IOP EHR comparison: 12 criteria, four vendors, public information only

How we built this table

Ratings and "best of" lists for EHRs are everywhere, and most can't tell you where a claim came from. This one only uses what a vendor states on its own website, help center, blog or published terms, each read on October 24, 2026 and linked in the sources. Three rules:

• "Not found" means not found on the public pages we read, not "doesn't have it." Program EHRs often show things in a demo that aren't on a web page. Ask.
• No scores and no rankings. The right EHR depends on your levels of care, payers and census. Our IOP and PHP EHR buyer's checklist explains each criterion and has a weighted scoring sheet for your own demos.
• We include general-purpose therapy EHRs because many small IOPs start on one. If yours is one of them, the table shows what to check before your program outgrows it.

The comparison table

Criterion	Kipu	SimplePractice	TherapyNotes	Cima EHR
1. Built for	SUD, behavioral health, eating disorder and MAT treatment centers	Private practices	Behavioral health practices	Therapy and prescriber practices; outpatient IOP/PHP on the Program plan
2. Levels of care	Featured customers run detox, residential, PHP and IOP; outcomes reportable by level	Not found	Not found	PHP, IOP and OP, each with day and week hours and a per diem code; no detox or residential
3. Group notes	Not found; ask for a demo	On Plus: one group note plus optional individual notes, up to 15 clients	A progress note per participant, each with their own treatment plan	Shared topic and summary, each client's own entry tied to a plan goal, one PIN signs all, near-copies stopped
4. Attendance drives per diem billing	Not found; ask	Not found	Not found	Hours from signed notes; one per diem charge per day that meets its hours
5. Claim forms	Claim creation and submission in Kipu RCM; ask which forms	CMS-1500 documented; UB-04 not found	CMS-1500 and electronic claims documented; UB-04 not found	837P, and 837I (UB-04) for program days with revenue codes and type of bill
6. Utilization review	Listed in Kipu RCM	Not found	Not found	Authorizations on the chart; continued-stay review prompted 5 days ahead with ASAM dimensions 1 to 6
7. Admissions	CRM with bed board	Online appointment requests	Client portal (TherapyPortal) for intake	Booking page and paperwork links; no CRM (Quick VOB verifies benefits for admissions)
8. Medications	Orders, administration, inventory, diversion controls; e-prescribing via Surescripts	ePrescribe add-on, $49 a month per clinician plus $89 setup	ePrescribe add-on, $65 per prescriber a month	Medication list and allergies; e-prescribing not live yet; no administration record
9. Video	Not found	Built in on its plans	Basic included (2 people); Premium $15 per clinician (up to 16)	Not built in; add your own HIPAA-ready link
10. Published price	Not published; consultation	$49 / $79 / $99 first clinician; claims from $0.39	Solo $69; Group $89 + $60 per clinician from Dec 1, 2026; claims 25¢	Program $399 a month (up to 25 clients) + $39 per added clinician; claims 30¢
11. Contract terms public	General terms published: yearly increase up to the greater of CPI or 5%; extra services such as lab, HL7, API billed separately	Monthly plans; no refunds	Terms of service published	Month to month; 30 days' notice of price changes
12. Leaving	Not found; ask for export terms	Complete data export; data kept no more than 64 days after termination	Export before leaving recommended; per-client download documented	Full export any time; readable at least 90 days after cancelling

Each vendor's rows come from the pages listed under Sources. For more on each, read our one-to-one comparisons: Kipu, SimplePractice and TherapyNotes.

How to read it: four kinds of program EHR

The table sorts vendors into rough kinds. Knowing which kind you need narrows the field before you take a single demo.

Full-continuum treatment-center platforms

Kipu is one. They cover detox and residential (medication administration, bed boards) through outpatient, often with admissions and billing modules or services. Pick one if you run beds or will within a year. Expect a demo-and-quote process, an order form with a term, and implementation work.

Outpatient program EHRs

Cima's Program plan is one. They're built for the PHP/IOP/OP program day: groups, hours, per diem claims, authorizations. Pick one if you run only outpatient levels and want the program day handled without residential features you won't use. Check the census limit and the gaps.

Therapy-practice EHRs

SimplePractice and TherapyNotes are examples. They do sessions, notes and professional claims well and publish prices. An IOP on one usually ends up tracking program hours, per diem days and authorizations in a spreadsheet beside it. The risk isn't the software; it's the per diem claim the notes don't support. If you're on one and growing, run a mock payer audit with the chart audit checklist.

Large enterprise behavioral health systems

Multi-program agencies, community mental health centers and health systems use enterprise platforms with state reporting and many service lines. If that's you, this table is too small; start from your state's reporting requirements.

What vendors rarely publish, and how to get it

The empty cells above are the questions to send before a demo. Ask for answers in writing, with a date:

Rarely public	Ask exactly this	Why it matters
Per diem logic	"Where do billable hours come from, and what happens on a short day?"	A per diem claim must match documented hours. Payers audit it.
Facility claims	"Show an 837I with our revenue codes and type of bill, and an 837P, from the same system."	Some contracts pay program days on a UB-04. See UB-04 vs CMS-1500.
Total monthly cost	"Our census is X, with Y clinicians and Z claims a month. Every line, year one and after."	Per bed, per client, per user and per claim models can't be compared any other way. Use our cost worksheet.
Increase cap and term	"How long is the term, does it auto-renew, and what's the yearly increase cap?"	A 5% yearly increase is about 10% more by year three.
Part 2	"Show a release under a Part 2 consent with the required notice attached."	The §2.31 consent rules apply to SUD programs. Our Part 2 guide explains the 2024 rule.
Exit	"What do we get when we leave, in what format, at what cost, and for how long can we read records?"	You must keep records for years after you leave the vendor.
References	"Two programs our size, on our payers, live for a year."	The fastest check on everything else.

Other program EHRs to add to your list

Other EHRs serve treatment programs, including Lightning Step, Sunwave and Navix (our Quick VOB runs on its own, next to any EHR). We haven't put them in the table because we didn't verify their public pages for this edition, and we won't print facts we haven't checked. Put any of them through the same 12 rows and the questions above. We'll add vendors as we verify them; if you're a vendor and a cell above is out of date, send us the public page.

From shortlist to decision

1. Write one page about your program: levels of care, payers and their claim forms, census, staff and who bills. The buyer's checklist lists what to write.
2. Cut to three vendors using the table above and your must-haves.
3. Send the written questions from the section above to all three.
4. Run the same program day in each demo, on a live system with made-up clients, and score it with the weighted scoring sheet.
5. Price the same month as one number per vendor, then call references.

Questions

What is the best EHR for an IOP?

The one that fits your program. If you run detox or residential too, look at full-continuum platforms such as Kipu. If you run only PHP, IOP and outpatient, an outpatient program EHR handles groups, hours, per diem claims and authorizations without residential features. Score your shortlist on a live demo of your own program day.

Can an IOP use SimplePractice or TherapyNotes?

Some small IOPs do, for notes and professional claims. Neither vendor's public pages describe levels of care, attendance-driven per diem billing or UB-04 claims, so check how you'd track billable hours and authorizations, and how you'd bill a contract that wants a facility claim.

Which IOP EHRs publish their prices?

Of the four we compared, SimplePractice, TherapyNotes and Cima publish prices; Kipu quotes after a consultation. Program EHRs that price by census, beds or modules often quote rather than publish. Ask for every line in writing.

What does Cima's Program plan not do?

No detox, residential or recovery-housing levels, no medication administration record, no lab orders, no built-in video, no admissions CRM, no Columbia screening yet, and e-prescribing isn't live. It covers up to 25 clients in the program; above that, talk to us first.

How often is this comparison updated?

Each vendor's facts carry the date we read them. Vendors change prices and features often, so check their live pages, and tell us if something is out of date.

Sources

1. Kipu Health: Products; EMR; CRM; RCM; Who we support; Terms of Services; Surescripts terms. Read October 24, 2026.
2. SimplePractice Help Center: pricing FAQs; features by plan; insurance pricing changes; group notes; filing claims; canceling. Read October 24, 2026.
3. TherapyNotes: December 2026 Pricing Updates; Group Therapy Session; Submit Electronic Claims; TherapyPortal; Account Termination. Read October 24, 2026.
4. eCFR, 42 CFR 2.31, consent requirements.
5. Cima EHR: the Program plan's settings, claims and UR (alturaops server/solo), and cimaehr.com/pricing.

Vendor names are trademarks of their owners, used only to compare published facts. Cima makes Cima EHR.