SimplePractice Reviews

Pros

I love all of the things that the developers decided to incorporate in this platform. You can upload your business documents, any documents relevant to your client records and so much more. I have created questionnaires that are specific to my practice so that I can gather data upfront and this prevents me from missing out on money. I love the integration for scheduling appointments, telehealth and billing and invoicing. If you want to streamline your practice, this is for you.

Cons

Clients cannot pay partial balances in their client portal yet, those payments have to be taken in the office.

Alternatives Considered

TherapyNotes, LLC

Reasons for Switching to SimplePractice

Simple practice had many more needed features.

Pros

The name says it all. SimplePractice, once it is set up is easy to use, the customer support is unmatched. They listen. They have communities where you can make suggestions for improvement of the software and they make updates based on customer suggestions. They offer so many templates options for assessments, treatment plans, progress notes, polices and for so many other reasons. We can also create our own templates. They offer free trainings to all of their customers with the options to gain CE's. There is just so much I can say about SimplePractice. I know I am leaving something out, but just know this is an awesome platform and worth every penny. Even considering calendar intergrations. I thought that was something that would be a given in a platform that caters to running an office easier, but it's not. After talking to friends who are on other platforms, this is not an option they have.

Cons

I don't really have a lot of cons. My biggest drawback right now is the fact that I can't create a bulk invoice statement without deleting old ones and creating new ones. Although that is something I hate I can't do, I wouldn't consider it a major issue, because this is a suggestion that has been brought to the developers of SimplePractice, and the way they continuously upgrade and make changes to meet their customer's needs, this may not be an issue for too long.

Alternatives Considered

TherapyNotes, LLC and ICANotes

Reasons for Switching to SimplePractice

SimplePractice had more features and excellent customer service. It cost a little more, but when I compared what I would be sacrificing if I chose another option, the price was worth it. I think one of the biggest factors in my decision was the option to integrate all my calendars in the SimplePractice system.

Pros

It seems like it has all the bells and whistles for therapy - which is great, when I am only seeing people for therapy (which is rare). But, despite Simple Practice having bought Luminello to add on the medical/psychiatric EHR features, it is woefully inadequate for psychiatric services

Cons

No vital signs (face it, this was the first thing ever digitized in health care. It is not available in Simple Practice, so you must hand enter vitals - every time.)
No ability to include scored measures in a progress note automatically
Diagnoses do not appear in progress notes unless they are hand entered
No physical exam feature (this is literally available everywhere - but not in SP).
No automatic display of medications and prescriptions written. There is no crossover from the medication section (Dr First) and the progress note. Meds are not easily viewed while working on a note and seeing the patient.
Portal does not seem to contain education or information shared with patients (like med ed). This info is only available in a chat feature.
No lab integration.
Of course, you can waste a lot of time inventing your own templates for vitals, H&P, etc.
I haven't used the billing feature
This is overpriced for what it is. I am not sure what they "bought" from Luminello, other than patient lists and demographic info. Otherwise, it is just Dr First slapped on the back end of a therapy EHR.

Alternatives Considered

Practice Fusion and CharmHealth

Reasons for Choosing SimplePractice

EHR (I was happy with) sold to Simple Practice

Switched From

Luminello

Reasons for Switching to SimplePractice

ease of transition with sudden sale of Luminello and insufficient lead time

Pros

SimplePractice makes having a private practice SIMPLE. With this software clients can schedule a consultation with you, input credit card information, you can send them the required paperwork, charge them for the invoice and also add clients notes and measurements all in one place.

Cons

The price is a bit high when starting off, but it is worth it.

Alternatives Considered

TherapyAppointment

Reasons for Choosing SimplePractice

I did not really like Therapynotes, They dont have an app feature for clients making it limited to the device they could use for our sessions

Switched From

TherapyNotes, LLC

Reasons for Switching to SimplePractice

I liked how easily simplepractice software program is . Very easy to navigate even as a first time user.

Pros

The ease of editing all assessments, notes, treatment plans, etc was FANTASTIC.
I also loved how easy it was to adjust appointments in the calendar, send documents to clients, and so much more.

Cons

The billing became a problem for the group practice I was working at.
It was also a problem to have more than one contact on a client profile which was challenging for working with children. I believe this may have been fixed since I left that agency.

Pros

The telemedicine virtual visits are awesome!

Cons

Simple Practice is awful at reporting. The built in reports miss the market, and they will not allow users to create their own custom reports.

Alternatives Considered

athenaOne

Reasons for Choosing SimplePractice

During the pandemic, the practice needed a telemedicine platform with video capabilities.

Switched From

Service Center, EHR 24/7 and Practice Mate

Reasons for Switching to SimplePractice

SimplePractice uses Wyle treatment plans already integrated into it, which our practice uses, exclusively. This is enough for us to deal with the other problems.

Pros

Very user friendly. Great mobile app. Simplified all-in-one practice management.

Cons

Price. Inability to change cancellation policy for a practice's individual providers.

Pros

As a patient, I think this software is great. It is user friendly and has nice features! You can access invoices, change/add payment methods, message providers, and receive reminders about appointments!

Cons

The only thing I could think of is having to verify my email each time I log in, it can be a pain, but I understand for security purposes!

Pros

What I like most about SimplePractice is how easy the software is to navigate for efficient use.

Cons

There is nothing I currently dislike regarding SimplePractice.

Pros

So user friendly. One of the best for those in mental health

Cons

It only works best on Chrome Browser for some reason

Pros

- Seamless transition from prior electronic medical record (EMR) to SimplePractice. Just great.
- Everything works, and loads fast
- UI is clear, intuitive
- Features work really well, including the videoconferencing add-on. Just really great!

Bottom line: It works exactly as described, was easy to set up, and really is a joy to use. Seriously.

Cons

I have not found something I didn’t like yet. I have been using it for a few days since I set it up this week, and everything is working really well! No problems.

Alternatives Considered

TherapyNotes, LLC

Reasons for Choosing SimplePractice

Functionality was inconsistent, user interface was slow and difficult at times

Switched From

WeCounsel

Reasons for Switching to SimplePractice

After talking to colleagues, I narrowed my decision down to TherapyNotes or SimplePractice. Both were reported to work well by those who used them. I chose SimplePractice because it seemed to be designed for individual clinicians rather than primarily for group practices (keeping it “Simple”) without skimping on necessarily functionality. Additionally, SimplePractice offers robust document management (clients can sign documents paper-free), and integrated secure videoconferencing. Perfect!

Pros

I love the editable notes/forms and the online access! Client portal is also more streamlined and user friendly compared to competitors. Reports are nice and helpful for the most part. Free text and voice are nice (however you pay the difference with the higher cost of claim submission compared to competitors).

Cons

The billing tabs are difficult to understand as they don’t seem to be graphically easy to understand where each invoice is being applied. Looking quickly at the billing tab, it looks as if I have twice as many invoices than I actually need and some invoices, invoice for a zero balance (or even before an insurance payment is made). This makes the billing harder to understand than some of SimplePractice’s top competitors. Also, I wish the reports would show overall totals of figures (I.e. insurance payments owed, client balances owed, etc.). These features allow me to look quickly at client balances and billing and get an idea of where billing sits very quickly, and again, is a feature with competitors. Being a one man office right now, theses features save valuable time and seem like easy fixes to the system. I also wish Simple Practice had phone support - just for the fact that time is valuable and I don’t want to wait to resolve an question.

Alternatives Considered

TherapyNotes, LLC and TheraNest

Reasons for Choosing SimplePractice

Client Portal, online payments, editable forms that can be e-signed.

Switched From

TherapyNotes, LLC

Reasons for Switching to SimplePractice

It was a hard decision over TherapyNotes. TherapyNotes has billing features and layout that is easier to understand. I went with SimplePractice because the client portal and online for,s are more accessible to clients and staff. Heads up though, in regard to features and accessibility, TherapyNotes is catching up to SimplePractice.

Pros

Chart software is easy to use and intuitive. The templates are exhaustive and easily customizable. The integrated patient portal is a life safer. I am able to operate a mid-size private practice without added staff due to the integrated messaging, calendaring and billing features. The ability to accept and track referrals online is also essential. It allows enough control to tailor the practice to my needs. I also work in two hospital settings and a government setting, and relative to the EHRs used there (Cerner, EPIC), I am blown away by how much better Luminello is. (To be fair, those EHRs cover entire health care systems). I have also used NewCrop and ClinicTracker, both of which are horrendous.

Cons

I am looking forward to the ability to order and review labs directly through Luminello. I know they are working on it, but currently it requires going to an external application. (paper orders can be generated though).

Alternatives Considered

Tebra

Reasons for Choosing SimplePractice

I reviewed dozens of EHRs for my private Practice, and Luminello was the best fit. Again, I am a solo practitioner, I don't have experience working with it in a multi-person practice. But, I would continue to use it if I expand.

Switched From

EpicCare

Reasons for Switching to SimplePractice

My experience during the demo period with Luminello was better.

Pros

I appreciate the user interface on the website and app. It's easy to use and pretty intuitive. I enjoy being able to create custom forms and send text reminders to clients. The setup for a new client is quick and I'm able to send all required paperwork with ease.

Cons

Some of the options on the app are limited, such as being able to see claims (payments/adjustments) and a few things are hard to find, such as adding an insurance card to existing insurance (it's there, you just have to dig a bit). On the website, the claims can be a bit clunky to click through, as well as some things feeling redundant. I also dislike that you can't set the calendar appointments to auto generate a specific appointment time (the default is always 50 minutes and I have to change that manually each time). Also, customer service is extremely lacking. There's not an easy way to get to speak with a real person for issues.

Pros

It's only fair to say that I still have many things to learn! I've not experienced the insurance side of things yet, and that's a beast all its own. That said...
I find the online "How To" articles helpful and easy to follow. The videos are also helpful most of the time. I have not attempted to reach a person by phone, however, mostly b/c I've not needed to (yet).

Being cloud based was an absolute must.

Love the intuitive and attractive visual interface!

The Client Portal has been easy to incorporate into the company website, and clients find it easy to use. I like being able to initiate the intake process immediately with a client who requests an appointment.

Super like the reminders that help me keep up with what needs to be completed. It has also been helpful to receive an email of my agenda for the day.

Having the flexibility to modify forms or create my own is awesome! It took me some time to understand how, but I got it.

Cons

I prefer structure when I'm just learning how to navigate new software. It is helpful to me to have "How To" guides in an order that leads me through necessary processes. I found myself wondering if I'd completed everything required in a process, was there a tab I hadn't discovered, etc. Having a check list, an order, some sort of structure to remove the mystery as I acclimated would have been reassuring.

Color coding features would be helpful to differentiate between clinicians, insurance companies, etc.

I find the mobile app to be difficult to navigate. Attempting to schedule clients or see what is available is cumbersome. I've since synced the calendar with Google, and that appears to be working more smoothly.

It would be wonderful if there was a way to connect local SP users. I've had questions come up that a user more seasoned than myself could likely answer in five minutes....versus the hour or more I spent chasing rabbits.

Pros

Adding clients in calendar seems relatively easy. Since i have sliding scale i like that i can personalize the amount they pay and keep it clear and organized.
Don't know how it will work, but I am excited to be able to have a credit card payment linked so I don't have to ask clients for their card each time.

Cons

There are a lot of buggy things where you have to add what the system wants vs being able to customize info.
While Adding new clients the option to add an email or address didn't automatically show up, and since I wanted to have all that info for receipts I tried to figure out how to do this. Under editting client info each time I tried to add their email and home address when I pressed save it would automatically change the name and phone number to my name and number. No idea why this would happen? Perhaps a special bonus mindfulness test? This process took twice as long because of this. Eventuslly i figured out if I just added an email and pressed save , then added address and saved again it seemed to be ok. Also cutting and pasting info didn't work. I kept being told it was an invalid email. It doesn't like if there are any extra spaces.
Then adding cpt... I have questions, since I charge more how if will all come together on the invoices/receipts.
I just wanted to upload my forms I created and I did not find this easy. Have yet to figure it out.
Unnerved to even touch the billing / invoicing but that's why i bought the software so I'm waiting to get SP support since my friend who uses it said he's inexperienced with this feature.
Even submitting this review it insisted on me adding an organizational name. What if their isn't one?

Pros

- Custom intakes
- Custom forms
- Very simple interface
- Messaging system
- Never glitchy
- Easy to link from website to request an appointment

Cons

- No phone support
- No elabs
- No fax
- No referral function

Pros

It works relatively well if you have mostly direct pay clients or accept only a couple of insurances. It also works well if you have very few tech problems, your are pretty "techy" and industry knowledgeable to begin with, and you are ok with short answer email responses to any questions you might have.

Cons

There is no one to call. Even if you email asking for a phone call, they won't talk to you. Their customer support consists of sending you video and article links about how to do things. Or emailing you back and forth over the period of weeks or even months. However, if you have an actual, real-time problem, that cannot be fixed by watching a video, and requires someone to actually get on a phone and figure out what is going on- forget it. Your accounts will be hopelessly upside down, which is anything but simple! For example: insurance enrollments or payer reports that require immediate technical support, forget it. They will email you back and forth for months telling you that they submitted to have the problem fixed, as if that fixed your problem. Or they will answer you without addressing the whole problem. If you accept and/or bill multiple insurance companies, keep moving. Simple Practice is not the answer. It's too difficult to move your entire operation to another EHR once you have completely set up with Simple Practice and then you find out months later that there are no "simple" fixes when you have legitimate insurance problems.

Pros

The claims filing process using Simple Practice is very easy, and efficient once initial information is entered correctly. There is only one tweak that has to be made each time, and it can be submitted. Claims are paid quickly, once remittance capabilities are set up with each insurance the claims details quickly populate. SOAP notes can be set up and customized fairly easily, including with one line responses and check boxes once one has figured out how to do this. It is very easy to enter data for much of the note on my phone following each session at client homes. I can then easily use the Simple Practice App on my phone and take a photo of the handwritten notes I jot down in session and it imports easily into Simple Practice. These two features are the reason I keep using the product as the rest of it's options need work to be functional for an SLP.

Cons

SP lacks features that I really need in an EMR. One of the biggest things it lacks is a way to easily note quantifiable data, match it to a short term goal, and quickly give me the ability to bring up a number of days of that data with a search. I have to keep quantifiable data on separate excel spreadsheets for each of my clients in order to be able to quickly access it to write progress reports (which I do quarterly). If I want to batch print SOAP notes, I can't. Each note has to be opened/viewed individually (even though it appears that it all gets pulled down together in a Zip File). Who has time for that? Simple Practice also lacks the ability to customize certain features. For example, I really want to be able to set up text alerts for clients for certain periods of time, but not always. Such as the week I return from a vacation. I do not want to have to go into each client, set alerts, then remember to turn them back off again after that date. I also want to be able to just set texts to remind new clients initially, not weekly. Another thing I really need is the ability to batch email clients from within the EMR without listing each email (for privacy). I currently have to cut and paste notes to each client and email separately. For example: when sending out procedural updates, reminding clients of a week I am closed and so on. Why haven't these things been added/customized yet? There are a large number of users who have requested them in the request section.

Pros

Lots of important pros. 1) Online scheduling and intake, 2) integrated payment processing and auto-pay, 3) cloud based, 4) competitive pricing, 5) very easy to learn, 6) the team is getting faster (slightly) with updates/improvements, 7) works for chiropractic billing now, 8) free online help articles, and 9) free month trial. We looked into so many options, and Simple Practice was clearly the best in our opinion. We're still happy with our choice; the pros outweigh the cons!

Cons

1) Text reminders: you only have a few options of when they go out, and all options are 24+ before the appointment. A text reminder shortly before greatly reduces no-shows, so it's a major feature missing.
2) Confirming appointments: you can't turn off the need to confirm appointments, and it's time consuming to confirm every. single. appointment. We want the option to turn off confirmation, or at least for some appointment types.
3) Email reminders: you have to turn them on for every patient, and it's not quick to get to it.
4) Sales tax: they don't track it, so you have to manually keep track. You shouldn't use this software if you sell products regularly.
5) Customer service: too slow. Not just initial response time, but how many back and forth emails it takes to get an answer. I tried the live q&a and it didn't get me an answer any faster. Chat would be a big improvement.
6) Group practice: overall it works well. The thing that is lacking is the report to help with payroll. It's confusing and needs better instructions/help articles
7) Online scheduling: overall good. The con is cancelling online. A) it's hard to find, so we get more phone calls than we used to. B) we let patients cancel up to 12 hours beforehand, but the software cuts it off 24 hours before, so we again get more calls than before.
8) Color coding: you can't set the background color of appointments. For us, it would be so helpful to make insurance appointments a different color than self-pay.

Pros

I liked the original pricing plans. They were reasonable and had the basic features my practice required (online booking widget, documentation, and appointment reminders).

Cons

Simple Practice gave little notice when they hiked the price by 50% for some basic features. They stated that the new features justified the price hike however we don't use the new features, didn't request them, don't need them, and don't want them. What we require is the plan we chose upon choosing this EMR. An added website isn't useful when you already have a website and don't need two. Telepractice isn't useful when their system is inferior to zoom and you already have a system in place.

Alternatives Considered

Power Diary, EmbarkEMR, IntakeQ and Square Invoices

Reasons for Switching to SimplePractice

Used it in the past and liked it

Pros

The EHR is relatively easy to use if you keep things simple. Additionally, the billing aspects of the software appears to work 1/2 the time.

Cons

The list is almost endless:
-NO customer service unless you email them and pray that they will return the email with an answer that does not even address the question.
-The video platform is maybe 20% functional. It is inconsistent and spotty. Most of the time, I have to have patients use FaceTime due to glitches.
-The video platform often goes down and SP does not alert you to the outage until you reach out and then they tell you the next day that it went down but is now back up.
-Did I mention the customer service is worse than the DMV?
-The latest price increase required that one pay 20.00 more per month to allow the calendar to sync with google (which was an option in the previous build) which then forces the therapist to keep two calendars.
-Templates are horribly basic and very complicated/impossible to modify

Pros

As a working mom of two young children, I was looking for something to save me some time. Once I figured it out on my own (which took too long in my opinion because of unhelpful video tutorials and unhelpful customer service), it now has saved me some time. I like how easy it is to chart progress notes. It has saved time and desktop space. Once I figured out how to submit claims, I appreciated not having to manually enter the information myself every time I have submitted in the past. These were two main reasons I wanted to switch.

Cons

I wish it could do more and was easier to use. Here are some features that would be great additions to Simple Practice:

- Have the ability to be Excel where I can track office expenses (i.e., office supplies, tax deductions)
- You MUST make customer service easier to get ahold of and more knowledgeable. Email back-and-forth communication is a frustrating customer service option.
- Have your customer service people be more professional. When I video-ed for my free 30-minute video at the beginning of using the software, the person was late, not professionally dressed, and looked like they were at a beach house. I was also frustrated that the employee did not know more than I did. They had to check-in with people and then get back to me. I knew much more about insurance and how it worked than the person I spoke to.
- I dislike the tutorial videos - they were not very helpful and felt like a waste of time.
- In the Coverage Report, I would greatly benefit from being able to get the SPECIFIC benefit information for Mental Health services. This is often different from the patient's medical benefits (different copays, coinsurances)
- Have it easier to be able to pick the insurance carrier from the insurance list - it is currently very confusing
- I am certain I am not getting the most out of the software but am frustrated because I don't know how to get more out of it. I don't feel that I can count on Simple Practice team members to help me either.

Pros

I like the patient portal that allowed me to easily send patients paperwork to complete before their initial sessions, saving me time and money. I also find great value in the patient appointment reminders to cut down on no shows. The EHR is great for customizing my practice from how appointments can be scheduled to designing forms and progress note templates. The program also keeps track of sessions that needs to be billed and which claims were paid. Great features!

Cons

The EHR was a bit difficult to navigate in the beginning. It was hard to remember which links led to which features. I would have preferred major links/buttons to be icons rather than words. Also, being able to electronically submit secondary insurance claims would be a feature that would make SimplePractice even simpler. It would also be great if the patient portal sign-in page could be personalized, as I would like to include a welcome message and list which insurances I accept.

Pros

I've used SimplePractice as my EHR for a couple years. I liked it. It was easy to use. However, they announced rate increases that begin in March 2022. Their announcement was sent out less than 2 months in advance which doesn't feel like enough time for the customer to make a decision on which new plan to use or switch systems.

Cons

They are a shady and money hungry company. They don't actually listen to customer feedback that results in any improvements or changes. They promise future improvements, but nothing comes to fruition.

My subscription cost has a 77% increase if I want to keep some of the same features while losing some of the features I currently have. It is a 154% increase if I want to keep ALL of the same features I currently have and gain a few features that I don't really need and have no use for. Due to that outrageous price increase, I have to look elsewhere for my needs.