When choosing an EHR, many agencies are tempted to try a free option. They quickly realize it’s not built for the unique mental and behavioral health needs. These systems often lack critical functionality. They fail to scale as the agency grows, costing more in time, frustration, and lost productivity. Free isn’t always truly free.
Not Designed For Mental / Behavioral Health?
Most of the free programs and many other “mental health EHRs” weren’t designed for mental health at all!
Some of these offshoot programs are excellent. They are well-designed and efficient. You can tell they brought in behavioral health consultants to address the needs of our industry legitimately. Many of them are slapped together. They’re poorly designed, and the unique needs of behavioral health weren’t considered. They still have a medical-centric feel and don’t fulfill.
They may have put the proper titles in the program, but it’s not needed for effective behavioral health treatment. The necessary processes are only partly covered. The agency must then implement manual workarounds to accommodate incomplete functionality, impacting staff time and resources.
Not Designed To Do What You Need?
EHR success has two crucial elements: the program itself and how you use it. Practice management systems for behavioral health run the gamut from every bell + whistle under the sun to incredibly basic. And whether a system “does what you need” depends entirely on your unique specifications.
One of the free programs might work if you’re a single provider or small practice that doesn’t want electronic billing. However, most practices are moving beyond the “notes and calendar only” stage. They’ve outgrown that basic functionality and have learned through experience that electronic practice management offers fantastic benefits, despite the inevitable challenges. The majority of us want electronic insurance filing and administrative & reporting tools, affordably.
The other crucial piece to consider with EMRs is Customer Service. Think about how frustrated you feel when something on our computer doesn’t work and you can’t figure it out. You want help from someone who knows the program inside and out, immediately. Unfortunately, most of the free programs offer dismal Client Support.
And we’re not just talking “help: my mouse won’t work!” here – when you consider that mental health EHR support can involve insurance denials, revenue cycle issues, authorization management, and HIPAA-protected patient information – not having prompt, professional, and responsive customer service can cost you, big time!
Software is only as powerful as your ability to use it, and having dependable customer service for training and support is invaluable. Consider what it’s worth to you to have prompt, reliable help when needed: someone picking up the phone and staying with you until your questions are answered and your need is resolved. Regarding customer service and free EHRs, you get what you pay for!
Doesn’t Grow With You?
Let’s be honest: the biggest hurdle of EMRs is the initial implementation. Switching systems while maintaining a running practice takes time, money, labor, learning, and incredible focus. It’s kind of like painting a car while the vehicle’s moving! For any practice management program worth its salt, this initial investment is necessary to long-term success.
But it’s not fun or easy, so why would you want to repeat it?! Any time you buy into a mental health EHR that doesn’t factor in your long-term growth, you’re setting yourself up to go through that intense process again, because inevitably you’ll outgrow it and need something with more functionality. Most free EMRs offer rudimentary features, meaning that any growth in your practice will require you to repeat those initial hurdles.
Consider investing in a system that grows with you: where you can begin with a basic level of functionality but turn features on as your needs evolve. While there aren’t many programs like this on the market, they exist – and can save you immeasurable time, money, and headaches down the road!
It’s Not Inexpensive!
One of the most popular free programs offers notes and calendar functionality for free, but electronic billing is done through a separate vendor and charged. At last count, the price tag was “starting at $159 per month”. Considering that this is a very basic program that offers virtually no customer service, the “free” program has become more expensive than other options offering much better functionality and stellar Support.
Additionally, most of these EMRs are free because they have advertising in your program and sell your client de-identified client data. While that doesn’t bother some providers, it makes others nervous and protective of their clients’ information, even if the PHI has been stripped.
The EHR you choose is the backbone of your ability to service clients and get paid. A well-thought-out EHR is an investment in your business. What is your time worth?
Take Away
The bottom line is: free doesn’t mean inexpensive. Trying to utilize a program that doesn’t grow with you, doesn’t really offer what you need, and wasn’t designed with mental + behavioral health in mind might cost you a lot in the long run. While some clinicians are perfectly fine with a basic program (and more power to ’em!), many providers and practices are better served by a mid-level program. You get what you pay for!
