7 Top-Rated Mental Health EHR Software
Accuracy of clinical documents can make or break your way to the right patient care as a health advisor. However, in the midst of providing care and expert guidance to your patients, you would not want to get distracted with paperwork. Mental health electronic health record (EHR) software lets you reclaim your time with patients with efficient documentation and automated workflows.
However, investing in this tool would be wise if you’re able to find one for your specific therapies and treatment approaches. To help you, we’ve highlighted the seven top-rated mental health EHR software products, in alphabetical order, based on verified software reviews. Read more.
Some of the listed tools have different focus areas, including private practice and specialty organizations. However, they all offer common mental health EHR software features such as workflow management, documentation, note management, specialty EHR templates, billing, and coding.
1. BestNotes
BestNotes is for specialty organizations and private practice to establish secure and on-time communication between patients, staff members, and health advisors. You get functionalities, including patient scheduling, document sharing, progress notes, calendar sharing, and other collaboration tools. Additionally, the software ensures that all the communication between patients and health advisors is secure under the industry compliance standards such as HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act).
Product features of interest*:
Documentation: Auto-populate client data and remove duplicate entries across documents such as pre-screen reports, intake assessments, nursing, treatment plan, and history. These documents are regularly updated for the latest consultations and reports.
Calendar: Schedule appointments, including all billing and patient documents, to reflect on a shared calendar. You can automatically adjust time zones for out-of-state inquiries or update patient no-shows, cancellations, and attendance.
Outcome tracking: Share questionnaires with patients via email or text to learn about their progress or receive feedback on the consultation or treatment. You can automate sending custom questionnaires to new patients based on their inquiry data.
Customer support options: FAQs, training, call, email, and blog
Who should consider BestNotes?
Mental health care professionals trying to enhance communication and collaboration with patients for their specialty organization or practice management can consider BestNotes. With its array of features, the tool assists in keeping patients updated with appointments, treatment plans, and medications. Healthcare providers, on the other hand, can use it to share relevant information with the staff or patients or access their patients' medications and history via dedicated online portals.
*Analysis accurate as of June 2023
Starting price: $11 per user, per month
2. CareLogic
CareLogic is for specialty organizations, supporting clinical (diagnosing and monitoring patients), administrative (appointment scheduling, patient intake, billing, insurance, medical records management, etc.), and financial (claims management, revenue cycle, financial planning, and budgeting, financial compliance, etc.) processes.
Additionally, CareLogic focuses on document security using identity and access management, where all the authorized device IP addresses are whitelisted. The tool also tracks devices and prevents them from connecting to unknown networks.
Product features of interest*:
Centralized document management: Access sharable digital storage to populate all patient documents, including treatment plans, progress notes, patient history, and inquiry forms.
ePrescribing: Generate prescriptions online and directly share them with the authorized pharmacies on their dedicated portals to avoid delay or miscommunication.
Billing and revenue cycle management: Enable electronic claim submission, insurance verification, payments, and invoicing for patients using a self-service portal.
Customer support options: Call, email, blog, consumer community, a resource guide, and online tickets.
Who should consider CareLogic?
Mental health care professionals seeking to optimize document management and workflows within a larger organization can use CareLogic. You can focus on improving consultation and enhancing patient care by centralizing and automating administrative tasks.
*Analysis accurate as of June 2023
Starting price: Available upon request from vendor
Pro tip
Consider a tool that allows administrators to manage user access to documents using specific rights for health advisors, patients, nurses, and other staff. This system assists in implementing access limitations according to assigned roles to protect sensitive health information for patients as per the security protocols.
3. Carepatron
Carepatron is a private practice EHR solution that simplifies document management for patients and health advisors with different clinical note formats. This includes Subjective, Operative, Assessment, and Plan (SOAP) notes, and Data, Assessment, and Plan (DAP) notes. The difference between the two note formats is that SOAP note has two sections, subjective and operative, to start with, while DAP note merges them into one called Data. These sections include information about the patient’s previous counseling and therapy sessions along with the present condition.
Notes taken in any of the two formats are stored in the cloud, which can be shared using role-based access with staff members. For patients, the documents are available on their dedicated portal for downloads.
Product features of interest*:
Template library: Select from a variety of note templates, including checklists, plans, worksheets, handouts, forms, etc. You also get details about specific use cases of the selected template, videos on how to use, benefits, and proven research. You can download these templates in PDF format or start editing online.
Advanced permissions: Customize document access for existing and new staff members. You can select the members, documents, and client profiles accessible to them, using none (no access), assigned only (view only client contact records), and everything (view and edit all client details).
Version history: Save the edits made on documents in real time with date and time stamps. You can restore any of the previous versions of documents at any time.
Customer support options: FAQs, chat, blog, resource guide, and help center
Who should consider Carepatron?
With Carepatron, mental health care professionals can take notes in two (SOAP and DAP) formats based on data availability. You can select any of the two templates and add your patient’s data, saving time creating from a clean slate. Plus, all the documents are securely stored in the cloud and accessible to health advisors and patients at any time.
*Analysis accurate as of June 2023
Starting price: $12 per month
4. Compulink Advantage
Compulink Advantage is designed for private practice. The tool uses artificial intelligence (AI) to learn from the charting history (assessment criteria or commonly used phrases and plans) and populate certain fields or sections with the relevant information, creating templates. For example, suppose you often recommend a particular diagnosis or medication for a specific condition. In that case, the system may suggest or automatically populate those details and create a template for your future chartings.
Product features of interest*:
Smart billing: Automate creating and checking insurance claims for errors and incomplete information. You can also schedule administrative tasks, such as checking patient eligibility, submitting claims to insurance companies, and posting electronic remittance advice (ERA).
Medical codes library: Use Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) and International Classifications of Diseases - 10th version (ICD - 10) codes to suggest treatment plans, tests, and medications. These codes are for the staff members' reference, allowing them to record and share data consistently.
Cloud or server storage: Select from the storage options to manage and record data online or offline securely.
Customer support options: Blog, videos, webinars, educational guide, chat, call, and email
Who should consider Compulink Advantage?
Private mental health care clinics looking for an EHR system with AI to automate document creation can use Compulink Advantage. The tool auto-populates treatment plans, including diagnosis and medications, based on the patient’s details to save time while reducing the errors and delays of manual documentation.
*Analysis accurate as of June 2023
Starting price: Available upon request from vendor
Pro tip
Evaluate the integration capabilities of the software with other systems in the lab, pharmacies, medical billing, and insurance claim processes. This will allow efficient data sharing and collaboration among healthcare providers involved in patient care.
5. CounSol.com
CounSol.com assists private practice in providing both online and offline consultations to patients. Using fonts, colors, images, text, and other design elements, you can create custom client sites to match your main website. Post the HTML source code of the client website into your main website’s code to link the two. With this, you can easily direct patients from the website to the client portal, letting them log in and schedule appointments, pay bills, or check their consultation history. Client portals also let patients request video or chat sessions with the health advisors.
A distinguishing factor of CounSol is to let you list your practice online, where potential clients can search the directory of health advisors using the type of help and/or postal code.
Product features of interest*:
Online booking: Allow patients to check available time slots for the hour, day, week, or month using the client portal. They can also select the session lengths and set reminders for the scheduled appointments.
Group sessions: Offer and schedule group sessions for office visits, phone calls, or online chat, except video calls. You can set the time, location, duration, and group size for patients to register and attend the session as preferred.
Client journaling: Patients can create a personal journal and write daily thoughts, which are securely recorded. However, they can share a single entry or the entire journal with their health advisor.
Customer support options: Call, blog, FAQs, testimonial, email, and online ticket
Who should consider CounSol.com?
Private practices providing in-person and online (call, video, and chat) sessions can use CounSol.com. However, the tool lets you focus on your online presence using dedicated client portals and website listings. Client portals help monitor each patient's progress and provide personalized support as and when required remotely. On the other hand, online listings enhance your practice’s exposure to attend to more patients.
*Analysis accurate as of June 2023
Starting price: $50 per month
6. Credible
Credible is for specialty organizations with Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) operations. These specially-designated health clinics provide a comprehensive range of mental health and substance use services. These clinics are for walk-in patients regardless of their insurance and diagnosis status. The tool helps manage operations or multiple locations using a single dashboard. This includes staff in and out time, appointments, billing and invoicing, treatment plan, and medications.
A distinguishing factor of Credible is its mobile application that provides critical information at the point of care, even when not connected to the internet. You can use the app to schedule visits, review patient information, and record and manage clinical documents anytime and anywhere.
Product features of interest*:
Actionable data: Use Credible’s business intelligence (BI) module to get actionable insights into clinic performance. You can analyze total daily appointments, staff utilization, room availability and assignments, and other operational metrics.
Facility whiteboard: Use a designated online space to display important updates on the ongoing and scheduled session and the availability of labs, health advisors, nurses, and medications.
Duty log: Record the shift date and time for a day, week, or month. The log includes the staff member's name, assignments and responsibilities, and shift handover notes.
Customer support options: Call, email, and blog
Who should consider Credible?
Credible is helpful in managing mental health care clinics at multiple locations remotely. You can use the dashboard to track and manage all clinics' operations and provide real-time feedback on their performance. Additionally, the mobile application comes in handy when you are on the go or have a poor internet connection.
*Analysis accurate as of June 2023
Starting price: Available upon request from vendor
Pro tip
Analyze the software tool’s ability for customization and workflow management to match your specialty organization’s or private practice’s unique requirements. This includes customizable document templates for treatment plans, assessment forms, and questionnaires along with automated workflows to simplify document processing and enhance efficiency.
7. EHR YOUR WAY
EHR YOUR WAY private practice EHR tool focuses on simplifying appointment scheduling by using Google OAuth Authentication (an application allowing users to share data with another application while keeping their usernames, passwords, and other private information secure). With this application, the tool syncs all the appointments with the patients’ and health advisors’ Google calendars. You can use the calendar to set up recurring individual and group appointments while the patients search for their scheduled appointments by location and date.
Product features of interest*:
Auto-reminders: Set up auto-reminders to alert patients or health advisors about upcoming appointments, tasks, payments, claims, etc. The reminders are typically sent via SMS and email.
Ad-hoc reports: Create ad-hoc reports with specific performance metrics for the practice. These reports can be shared via email or downloaded in a PDF format.
Verbatim copy: Create digital copies of paper forms and customize them using drop-down menus, auto-populate text, and auto-selection to stay consistent with the structure and compliance.
Customer support options: Help desk, blog, call, chat, and online ticket
Who should consider EHR YOUR WAY?
Mental health care professionals looking to manage and schedule appointments for their practice efficiently can consider EHR YOUR WAY for its Google OAuth Authentication. This will sync calendars across different devices (mobile and computer systems) for you to view and optimize schedules based on your availability or the time required by the patient. Additionally, the tool’s auto-alert features will reduce the chances of double booking or missed appointments.
*Analysis accurate as of June 2023
Starting price: Available upon request from vendor
How much does mental health EHR software cost?
Mental health EHR software can cost as low as $10 per month, or up to $170+ per user, per month, depending on various factors—features, number of physicians and patients, online portals, integrations, and storage. Most mental health EHR solutions typically include the following pricing plans based on the number of users:
Free trial: No-cost trial plans ranging from 14 to 30 days provide users access to either all or limited software features.
Free version: Free software plans offer basic features and limited premium feature access; ideal for small businesses or individuals with a limited budget.
Entry-level: Range from $10 to $75 per month and offer limited features; good option for small businesses or teams with primary mental health EHR needs such as appointments, progress tracking, and documentation.
Mid-tier: Range from $19 per month to $100+ per user per month and offers advanced features such as calendar synchronization, verbatim copy, documentation templates, and code modifiers.
High-end: Range from $59 per month to $170+ per user per month and is ideal for large enterprises with cross-functional teams such as customer relationship management (CRM) and accounting.
Hidden costs associated with mental health EHR software
Besides the software license, additional costs may be associated with mental health EHR software, including infrastructure requirements, licensing, user expansion, integrations, and software upgrades. Small business owners should consider these when considering a new tool.
Frequently asked questions when selecting mental health EHR software
Here are some questions to ask software vendors when evaluating the top mental health EHR software tools.
Can the software support different therapy models and treatment approaches?
There are different therapies and treatments for mental health patients, such as counseling, psychotherapy, medication, support groups, brain stimulation, etc. You need to learn about the availability of forms, treatment plans, assessments, and other documentation for specific approaches.
How does the software handle sensitive patient data and documents?
Software tools carrying sensitive patient data should comply with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) laws. The purpose of HIPAA is to establish standards for protecting patient health information to ensure confidentiality and integrity. You need to learn about such data security laws and how to access your or your family’s health records using the selected mental health EHR system.
Is there a limitation on the use of document templates?
A mental health EHR system may limit the number of times you can use a single document template, which needs to be checked during purchase. Additionally, learn about the availability of templates for your selected plan. This includes the total number of templates, types of treatments covered, customization level, etc. However, there is no limit on the auto-population of data or code modifiers used as suggestions when creating new documents.
Survey methodology
To be considered for this list, products had to:
Feature in Software Advice Frontrunners report 2023 for mental health software. We selected the top seven products with the highest ratings to include in this article.
Include electronic health record (EHR) as a core feature.
Meet our mental health EHR software market definition: “Mental health EHR software, also known as behavioral health EHR software, allows physicians, therapists, and other related professionals to manage their clinical, administrative, and operational workflows. The software also manages patient case or outcome management and ensures regulatory compliance.”
*Our research team identified these features from vendor websites (as of June 27, 2023) based on their analysis of what users find valuable in or expect from learning management system software. This list is not exhaustive. For additional features, refer to the vendor's website.
We select and rank products based on an objective methodology developed by our research team. While some vendors may pay us when they receive web traffic or leads, this has no influence on our methodology.
Products evaluated for the pricing calculation were taken from Software Advice’s mental health EHR software directory. The pricing ranges exclude freemium versions of the products. The features highlighted were identified based on their relevance and the percentage of products in the Software Advice directory that offer them. Only products with publicly available pricing information, as of June 27, 2023, were considered for pricing calculation.