“Alma is amazing. Their tools such as advertising, patient portal, assessment, Wiley treatment planning, the calendar, billing and credentialing really better my business.”
Alma and SimplePractice offer robust EHR tools and functionality designed to increase practice efficiency for busy clinicians so they can focus on providing care to their clients. Alma and SimplePractice come with various tools that can help clinicians:
- Provide evidence-based care with Wiley Treatment Planners and/or a streamlined template
- Quickly assess and monitor client symptoms to inform care outcomes
- Streamline client intake to rapidly gather information from consent forms and intake questionnaires
- Confidently secure and manage clinical data
- Document care with progress notes and chart notes
But while SimplePractice is primarily an EHR platform -
Alma is a more comprehensive solution that helps providers navigate insurance billing, streamline clinical documentation and build a thriving caseload to elevate your private practice.
Alma vs SimplePractice: EHR Tools
"I'm very grateful for the addition of Wiley Treatment Planners, which makes treatment planning far more efficient and less time-intensive. I also appreciate the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 screening tools, which make initial assessment and symptom tracking more efficient."
Wiley Treatment Planner
Rather than writing a treatment plan entirely from scratch, Wiley Treatment Planners offer templates and customizable options that make treatment planning easier for clinicians.
Wiley Treatment Planners are organized by presenting problems (or diagnoses). From there, you can select different behaviors, goals, objectives, and interventions associated with that diagnosis. Learn more about “Wiley Treatment Planners” by reading our blog, linked here.
How do Alma & SimplePractice compare?
Wiley Treatment Planners are included in Alma’s membership, while SimplePractice requires a $15/month add-on to their mid-tier plan.
For Alma members, Wiley Treatment Planners are also seamlessly integrated alongside progress notes and client intake within the portal. This allows Alma members to spend less time navigating paperwork in different places so they can invest more time into providing care.
Clinical Assessments
Clinical assessments serve as a source of truth for providers by enabling them to objectively diagnose clients who may be experiencing a variety of troubling symptoms while also offering an avenue for clinicians to understand these symptoms over time.
How do Alma & SimplePractice compare?
Providers value being able to measure client progress but typically don’t consistently reassess clients with heightened symptoms because remembering to send assessments at the proper intervals can be difficult.
Alma solves this issue by allowing providers to save time with customizable automatic reassessments. Providers can set up assessments to be sent to clients at a frequency of their choice and get notified when results indicate heightened or at-risk symptoms. Alma members can also visualize client progress over time with an easy-to-use graph.
Alma currently offers two digital assessments for providers, the PHQ-9 and the GAD-7. Clinicians can email these assessments directly to new clients through their portal. These assessments help providers objectively diagnose clients who may be experiencing depression or anxiety and better understand these clients’ symptoms over time. SimplePractice is also growing their assessments/outcomes measurement library.
Click here to learn more about Alma’s assessments.
Streamlined Client Intake
The clinical intake process is a critical first step in the provider-client relationship. It allows clinicians to get a head start by quickly getting up to speed on their client’s health status, laying the foundation for a successful relationship.
How do Alma & SimplePractice compare?
Alma offers a speedy, streamlined client intake process that includes consent forms that are ready to send and allows providers to get started with clients quickly. Alma also provides standardized intake questionnaires and PHQ-9 and GAD-7 assessments that can be sent to new clients in a single step for them to complete within Alma’s secure portal. SimplePractice has a similar offering in their membership plan.
Trusted Security and Autonomy
Providers must store client paperwork in a secure, HIPAA-compliant location. Additionally, clinicians need an easy solution for documentation management and transfer.
How do Alma & SimplePractice compare?
Alma stores client paperwork in a HIPAA-compliant portal and makes it easy for clinicians to export their documentation immediately if they ever choose to leave. SimplePractice also allows clinicians to export client data when canceling their accounts.
Alma, a holistic solution for private practices
“I love how easy it is to get documents signed by clients, to schedule through the Alma calendar, complete documentation, and submit claims for billing. I am so pleased with the service you are providing including credentialing and making providing therapy so manageable and easy.”
Like Alma, SimplePractice also offers an EHR and some billing support. The most significant difference is that Alma is a holistic solution that helps clinicians run their private practice with several features that aren’t limited to EHR tools:
Faster Credentialing
Alma allows providers to get credentialed within ~45 days (3X faster than individual payer applications) and offers support with multi-state credentialing. Alma makes it easy to accept clients anywhere you’re already licensed.
Quick pay-outs
Alma handles all of the paperwork, from eligibility checks to claims submissions, with guaranteed payment within two weeks of each appointment.
Grow your private practice
Broadened exposure through Alma’s directory helps you get referrals and build your caseload. Read our eBook, Growing Your Private Practice, to learn more about how Alma can help Clinicians grow their private practice.
Community support with dedicated discussion spaces and forums
Clinicians gain access to Alma’s members-only platform to share resources and referrals while receiving professional development support from fellow clinicians. There are also workshops with industry experts and interest groups for ACT, culturally responsive care, and more.
HIPAA-compliant telehealth
Alma members have a HIPAA-compliant telehealth video platform included in membership at no extra cost, while SimplePractice requires a $15/month add-on to their basic plan.
Closing thoughts
Alma and SimplePractice’s EHR tools can increase practice efficiency for providers while freeing them from timely administrative tasks so they can focus on providing care to their clients.
Alma’s more holistic solution supports providers in taking insurance, getting credentialed, growing their private practice, engaging with a community of their peers, and saving time with streamlined, affordable EHR tools.
