Editorial rating:
TheraNest is a Practice Management Software (PMS) designed specifically for behavioral health practitioners that earned 3.5 stars out of 5 in our independent review. It offers a customizable set of features that allow users to manage their clients, records, scheduling, billing, and staff in one place. TheraNest’s pricing ranges from $39 to $91 monthly depending on the number of active clients seen, plus billing fees. A 21-day free trial is also offered.
TheraNest PMS is designed for both solo and group practices but offers pricing that favors small to midsize practices. A unique aspect of their pricing structure is that it allows users to choose which features work best for them, and pay only for those they need.
Rating of TheraNest’s EHR
After carefully reviewing and extensively testing the TheraNest platform over a 2 week period, editor Sandra found that it is an overall well-made piece of software with a few key drawbacks. TheraNest excels in allowing practices to manage multiple aspects of their practice from within the platform. As such, it has earned a high rating in the category of practice management and reports. As such, it performed well in client forms and intake management, calendar and scheduling, as well as treatment planning and notetaking. TheraNest has glaring flaws in both its insurance billing system, client payment system, and calendar, and has earned a poor score in each of these categories.
Pros & Cons of TheraNest
TheraNest PMS really stands out when it comes to customer service responsiveness, quality of training offered, and ability to customize features and forms. However, deep levels of customization require extensive training in the software. TheraNest currently offers a cloud-based web app, but no dedicated desktop or mobile apps. Ultimately, TheraNest features were found to be unintuitive and difficult to use. TheraNest secured a spot on our list of the best mental health EHRs. It earned the award for best EHR for practices with a small caseload.
What is TheraNest?
TheraNest is a HIPAA-compliant PMS that is built for behavioral health providers. The software offers a full suite of solutions to manage clients, records, scheduling, billing, and staff. Base plan pricing is based on the number of active clients in the account with optional add-ons, making it an ideal PMS for small to midsize practices.
TheraNest’s basic subscription allows for the management of up to 30 active clients and an unlimited number of archived or inactive clients. Within the main subscription, only the primary provider is able to utilize the client portal and messaging system. The administrative features allow the account owner to add staff and manage staff schedules, as well as manage practice-wide billing.
For a fee, TheraNest can process insurance claims and keep track of all related insurance billing information. The billing system also allows for self-service insurance billing, through a very manual process. TheraNest also includes a robust reporting system allowing for analytics on several types of data, from cancellations and no-shows, to demographics and referral sources.
A basic TheraNest PMS subscription includes the following features:
- HIPAA-compliant client management system
- Built-in calendar system with useful automation features
- Self-service billing for self-pay and insurance claims
- Staff and practice management
- Basic data reporting
TheraNest’s premium add-on features include:
- HIPAA-compliant telehealth video platform
- A suite of pre-written and customizable treatment plans by Wiley Planners
- Full-service insurance billing
- Electronic prescriptions
- “White Glove” customer service
TheraNest is one of our favorite mental health EHRs. In our review of the best mental health EHRs, we gave it an award for the best EHR for practices with a small caseload.
Key Features of TheraNest
TheraNest’s key features include the ability to manage up to 30 active clients, complete intakes, schedule client sessions, create notes and treatment plans, and bill for services rendered. TheraNest PMS also provides a great deal of training and support through their FAQ page 1, webinars, training videos, and one on one video calls with a TherapyBrands representative.
Intake
Adding new clients in TheraNest is fairly straightforward. Once a practitioner enters the client’s preliminary information, they will then have access to the client’s full profile, which contains areas for the client’s personal, insurance, and billing information. The standard intake forms included with the free trial or a paid TheraNest plan are very basic but customizable.
Intake paperwork can be pre-selected and sent to clients to sign electronically and is instantly filed in the client’s chart when complete. Practitioners also have the flexibility to send, resend, or revoke individual consent forms. The intake process allows practitioners to automatically send forms to clients, however, the user experience leading to these essential features is very unintuitive.
Adding a new client
TheraNest PMS offers a limited library of intake forms and assessments. It is important to note that this limited list of included intake forms does not include forms for minors, couples, or group session clients. And while additional forms can be created, it is a time-consuming process that will likely require further training. While there are some nice features in the intake process, TheraNest, by no means, provides a complete solution. Due to the limited library of forms, TheraNest earned 3 out of 5 stars in the “Client Forms & Intake” category of our scoring criteria.
THeraNest PMS includes the following basic intake forms and assessments:
- Notice of Privacy Practices
- Informed Consent for Psychotherapy
- Standard Adult Intake Questionnaire
- Credit/Debit Card Payment Consent
- GAD-7 Scale
- PHQ-2 Questionnaire
- PHQ-9 Questionnaire
- Telehealth Treatment Consent
Pre-Generated intake forms
Scheduling
TheraNest offers typical calendar functionality with daily, weekly, and monthly view types, as well as basic reminders and to-dos with customizable priority levels. A downside to TheraNest’s scheduling feature is that it does not immediately export appointments to Google Calendar or Apple’s iCal, and instead only syncs every 8 hours. In a busy practice with last minute scheduled appointments, this limitation could prove challenging.
In theory, TheraNest’s scheduling system should provide simple, intuitive control of client scheduling. However, in our testing, we found the scheduling process to be overly complex and difficult. Another downside is that the calendar does not allow sessions to be booked in 15-minute increments, which could be problematic for some practices.
Particularly helpful for practices with clients in multiple time zones, TheraNest automatically adjusts client notifications to their local time zone. This is, surprisingly, a less-than-common automation in EHR systems and is a greatly appreciated feature.
Due to the scheduling and calendar systems being a bit unintuitive and difficult to use, TheraNest scored 3 out of 5 stars in the “Scheduling & Calendar” category of our scoring criteria.
TheraNest’s calendar view with a weekly view and filter options
Add-On Scheduling Service: Client Portal
TheraNest offers a client portal feature that allows for HIPAA-compliant messaging and client self management of appointments. Client portal access is included for free with the basic TheraNest subscription for the primary provider. Additional practitioners added to the primary account can add the client portal or a fee of $6 per month, per practitioner.
Treatment Plans and Notes
TheraNest provides a very limited forms library with just two session note templates and one treatment plan template. Both session note templates do include a mental health status exam and a suicide risk assessment within them, which can be completed by selecting pre-generated responses or free typing them.
A major issue with the functionality of TheraNest’s forms feature is that in addition to only offering a limited number of forms, there is no ability to upload custom forms. Instead, a practitioner will need to create any custom forms needed through TheraNest’s template creation tool, which is very time-consuming to work with. However, when given the proper time, we did find it to be very robust and intuitive to use.
On the plus side, TheraNest includes an option to allow previous notes to auto-populate for every session. Unfortunately, however, this functionality is limited to progress notes and is not possible for treatment plans. This means that the practitioner must manually enter any information that needs to be included in follow-up treatment plans.
In another example of outdated functionality, TheraNest treatment plans and notes have no auto-save feature. In the event of a browser crash or accidental click-away, any content written will not have been saved. The notes can, however, be saved manually. We also found the process of setting up an e-signature for notes to be unintuitive and needed customer support to complete this task. Because of these issues, Theranest scored 2 out of 5 stars in the “Treatment Planning & Notes” category of our scoring criteria.
Standard Note template with Mental Status Exam
Add-On Service: Wiley Practice Planner
For a more intuitive and complete forms solution, a practice can elect to add the Wiley Practice Planner service to their TheraNest account, which unlocks 1,000+ pre-written treatment plans, progress notes, and other resources. These templates interface well with treatment plans and are a real time-saver. This add-on is priced at an additional $25 monthly, per provider.
Wiley Treatment Planner Template
Insurance Billing
TheraNest PMS allows practitioners to bill private pay clients as well as submit insurance claims. However, we found that the self-service insurance billing system would prove challenging to use for those not already highly skilled in billing processes. It is important to note that both self-service billing and self-service insurance claims submission generate fees not included in the base TheraNest subscription price.
Self-pay clients can be billed directly through TheraNest, however, all invoices must be sent entirely manually by the practitioner. Additionally, if a client’s payment fails, the responsibility for notifying the client falls squarely on the clinician, rather than being handled automatically.
Insurance billing can also be handled in TheraNest with a similar manual process. The system allows practitioners to submit individual or batch claims to any affiliated insurance payor. All insurance billing is self-service, and the practitioner is responsible for following up with claims, collecting copays, handling claim denials, and resubmitting denied claims.
Ultimately, if you don’t already have plenty of experience in the insurance billing arena, it may be best to steer clear of TheraNest’s self-service insurance billing, and opt for their Managed Billing add-on service. Because we had so many issues with TheraNest’s insurance billing system, we awarded it with only 2 out of 5 stars in the “Insurance Billing” category of our scoring critera.
Add-On Service: Managed Billing
For practitioners who do not want to handle their own insurance billing, TheraNest has a premium Managed Billing service that can handle the heavy lifting for you. With this premium service, all insurance claims submissions, denials, resubmissions, and other backend work is handled on the practitioner’s behalf. This service aims to limit errors in submission and improve the billing flow.
Cost varies with the Managed Billing add-on, ranging from a flat rate to a percentage per claim, depending on the type of claim being submitted. TheraNest’s Managed Billing service is reported to have a 96% success rate for paying claims out to practitioners. This add-on is likely worth the extra cost for those without billing experience.
Client Payment Methods, Collection, and Processing
Clients can pay for services through TheraNest via credit or debit card. At this time, other forms of payment, such as Venmo or Paypal, are not officially supported. After enrollment into Credit Card Processing through TheraNest, which takes 1-3 days, practitioners can begin to accept credit or debit card payments.
A particularly weak point in TheraNest’s payment processing system is the incredibly manual process for sending invoices and charging clients for services, as well as updating client payment methods, which requires paperwork on the part of both the client and practitioner. The entire payment process feels very outdated.
Additionally, adding or changing a client’s payment information requires practitioners to view their card information in full, which could be considered a breach of privacy. There is no pre-authorization or validation of credit card information by TheraNest, and clients don’t get notification of a failed charge or that their card will be expiring soon, leaving practitioners to notify clients themselves.
Since the client payment collection and processing were rather underwhelming, TheraNest has earned 3 out of 5 stars in the “Client Payment Methods, Collection, & Processing” category of our scoring criteria.
Training
A feature of TheraNest that really shines is its user training and customer support. The TheraNest help page boasts a large number of pre-recorded webinars, videos, and the TheraNest FAQs. Live training webinars on multiple topics are also offered, and all of these resources are available with the basic TheraNest subscription, as well as during the free trial.
During the initial setup of an account, practitioners are walked through several “setup tasks,” which we found to be very informative. Each setup guide walks you through the main features of the PMS and remains easily accessible to practitioners after completing the setup.
At the end of the setup process, TheraNest encourages practitioners to schedule a 15-minute live video call with a TherapyBrands specialist. We found these calls were usually available within one business day, and we could schedule as many as needed. The specialist was very helpful in answering our setup questions. Overall, TheraNest makes it clear they want practitioners to get the most out of the PMS possible.
Due to its exceptional responsiveness and library of materials, TheraNest has earned 5 out of 5 stars in the “Customer Service & Training” category of our scoring criteria.
Add-On Service: “White Glove” Training
TheraNest recently released a new, more intensive one-on-one “White Glove” training service. This training comes with a price tag of $150 per hour, however, this may come in useful for larger practices with complex PMS setup needs. “White Glove” training sessions can also be recorded for future review and staff training purposes.
Who is TheraNest Right For?
TheraNest is ideal for individual practitioners starting a private practice or with a small to midsize caseload, as well as for a small group practice or solo practitioner looking for a more affordable PMS that they can take time to customize. It’s a great option for many practices — it earned a spot on our list of the best mental health EHRs.
Small Individual Practices
TheraNest PMS is great for small individual practices of no more than 25-30 clients because it can be set up quickly and is cost-effective. With a bit of training, a practice of this size can be set up in 2-3 days. The ability to purchase the basic package for a practice of this size makes TheraNest a very appealing option.
Small Group Practices
As long as the caseload is relatively small, TheraNest PMS would make a solid option for a small multi-provider practice since it allows for adding additional providers at no cost (except for client self-service portal access). Seeing as TheraNest allows users to pull reports isolating specific staff members, the system would be effective for small group practices.
Those Seeking An All-In-One Solution
TheraNest PMS is great for practitioners who would like to keep as many or all of their practice management services in-house, eliminating the need to ensure that all systems (scheduling, billing, client communication, and records) are working together in one place to minimize errors.
Those Seeking An Affordable Option
TheraNest is great for practitioners who want an affordable PMS and are willing to invest more of their time in training and customization as a trade for affordability. By providing a-la-carte services, TheraNest provides practitioners the ability to pay for only the services they need.
Practices That Supervise Interns
TheraNest PMS is supervision friendly. Supervisors are able to grant interns specific permissions within the system, assign themselves as supervisor, and customize whether a co-signature is needed on notes the intern submits. This entire process allows for multiple levels of customization and would be very useful in any practice that supervises interns.
Who May Want an Alternative to TheraNest
TheraNest has many wonderful features, however, if you are seeking a PMS with an app, prefer bundled services, provide specialized services, or run a large practice or organization, you may want to look elsewhere.
Specialized Practices
If a practice is highly specialized in a certain area or population, such as children, families, and adolescents, practitioners may find themselves having to create and save many of their own forms for future use, which is very time-consuming.
With the difficulties we found in customizing forms, as well as the inability to upload a practitioner’s own forms, TheraNest would not offer a simple transition for specialized practices.
Those Seeking a Desktop or Mobile App
TheraNest currently only has a browser-based web app. Practices that prefer dedicated apps or are transitioning from a PMS that already supports a native app may not find TheraNest ideal. Hopefully TheraNest will soon add a desktop or mobile app to their lineup, similar to SimplePractice or TherapyNotes. Many providers, including myself, prefer the stability that a desktop app provides.
Those That Prefer All-In-One Pricing
While the base price of a TheraNotes subscription is relatively affordable, after adding premium services and add-ons, the overall cost can climb pretty rapidly. Some practitioners may be put off by this and prefer a more all-in-one pricing model to the piecemeal approach of TheraNest.
Practices with large billing volume
Billing services in TheraNest seem to have been designed with small practices in mind. Organizations with a high amount of billing may find the process in TheraNest to be costly and time-consuming and may prefer to consider a more specialized platform.
What Users Are Saying About TheraNest
On the trusted review website Software Advice, users rated TheraNest a 4.4-star rating out of 800+ reviews (FN3). Here’s what they have to say.
The Good:
Reasonable price
Most practitioners were happy with the cost of TheraNest overall and felt that the add-on features were worth the added cost due to the time saved from having to do tasks such as billing themselves.
Responsive customer support
Practitioners really seem to love and appreciate the offering of free live customer service video calls with a TheraNest representative. There also seems to be a marked improvement in TheraNest’s customer service in the past year compared to previous years.
The Bad:
Inability to alter functions for specific users
TheraNest does not make a distinction between the account owner and staff that have been added to the owner’s account, meaning any staff member can run reports for other practitioner’s caseloads and can see how much they bill or have access to documents that a business owner may not want all staff to access.
Standard Billing is Inefficient
Group practices complained that the standard billing feature either was not working correctly or the system had issues submitting claims. Subscribers also complained that they had issues getting timely responses from customer support when having billing issues.
How Much Does TheraNest Cost?
TheraNest’s basic plan cost depends on the size of the practice. There is no cost to add additional practitioners to a TheraNest account, however, add-on services are an additional monthly cost per practitioner. Practitioners can cancel their membership at any time and will be refunded any membership fees paid in advance. TheraNest also offers a 21-day free trial membership that does not require a credit card in order to get started.
TheraNest basic plan costs are:
- $39 per month for up to 30 active clients
- $60 per month for up to 50 active clients
- $91 per month for up to 80 active clients
In addition to the basic TheraNest plan cost, practitioners should also consider add-on features in the total cost of the PMS for their practice, as well as credit card and insurance claims processing fees.
TheraNest’s add-ons features that are offered at an additional cost are:
- HIPAA compliant telehealth feature: additional $12 monthly per practitioner; Group telehealth capabilities: $25 monthly per practitioner
- Wiley Treatment Planner with 1,000 prewritten treatment goals, objectives and progress notes: additional $25 monthly per practitioner.
- Fully integrated Client Portal, which provides HIPAA compliant messaging and client self-scheduling options: included for the account holder and costs $6 monthly per additional practitioner
- Managed Billing, which offers full-service insurance billing: billed as a flat rate or percentage of the amount of the claim, ranging from $7 – $15 per claim, with pricing that varies state to state.
ThereaNest’s credit card processing and claims submission fees are:
- Self-service electronic insurance claim submission fees range from $0.25-$0.17 per claim depending on the number of claims submitted monthly
- Credit card processing fees range from 2.99% to 3.79%, plus $0.30 per transaction
In regards to credit card processing and claims submission fees, a practitioner with a cash-pay practice of 30 weekly clients can expect to pay somewhere between $400-$500 per month in credit card processing fees. An insurance-pay practice of the same size can expect to pay somewhere between $20-$30 per month in claims submission fees if using self-service billing, or somewhere between $600-$1000 if using TheraNest’s Managed Billing service.
TheraNest Discounts
Apart from the 21-day free trial membership, TheraNest provides a 20% membership discount to non-profit organizations. Also, if enrolled in Managed Billing, TheraNest is currently offering to waive the base cost of a practitioner’s subscription for months 2, 6, and 12, which results in savings of almost $120 for the year.
How To Sign Up and Get Started With TheraNest
Practitioners can sign up for a TheraNest 21-day free trial on the TheraNest website. At any time during the free trial, you can upgrade to a paid account. This will be necessary if your practice has over 30 clients, as the free trial only supports up to that amount.
To start the free 21-day trial membership, go to the TheraNest website, fill in the necessary basic information, create a login, and click on “Try TheraNest for Free.” No credit card is required for the free trial.
Once the account is created, practitioners will need to verify their email address and can then login and begin accessing their account. Once logged in, I suggest new users watch the website tutorials and visit the FAQ page to learn how to use the software, as well as schedule a free training call.
Once practitioners feel that they have a good idea of how to navigate the system, they can start entering their clients’ information, scheduling appointments, and uploading any records they would like to transfer.
Transferring Client Records to TheraNest
Transferring existing client records and documents to TheraNest is as easy as dragging and dropping files from a desktop or clicking the “Upload” button and selecting the desired files. Practitioners can also create any additional customized documents they will need, such as specialized intake forms and a no-show policy, although the customization process is time consuming.
TheraNest vs SimplePractice
When comparing TheraNest PMS to SimplePractice, the first thing that stands out is that TheraNest is not as intuitive to use as SimplePractice. However, once practitioners learn how to use all of the features on TheraNest, they can actually accomplish a lot more, as it allows for creating forms and customizing the software to fit your practice’s needs.
One of the major complaints about Simple Practice is the inability to customize its offerings to a practitioner’s needs, as it is a set product at the $69 monthly subscription which now includes teletherapy.
TheraNest’s biggest advantage over Simple Practice is that notifications and appointment reminders automatically adjust to the recipient’s time zone, if different from the practitioner’s time zone, eliminating the inconvenience of having to send out your own reminders each time for clients in different time zones.
The biggest advantage that SimplePractice has over TheraNest is that it has an app for both Android and iOS devices. If you know what services your practice needs, TheraNest allows for more customization than SimplePractice.
Some key points to consider when comparing TheraNest to SimplePractice are:
- TheraNest offers more a more individualized solution
- TheraNest is cheaper than SimplePractice (depending on features)
- TheraNest offers a smarter calendar system
- SimplePractice offers a mobile app
TheraNest vs TherapyNotes
The pricing structures of TheraNest and TherapyNotes are conducted differently and difficult to compare, as the size of the client caseload and addition of add-on features play a large part in the cost of TheraNest. Notes and treatment plans are more customizable in TheraNest, but otherwise, the form customization process is comparable between the two EHRs.
TherapyNotes, overall, has a smarter system for client access amongst staff, allowing for more customizable functions than TheraNest. TherapyNotes has a slightly shorter free trial, at only 21 days. According to GetApp, a source of aggregated user reviews that is trusted for its review validation practices lists TherapyNotes at a slightly higher star review than TheraNest 5.
For psychiatric practices, TheraNest would be the superior choice, as TherapyNotes currently does not offer prescription features 4.
Some key points to consider when comparing TheraNest to TherapyNotes are:
- TherapyNotes offers higher customization
- Cost is comparable, depending on features
- TherapyNotes offers super-user access to supervisors
- TherapyNotes has no support for prescribers
History of TheraNest
TheraNest was established in 2013 by Shegun Otulana. He founded TheraNest as a practice management software “designed for practitioners, psychologists, social workers, and counselors, to assist, manage and build their practices.” 2
TheraNest ultimately became one brand within the Therapy Brands umbrella, which Otulana founded in 2017. TherapyBrands now also has separate PMS services for substance use recovery and applied behavior analysis, as well as PT, OT, and speech therapy.
Frequently Asked Questions about TheraNest
Data Storage and HIPAA compliance
TheraNest is fully HIPAA compliant. “All data is encrypted and stored securely using Amazon Web Services. TheraNest performs continuous data backups and all data in the PMS are also encrypted” 1. This means a practitioner or practice owner will not be held liable for a patient’s data that is being stored by TheraNest.
Can I import my own note templates or create custom forms in TheraNest?
Practitioners are unable to import note templates in TheraNest. Practitioners can, however, create note templates and forms using the Dynamic Form builder. Depending on the template, this can be a time-consuming process.
Can TheraNest PMS track supervisors sign off on notes or forms?
Yes. Supervisors, who have access to supervisee notes can set the level of monitoring necessary, including whether notes must be so-signed.
How Do I Cancel My TheraNest Subscription?
Practitioners can easily cancel their subscription at any time without needing to speak to a live person, by going to the “Organization” tab under “Manage My Subscription.” Practitioners can also cancel their subscriptions via the live chat feature or by calling customer support.
Does TheraNest Offer Refunds?
Yes, TheraNest does offer refunds for unused portions of annual and monthly memberships that have been paid for in advance. Please visit TheraNest Terms of Service and Privacy Policy for more information.
Does TheraNest work on a phone?
Yes. While TheraNest does not offer a mobile app for download, the browser-based web app is able to be used on mobile devices.
Does TheraNest record sessions?
No. TheraNest will not record audio or video from telehealth sessions 6.
Is TheraNest cloud-based?
Yes. TheraNest uses a cloud-based web app, which means a user can access their account from any device, from wherever they are located. 7
Final Verdict
Our independent review of TheraNest allowed us to spend over two weeks getting to know the system. Despite a good number of drawbacks and issues, TheraNest stands out as a good option for small, independent practices. However, larger practices, specialized practices, or those that have a high volume of billing might be better off with other options. Due to this, we have given TheraNest a score of 3.5 out of 5 stars in our independent review.
When starting out with TheraNest, we tried using it without participating in any training and were disappointed to find that the design of TheraNest was not quite intuitive enough to work through unsupported. What the PMS lacks in intuitiveness however, it makes up for in robust customer support and training, to help new users get set up relatively quickly.
As a simple solution, TheraNotes stands out in its ability to allow new users to get started with only a few hours of training on the software. Coupled with a generous free trial period, users should be able to get off the ground in TheraNest with limited risk overall.
You should consider signing up for TheraNest’s free trial if you:
- Know exactly what features you are looking for in a PMS
- Have a low volume of billing requirements
- Are happy with a limited library of pre-generated forms
- Value hands-on customer support
- Don’t need a desktop or mobile app
You should consider looking for an alternative to TheraNest if you:
- Want a full suite of options with the price bundled together
- Have a high volume of billing requirements
- Want the ability to upload custom forms easily
- Need a desktop or mobile app
For Further Reading
If you’d like to learn more about other EHR systems currently available, check out some of our other reviews:
