or Plus plan, depending on your practice size and needs.
Try SimpePractice with a 30-day free trial before committing to one of their plans:
- Solo practice, Start Plan: $29 per month
- Solo practice, Essential Plan: $69 per month
- Solo practice, Plus Plan: $99 per month
- Group practice, Plus Plan: $158 per month ($99 for the first clinician, $59 for each additional clinician)
Customer service
In case you need some assistance, you can reach out to SimplePractice’s live support team through phone, email, or live chat. Team members are available Monday through Friday during business hours (7 am to 4 pm Pacific Time) or you can find more information through the Help Center. Another interesting feature of SimplePractice is the webinars and classes users can participate in to further educate themselves about the platform. In addition, the SimplePractice Community offers users the space to connect with other practitioners to learn and share their experiences using the software.
Benefits
Aside from specialized healthcare tools like intake forms, assessments, and HIPAA compliance status, users go into SimplePractice knowing that it’s a software that works and allows businesses to manage their practice with ease. Therapists can use built-in tools to further connect with their clients, like telehealth screen sharing, a customizable website builder, and they can make use of Wiley Treatment Planners—evidence-based treatment plans to help practitioners develop assessments and streamline their work.
Who Should Consider SimplePractice?
SimplePractice was created as a HIPAA compliant EHR software for medical professionals of all kinds. A healthcare supervisor on Capterra mentioned that “because this organization has multiple providers, keeping SimplePractice would’ve been expensive.” This is important to note for group practices and clinics that need to keep their budget in mind. That said, SimplePractice still provides a wide range of tools and advanced features for solo practices or small businesses that need help streamlining their processes and workflows.
Practice Overview
Practice is an all-in-one CRM platform designed for coaches, consultants, and small business owners. We provide users with an easy-to-use interface design, private client portals, and the ability to share documents, records, and notes with your clients all from your dashboard. At Practice, our team understands that time management is a pillar that all successful businesses are built on, so we’ve put together an effective tool to help you save time and spend more energy on your client relationships.
Important Features
Here’s a quick glance at a few of Practice’s features that users will have access to:
- Invoicing and billing
- Appointment scheduling and reminders
- Telehealth sessions
- Credit card processing
- Automated workflows
- Private client portals
- Unlimited storage
- Unlimited clients
- Template forms and contracts
- Companion mobile app
- Customer support and onboarding
Pricing
Practice offers users the choice between our Basic Plan and Pro Plan. All subscribers will have access to our standard features. This includes unlimited contacts and storage space, invoicing and payments, private client portals, and app integration, such as Google Calendar, Stripe, and Zoom. For coaches, therapists, and consultants who want a bit more customization, we recommend our Pro Plan. And if you want to test out the software before signing up, you can try Practice with our 7-day free trial before selecting one of these plans:
- Basic Plan: $35 per month
- Pro Plan: $60 per month
Customer service
With 4.9 stars on Capterra, many Practice users mention our stellar customer support team. One consultant wrote that our customer service is unmatched, while a leadership coach wrote, “The product team is super responsive to coach needs. The product’s community is always willing to share how they do things in and out of Practice to support each other in building better businesses.” You can reach our team by sending an email request or connecting with a team member for a one-on-one onboarding session to go over the platform and system. We’ve also curated a host of guides and articles to educate and assist users troubleshoot issues outside of business hours.
Benefits
Unlike other healthcare CRM systems, we’ve created a platform that incorporates a user-friendly interface—for both practitioners and clients—which makes navigating Practice simple and easy. Find all the necessary tools on your dashboard without the hassle of switching back and forth between other systems and apps. One Practice user, a nutrition coach, likes how easy it was to use even as a novice, saying, “It took me just a few hours to figure out how to use it, get all the settings done and start using it with clients.” Users also appreciate our unique client portal as a way to communicate with clients immediately.
Who Should Consider Practice?
Although Practice isn’t known as a leading healthcare CRM platform, we prioritize the needs of our clients by creating a system that works for them. Stephanie Bogue Kerr, a psychotherapist and social worker uses Practice to help run her private practice. Like Stephanie, behavioral health practitioners need a way to communicate effectively with their clients. We’re confident our innovative client portal will meet all your communication needs—share documents and records, send voice memos, and immediately email or text clients without the need for other apps.
Comparison: TherapyNotes vs Simple Practice vs Practice
Now that we’ve given you the rundown of each platform, let’s take a look at how TherapyNotes, SimplePractice, and Practice stack up against each other.
- Key features: All three software offers therapists and clinicians the ability to streamline their work through automated workflows. Each platform automatically sends invoice and payment notices plus appointment reminders without the need to manually keep track of it yourself. Both TherapyNotes and SimplePractice are HIPAA compliant and provide practitioners the ability to use patient charts, intake forms, and assessments for treatment plans. Practice, on the other hand, doesn’t come with these built-in features. However, Practice has created a unique client portal that allows direct communication between users and their clients reducing response time and the need for outside apps.
- Pricing: The good news is that interested users can test out each platform through free trial periods. TherapyNotes and SimplePractice allow you to try their software with 30-day trials, whereas Practice offers a 7-day free trial. After your trial is over, each platform requires you to subscribe to a paid plan to continue using it. TherapyNotes and SimplePractice are similar in their tiered pricing plans, depending on your practice size and how many clinicians you want to add to your team. SimplePlan’s lowest-priced solo practice plan is more affordable than TherapyNotes ($29 vs $49), but you’ll pay less to add more clinicians to your team if you choose TherapyNotes ($30 vs $59 for each additional clinician with SimplePractice).
- Customer support: Both TherapyNotes and SimplePractice have customer support teams that are available during business hours, Monday through Friday. TherapyNotes even goes beyond that and has limited hours available over the weekend as well. If you’re more of a DIY user and want to troubleshoot problems on your own, each platform has curated Help Centers with articles, guides, and tutorials users can access 24/7. Practice also offers clinicians the chance to schedule a one-on-one onboarding session with an experienced team member who can walk them through the system, answer questions, and provide real examples of our platform in use to give them a better understanding of how our software can work for them.
- Ease of use: Each platform provides users with fully functional dashboards and access to all tools and features needed to successfully run their businesses. As TherapyNotes and SimplePractice are essentially EHR platforms, some users have found there to be a learning curve to familiarize themselves with the system. Not all functions are as intuitive as they can be, though with the help of guides and the customer support team, most clinicians are able to use the platform easily. At Practice, we’ve created a simple but robust interface design that allows users to navigate through their tools without a problem. We also take user feedback into consideration as we’re constantly updating and developing better ways to make our platform work for our users.
Determining Which Software to Choose
You may be trying to decide between Therapy Notes or Simple Practice, maybe even other alternative CRM platforms for your teletherapy practice. First and foremost these platforms are advanced electronic health record software. Their primary purpose is to provide medical professionals with the means to organize and operate their practices digitally. Practice, on the other hand, was created as a client relationship management tool to better assist business owners with day-to-day operations. Meaning, we’ve taken the guesswork out of how to best run client-focused practices and businesses. In order to decide which tool may best fit your practice, think about your business and team needs, your current practice size, and how you’d like to grow. Take a look at our recommendations on which platform might be best for you:
TherapyNotes: Best for therapists who need to prescribe medication
One feature that sets TherapyNotes apart from other healthcare platforms is its built-in ability for mental health providers to write prescriptions for their clients. This feature removes the need to go back and forth between your client and pharmacy, further reducing any errors or room for miscommunication. Your clients will have quick and easy access to getting the medication they need with less wait time and stress.
SimplePractice: Best for practitioners who want a customized website
SimplePractice has incorporated a website builder into its platform, a tool that can help grow your business and solidify your expertise in your field. With this website builder, users can choose template designs, incorporate their logo and brand colors to personalize the client experience, plus set up landing pages describing your services and allow appointment scheduling right from your website. Every SimplePractice website is mobile-friendly so clients can find you from any device.
Practice: Best for clinicians who want an advanced client portal
We might be biased, but we can’t say enough about our unmatched private client portals here at Practice. We take the hassle of using multiple communication apps out of the picture and provide a seamless experience for both clinicians and clients. Share documents and files, send voice memos, and instant messaging through our client portal so you’re always up to date on your client’s progress. You can also make sure of our companion mobile app to access your portal from any device, anywhere.
Key Takeaways
As a therapist or mental health professional, choosing the right CRM platform to help run your business is essential to streamlining your work. Your ability to minimize manual administrative tasks allows you to focus on your clients and grow your business. But remember to keep a few things in mind while deciding which platform is right for you: your budget, business goals, and software functionalities.
TherapyNotes, SimplePractice, and Practice all provide automated workflows and experience customer support teams. However, TherapyNotes and SimplePractice are HIPAA compliant and include tools specifically designed for healthcare professionals, like patient charting and treatment plans. Practice, although not a medical EHR system, allows users to communicate directly with clients through our advanced client portal. If you’re interested in Practice, go ahead and try our platform with a free 7-day trial.
