Healthie

Today, we’re chatting about Healthie and how it’s used at your company. Before we begin, could you give a brief overview of the company and your role there?

As a product director, I oversee our clinician-facing tools, including Healthie, and our proprietary technology that supports our clinicians. Our services include telehealth therapy and in-person psychotherapy for adults. We cater to a broad range of patients by being both in-network and out-of-network with insurance companies, which is integral to our compliance requirements.

What was the need that drove you to look for a product like Healthie?

We switched from our previous EHR to Healthie because we were looking for a provider who could better support our ability to scale, and who would actively partner with us as we grew.

What were some of the high-level requirements that you used to search for a vendor?

Functionality of forms was essential, given that we use over 20 forms, each with conditional fields, to document the quality of services for our insurance providers and for audits and legal matters. Compliance and security features were also crucial, with a focus on SOC 2 compliance and detailed audit logs, areas where Healthie is improving. We needed robust data syncing capabilities to interface with our own platform, along with a stable product. We wanted the potential for billing integrations, and clinical workflow efficiency was also important. We were searching for an EHR that avoided overcrowding with unnecessary features, preferring one that was adaptable to our hybrid model with a reliable API. Excellent customer support and the vendor’s reputation were also important for our final decision.

Who else did you evaluate, and how did they compare to Healthie?

We evaluated mental-health specific EHRs like SimplePractice, which had a better user interface and clinical workflows; however, their API and integration capabilities were limited, so we focused on larger, more versatile healthcare software providers like Healthie, Elation, and Canvas.

During our comparison, we focused on clinical workflow efficiency. Elation was dismissed early on due to its non-customizable interface. They did have strong APIs, but our priority was on customizability, which Healthie excelled in with its adjustable features. Healthie was also cost effective, had a reputable customer support team that was responsive to customer needs, and showed a willingness to develop additional features based on user feedback.

All the options were similar in terms of compliance, but Healthie stood out for its product stability, a crucial aspect for us, especially after our experience with our previous vendor. We were looking for a long-term solution, and Healthie met that need.

How did you find the sales process overall?

The sales process was great. We engaged extensively with the COO and CTO during the early due-diligence phase, followed by numerous detailed discussions. During the contract negotiation, we collaborated closely with the COO and our finance team.

How was the implementation process?

I would say the implementation was overall a good partnership, although data migration proved more challenging than anticipated. We aimed to map all our data into structured fields (some of which contained complex, conditional form logic), which may have been a new experience for Healthie. We had to do a lot of quality assurance to make sure that the data transfer was successful. In the end, the process was successful, and we met our timeline, but it required more internal resources, especially from our data engineering team, than we had planned for.

What use cases do you have for Healthie at this time?

We currently utilize Healthie for clinical documentation, specifically note-taking and care plans. While there are additional capabilities, like scheduling and a client-facing portal, we use our existing systems for those. We also don’t currently use Healthie for billing, but we’re considering using their billing integration in the future, particularly with Candid. Our billing is done outside of Healthie right now.

How would you characterize strengths and weaknesses for the functions that you’re using?

Strengths include its customizability and the semi-white label capabilities that allow modification of the user experience. The custom form functionality is workable, despite needing some improvements, especially in conditional logic.

Weaknesses center around the care plan functionality, which they don’t seem to have invested in as deeply. And certain form features have limited modification ability, leading to user experience issues and some compliance issues. Healthie’s recent addition of a design director shows promise for improvements in these areas.Their auditing visibility is still under development, requiring reliance on Healthie support for access, which is less than ideal.

While their uptime and stability are good, the approach to releases could be improved. Some updates have disrupted integrations, though their team has been quick to respond and fix the issues.

How was the documentation and development process with their APIs?

It’s generally working well, but there are some challenges, particularly regarding data gaps in care plans. This limitation has caused issues in our reporting capabilities. Our engineers found the API satisfactory but experienced some frustrations, especially during the implementation, with documentation that didn’t effectively answer questions that arose. We worked around this by getting questions answered directly from the support team.

Do you have any tactical advice for other organizations considering building on top of Healthie APIs?

If you’re planning to integrate with Healthie’s APIs, you might face initial challenges due to documentation not being the most comprehensive. However, Healthie does offer strong customer support, so when you encounter issues, you can typically reach out and get the assistance needed to navigate through any gaps.

How do you feel about account management and support with the Healthie team?

Great. They’ve proven to be a collaborative partner. Our account manager is responsive and assists with escalating issues when needed. We conduct quarterly business reviews to discuss our progress, future plans, and our partnership’s direction.

Looking back, do you feel like you made the right decision in going with Healthie?

Yes, I feel that choosing Healthie was the right decision for our company at our current stage and our needs.

Do you have any advice for buyers who are thinking through EHR selection now?

It’s important to consider the complexity of data migration, especially if you require structured data migration. Additionally, be mindful of the workflow requirements. If your organization needs an API for integration, this becomes a critical aspect to review.