Very small private practice - notes software recommendations?

[deleted106747]

I searched the forum without success - I'm sure this has been discussed before but I can't find it. I'm opening an extremely small private practice and was wondering if anyone can recommend notes software? I'm interested in something cheap without all the bells and whistles since the practice is very small and I don't need much. Thanks!

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[medium rare]

Simple Practice is very user friendly. Can do as little or as much as you want except e-prescribe which you don’t need. Pretty affordable, too.

 

[AbnormalPsych]

I have also heard great things from colleagues about Simple Practice for small solo therapy practices.

 

[R. Matey]

I've used TherapyNotes in the past. It worked pretty well, but I've heard a lot of positive things about Simple Practice.

 

[foreverbull]

Therapymate is cheaper than Simple Practice with most of the same features (billing, notes, scheduling, client portal for e-signing, notes templates/notes history, etc.). I’ve used it for years and like it a lot—they’ve kept adding features over time (for no additional cost, except telehealth, which is an added fee, but I use doxyme or Psychology Today Sessions for that). It is also cheaper if you ever decide to expand to have a group practice (cost goes by number of active clients rather than number of clinicians).

Some folks use TherapyNotes and Theranest, but I’m pretty sure Therapymate runs the cheapest at $29/month for 50 or fewer active clients at a time.

 

[deleted836592]

I use TherapyNotes and SimplePractice (different work settings ) and personally prefer SimplePractice by a large margin.

 

[Justanothergrad]

I just use my printer for paper charts and word documents for electronic archiving on a secure drive, but thats me.

 

[foreverbull]

I just use my printer for paper charts and word documents for electronic archiving on a secure drive, but thats me.

Ha! I no longer have paper charts, but I know a few folks who just write up notes and have a laptop that requires a sign in and locks after a few minutes idle. It definitely saves money, but I would argue that it probably costs in time and possibly money in terms of having a separate system each for scheduling, billing, faxing/mailing forms, and notes, etc. In the end, I’m definitely paying for the convenience of having integrated services and templates in a one-stop shop online (billing, scheduling, reminders, income tracking, e-signing—which is HUGE and replaces the need for faxes/snail mail, etc.).

 

[futureapppsy2]

Ha! I no longer have paper charts, but I know a few folks who just write up notes and have a laptop that requires a sign in and locks after a few minutes idle. It definitely saves money, but I would argue that it probably costs in time and possibly money in terms of having a separate system each for scheduling, billing, faxing/mailing forms, and notes, etc. In the end, I’m definitely paying for the convenience of having integrated services and templates in a one-stop shop online (billing, scheduling, reminders, income tracking, e-signing—which is HUGE and replaces the need for faxes/snail mail, etc.).

E-signing is a gift to the world, tbh!

 

[deleted106747]

Thanks for the responses everyone. My practice is a tiny telehealth practice (1-2 patients a week at most) but I wanted a secure video interface so for now I went with TherapyNotes. Does anyone know what they do if you discontinue the service? Like do you get to keep the notes? I expect to have patients at times, but not all the time and I'd hate to be spending a monthly fee while not taking anything in.

 

[Justanothergrad]

Ha! I no longer have paper charts, but I know a few folks who just write up notes and have a laptop that requires a sign in and locks after a few minutes idle. It definitely saves money, but I would argue that it probably costs in time and possibly money in terms of having a separate system each for scheduling, billing, faxing/mailing forms, and notes, etc. In the end, I’m definitely paying for the convenience of having integrated services and templates in a one-stop shop online (billing, scheduling, reminders, income tracking, e-signing—which is HUGE and replaces the need for faxes/snail mail, etc.).

Thats fair and probably worthwhile in some cases. I am cash pay only for all services so its not a major issue, but that also lines up with the size of my practice.

 

[foreverbull]

Thanks for the responses everyone. My practice is a tiny telehealth practice (1-2 patients a week at most) but I wanted a secure video interface so for now I went with TherapyNotes. Does anyone know what they do if you discontinue the service? Like do you get to keep the notes? I expect to have patients at times, but not all the time and I'd hate to be spending a monthly fee while not taking anything in.

Good question—I’m not sure if anyone here has interrupted their service or switched over. You might have to ask the company directly.

 

[deleted836592]

Thanks for the responses everyone. My practice is a tiny telehealth practice (1-2 patients a week at most) but I wanted a secure video interface so for now I went with TherapyNotes. Does anyone know what they do if you discontinue the service? Like do you get to keep the notes? I expect to have patients at times, but not all the time and I'd hate to be spending a monthly fee while not taking anything in.

From SimplePractice:

"When you cancel your account, the Account Owner will have a 30-day window where they can log into a limited version of SimplePractice to perform a data export. We highly recommend that you export your data to store outside of SimplePractice."

I'd imagine TherapyNotes has a similar policy.

 

[deleted106747]

From SimplePractice:

"When you cancel your account, the Account Owner will have a 30-day window where they can log into a limited version of SimplePractice to perform a data export. We highly recommend that you export your data to store outside of SimplePractice."

I'd imagine TherapyNotes has a similar policy.

Thanks. I'll have to look into it. They should have a suspend service option, IMO.

 

[R. Matey]

Thanks for the responses everyone. My practice is a tiny telehealth practice (1-2 patients a week at most) but I wanted a secure video interface so for now I went with TherapyNotes. Does anyone know what they do if you discontinue the service? Like do you get to keep the notes? I expect to have patients at times, but not all the time and I'd hate to be spending a monthly fee while not taking anything in.

Yes, I left a PP that used TherapyNotes years ago and you're given a window to download your notes from the cloud once you terminate your subscription.