A Provider’s Handbook for Selecting the Right Mental Health EHR

3 Ways to Make the Most of EHR Data and Analytics 

Data is only as good as a clinic’s ability to derive actionable insights from it to reach and exceed organizational goals. Here are three ways to use EHR and mental health records data to boost client and staff experiences and operational performance. 

7 Challenges That Advanced Mental Health Billing Programs Can Solve

In recent years, many mental health clinics have turned to EHRs with mental health billing programs to optimize their revenue cycle management. In fact, finding the right billing software for therapists and mental health organizations can mean the difference between smooth or inconsistent cash flow and strong or poor relationships with clients and insurance companies. 

Here’s a look at seven common financial management challenges mental health organizations face and how advanced mental health billing programs can drive better revenue cycle performance. 

1.  Accessing and Maintaining Accurate Information

   To ensure proper billing of services and appropriate reimbursements, providers require reliable, accurate client data and insurance information. Incomplete or inaccurate data typically leads to lost time and money, and correcting errors often negatively impacts the client experience and strains staff resources. Additionally, a BMJ Quality & Safety study found that a lack of accurate client data contributes to misdiagnosis rates of up to 29% for major depressive disorder and 18% for anxiety disorder. When misdiagnoses are recorded using the wrong ICD-10-CM mental health billing codes, costly billing errors are more likely to occur.  

   Robust EHRs with mental health billing programs support the timely and accurate submission of clean claims by giving staff access to the right patient information at the right time. With an advanced EHR, mental health organizations can also capture and share client billing details with other providers in the care continuum. And the best mental health revenue cycle management capabilities allow clients to pay their bills directly through a portal. 

2. Navigating Insurance Obstacles

   More than half of Americans live in mental health provider shortage areas, reports the National Center for Health Workforce Analysis, which means too many people must go outside their insurance network to find providers. Meanwhile, most insurance plans — including 99% of Medicare Advantage plans — require some form of preauthorization for mental health care. 

   Advanced billing software can ease the burden often placed on mental health staff to navigate these insurance hurdles. By integrating directly with payers, these robust EHRs help organizations manage preauthorization requirements, track out-of-network benefits, provide cost estimates for out-of-network care, and customize their billing settings. 

3. Using the Correct Mental Health Billing Codes

   There are currently more than 20 mental health billing codes that clinic staff must keep track of and accurately assign to specific treatment and services. To meet the needs of the increasingly digital healthcare landscape, Medicare introduced new billing codes for digital mental health services in 2025. 

   Consider CPT codes, for example. Standard therapy sessions are billed using CPT 90834, while “interactive complexity” sessions are billed using CPT 90785. It's easy to use the wrong code for the wrong session type, which can significantly impact revenue. EHRs with billing software for therapists offer embedded, up-to-date billing codes that help ensure staff connect the right codes with the right service types. Increased billing accuracy speeds up the payment process and helps avoid costly delays, errors, and denials. 

4. Managing Claim Denials

   Claims denials are a major challenge for mental health providers. They delay reimbursement and strain already limited resources, making it harder to sustain care delivery.  

   This is where an EHR with embedded mental health billing programs can make all the difference. Clinics can use their custom workflows to streamline the denials management process and use role-based tasks to ensure everyone completes their required claim and appeals submission tasks on time. Seamless workflows often result in a reduction in the number of claim denials and faster payment processing. 

5. Overcoming Reimbursement Hurdles

   The complexity of the insurance reimbursement system can slow a clinic’s cash flow. Not to mention, low reimbursement rates play a big role in why more than a third of psychologists don’t take insurance at all, notes the American Psychological Association. 

   But EHRs with mental health revenue cycle management features can drastically minimize the amount of time staff must spend working through these convoluted processes. Top mental health EHRs offer configurable billing templates that mirror insurance companies’ requirements to aid in the accuracy of claims. 

6. Keeping Pace With Compliance Requirements

   Meeting local, federal, and insurance-related compliance requirements can also impact the speed of a clinic’s reimbursement and billing processes. Lack of proper licensing and credentialing, incomplete documentation of clinical services, poor billing transparency, and non-compliance with mandates can hinder payment processes and make clinics incur avoidable fees. 
   
   Organizations can prevent mistakes and oversights, however, by utilizing EHRs with built-in compliance trackers that automatically populate key deadlines. 

7. Understanding Complicated Telehealth Billing Needs

   The demand for telehealth is continuing to grow, as it offers clinics — and clients — a lower-cost way to increase access to services. But this growth also comes with additional billing codes, compliance issues, and insurance ramifications — all of which can impede cash flow. 
   
   Some of the best mental health EHRs offer integrated telehealth capabilities alongside mental health revenue cycle management and mental health billing programs. Combined, these tools support effective billing needs by capturing accurate time logs of telehealth appointments and connecting them with the right billing workflows. 

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Meeting the expanding mental health needs of the U.S. population is a tall order for providers. But it’s achievable with the right workflows, care coordination systems, and collaboration tools. An advanced mental health EHR can serve as the foundational solution for these essential elements of care delivery and more. 

Despite the challenges they face, most mental health clinicians enter the profession to help the people who need it and achieve positive outcomes in service of a healthier society. Here’s how a top mental health EHR can help providers and organizations accomplish those goals. 

5 Mental Health Platform Features That Elevate Whole-Person Health 

Too many people across the country are experiencing mental illness alongside chronic conditions, physical ailments, and health-related social needs. Who should treat these clients, and how? 

In the whole-person health model, providers — including primary care physicians, specialists, mental health professionals, substance use clinics, and others — work in tandem to treat clients holistically. They use data to better understand their clients’ unique needs, then collaborate to deliver the person-centered care and support each client needs and deserves. 

An EHR can serve as the foundation for this collaborative, coordinated approach to healthcare delivery. 

Recognizing the Relationship Between Mental and Physical Health 

An individual’s healthcare needs involve a network of emotional, mental, physical, and social aspects — and the whole-person health model recognizes such interconnectedness. Within this model, a mental health provider would collaborate with a primary care physician to understand a client’s physical conditions, coordinate treatment planning, and make shared, informed care decisions that lead to better physical and mental health outcomes. 

It’s a holistic model of care that embraces the relationship between mental and physical health and emphasizes caring for the whole person. 

Advanced EHR Features That Support Whole-Person Health 

Here are five key features of top mental health EHRs that support care coordination and maximize the benefits of whole-person, holistic care. 

How Top EHRs Support Trauma-Informed Care Practices 

Many things — including discrimination, violence, and economic struggles — contribute to the trauma that people experience in their lives. Trauma impacts our physical, mental, and emotional health and can impede our ability to seek out and participate in care. For providers, it’s critical to adopt trauma-informed care practices that help clients heal from the acute or chronic trauma they endure. 

What Is Trauma-Informed Care? 

Trauma is exceedingly common in the U.S., with around 223 million people having experienced a traumatic event at least once in their lives, according to the National Council for Behavioral Health. Of clients who seek out behavioral health care, 90% have experienced trauma. 

Trauma-informed care practices not only acknowledge the pervasiveness of trauma, but shift the clinical focus from “what’s wrong with you?” to “what happened to you?” notes the Trauma-Informed Care Implementation Resource Center. 

According to the Resource Center, this approach requires providers to shift their clinical and organizational practices to focus on healing — rather than treating — clients.

The Six Principles of Trauma-Informed Care 

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has outlined six principles of trauma-informed care, the combination of which can lead to the physical and emotional safety clients need within a trauma-informed care space. Here’s a breakdown of those six principles and how the right mental health EHR can help support each. 

1.  Safety

   Research shows that people must feel safe to make sound decisions, think creatively, and be cognitively flexible — all abilities that are essential to mental health care. In the therapy space or mental health crisis intervention, effective trauma-informed care depends on clients feeling safe. 

   With risk assessment tools, trauma-history indicators, and real-time symptom tracking solutions, an EHR offers clinicians opportunities to identify patterns of distress they might otherwise overlook. Some AI-powered tools can flag hard-to-spot signs of trauma-related conditions within provider notes and help providers proactively address trauma-related concerns. Strong AI solutions can also differentiate between trauma and anxiety symptoms, two things that commonly overlap. And when providers across the care continuum use in-platform communication and collaboration tools, they can collectively create a safe space for clients, even as they move from one office or provider to the next. 

2. Trustworthiness and Transparency 

   Clients need a clear, trusting relationship with their providers to be vulnerable during their mental health care journey. The right EHR will offer a one-stop shop for transparent client engagement, helping clients see that nothing within the care environment is hidden from them. They can communicate with their providers, view treatment plans, and access educational materials to stay informed and engaged.  

3. Peer Support

   According to Texas Health and Human Services, building strong relationships with others can help clients heal and minimize “the impact of secondary traumatic stress.” Advanced EHRs identify open availability in local peer support groups, then monitor a client’s participation in those groups. Providers get a more holistic understanding of the client’s journey and can more effectively coordinate care with peer support specialists. 

4. Collaboration and Mutuality

   Collaboration is one of the six principles of trauma-informed care because it’s essential to both provider-client and provider-provider relationships. Collaborative mental health care, research shows, can lead to better client outcomes and more timely treatment. An EHR is vital to effective care coordination, allowing primary care physicians, specialists, and mental health crisis intervention services to discuss client needs, share care plans, and collaborate as they follow trauma-informed care practices. 

5. Empowerment, Voice, and Choice

   Trauma-informed care practices give voice and choice back to people who often feel unheard. Examples of trauma-informed care include restoring a sense of agency, dignity, and resilience and giving clients a say in their care journey. EHRs offer increased client autonomy and agency by increasing visibility into their symptom tracking and treatment progress. Clients can voice their care preferences directly in the platform using customizable templates, ensuring they're involved in shared decision-making and are empowered participants in their care and support plans. 

6. Cultural, Historical, and Gender Issues

   Not everyone experiences trauma in the same way. Parts of a person’s identity — their race, culture, gender, sexuality, and ethnicity — all impact their potential for experiencing trauma. That’s why it’s essential for providers to use an EHR with AI-backed solutions that account for social impacts and track health-related social needs. Strong EHRs also use AI to collect, analyze, and report on disparity data to identify gaps within care delivery.

Using an EHR To Boost Cultural Competence and Equity in Mental Health

People from marginalized backgrounds, those living in care deserts, or others facing systemic barriers often do not receive the care they need and deserve. When they can access care, many people from disenfranchised groups often face unconscious biases that impact the success of their overall treatment. Adopting technologies that ensure all clients get access to high-quality care and support is essential to driving equity in mental health. 

Why Equity Matters in Mental Health Care 

There are countless factors that impact a person’s mental health, including biological, psychological, identity-based, social, and economic elements. These sociocultural elements mean that each mental health care client experiences the care system and the world around them differently. 

More than half (58%) of Asian respondents in a KFF study reported experiencing at least one type of discrimination in the past year. About half of Black people (54%) and Hispanic people (50%) reported the same. According to another study, people from underserved groups experience situations and challenges that make them more susceptible to mental health issues, including higher rates of poverty, childhood adversity, and discrimination. 

Yet, people from Hispanic (40%), Black (38%), and Asian (36%) communities receive mental health care at significantly lower rates than their white peers (56%), according to KFF. And 50% of all American Indian and 25% of military veterans — two populations that experience elevated risk factors — live in rural areas with mental health shortages. 

Equity in mental health matters because too many people aren’t getting the high-quality mental health care they need. 

How to Make Mental Health Care More Accessible 

Here’s how an advanced EHR can support equity in mental health by providing organizational and operational improvements. 

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Top mental health EHRs can improve nearly all aspects of a clinic’s practice, from streamlining processes and ensuring smooth care coordination to freeing up clinicians’ time and empowering clients. 

But not every EHR is designed specifically for the mental health space, and not every EHR offers AI-powered and other solutions that can maximize the benefits of the platform. Here’s how to select and implement the perfect EHR for your organization to create more seamless and highly efficient operations.  

Finding the Best EHR for Mental Health: An Evaluation Checklist 

While every mental health organization has its own unique needs, they require core technological features to uphold high-quality care delivery. The best EHR for mental health will streamline operations and free up provider time to offer top mental health care — all within one central and secure resource. 

Assessing Mental Health Software Companies: Finding the Right EHR 

Here’s a checklist of five essential features to look for when researching mental health software companies and their EHR solutions that can strengthen your organization’s operations, care delivery, and financial viability. 

1. Integrated Evidence-Based Practices and Clinical Tools to Meet the Mental Health Crisis

   Evidence-based practices can lead to improved therapist competency, so when choosing a mental health EHR for your organization, look for one with embedded features that guide providers through evidence-based protocols to ensure fidelity. Top EHR vendors integrate the most current and evidence-based workflows and protocols directly into the platform so providers can access these tools at the point of care to better serve their clients. 
   
   Additionally, look for EHRs with integrated AI tools like ambient dictation and symptom tracking. These solutions can aid in clinical decision-making and effective care delivery. 

2. Bespoke Solutions to Bolster Mental Health Care Delivery 

   Adopting a solution that’s custom-made for the mental health care space can help you avoid implementation pitfalls. Find an EHR with automated, role-based workflows that you can customize to address your staff’s roles, tasks, and deadlines. A bespoke solution with these features can help ensure smooth EHR implementation and usage. 

3. Care Coordination Capabilities to Address Comorbidities and Whole-Person Care 

   According to one study on comorbidities, 68% of people with mental health conditions also have a physical medical condition. That’s why the best EHR for mental health will offer seamless communication and collaboration features to facilitate care coordination and whole-person care. With the right EHR, you can share data, therapeutic notes, and treatment plans securely with other providers and use task alerts to stay in lock step with one another. 

4. Empowerment Features to Engage Underserved Clients

   Mental Health America reports there are 340 people requiring care for every one mental health provider — a ratio that leaves many in care limbo. Top EHR vendors offer platforms with integrated telehealth capabilities, secure mobile features, communication tools, and other features to empower clients to access providers and participate in care more easily. 

5. Operational Support Solutions to Save Time and Stay Compliant 

   Billing and collections are especially complex challenges in mental health care, requiring staff to account for multiple factors to code and bill services accurately. With advanced revenue cycle management capabilities, the best EHR for mental health can relieve some of the administrative burden placed on staff to code and bill correctly.

Implementation Guidance for Your New EHR Software for Mental Health 

Finding the right EHR software for mental health is the first step toward realizing the benefits this technology can offer your practice. But smoothly implementing your platform matters too. 

The way you implement an EHR matters so much, in fact, that it can make the difference between bolstering or hindering your staff’s work. One study found that about two-thirds of change projects in healthcare settings fail because of bad planning, unmotivated staff, and poor communication. 

Follow these EHR implementation steps to avoid common implementation pitfalls. 

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