Disclaimer: This blog post (Practice Management Telehealth Platforms for Dietitians) was sponsored by Nutrium, an all-in-one nutrition software for professionals to manage their business while focusing on clients’ success. Use code KRISTA 25 to get a 14-day free trial and a 25% discount on your subscription.
This blog post contains affiliate links, meaning that DSC may earn a commission if you make a purchase using the links provided.
Practice management platforms (also called EMR, EHR or telehealth platforms) have been one of the BEST innovations in the private practice healthcare space. No longer do dietitians or nutritionists have to try and piece together different platforms to create efficient systems in their practice, now it’s all in one place!
What are telehealth platforms for dietitians (also called EMR or practice management platforms)?
These incredible telehealth platforms for dietitians allow you to keep all of your client work in one place, like onboarding your clients, booking appointments, collecting personal health information (like 24-hour recall data, client intake forms, etc.), signing forms and documents, processing payments, nutritional analysis of dietary information and even conducting virtual consults!
Incredible right?
We think so too. That’s why we wanted to write this blog post to help you compare some of the most popular EMR platforms on the market. This way you can make the best decision for you and your business.
In this blog post, we compare the price, functionality and compliance of Nutrium, Practice Better, Healthie, Kalix and Jane.app.
What factors should you consider when choosing a platform?
Some factors that you may want to consider before choosing a platform:
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- How much are you willing to pay based on the # of clients that you have?
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- Which features are must-have vs. nice-to-have?
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- Built-in nutritional analysis software
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- Direct billing
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- The ability to create packages and process payments
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- Which features are must-have vs. nice-to-have?
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- Is it compliant with the PHI legislation in your jurisdiction? (HIPAA for the United States and PIPEDA for Canada)
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- Keep in mind that for certain Canadian provinces, different PHI legislation is enforced over PIPEDA. Find more information about that here.
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- Is it compliant with the PHI legislation in your jurisdiction? (HIPAA for the United States and PIPEDA for Canada)
Let’s look at some of the popular EMR platforms in more detail.
Nutrium
Features:
Nutrium is a unique telehealth platform for dietitians in that it includes BOTH the functionality of client management (booking, payment processing, storing client medical records, etc.), but it also acts as a meal planning and nutrient analysis tool as well. So instead of purchasing a separate app to analyze your client’s intake, you can do it all in one place.
Plus, you can customize the program if you work with specific populations (like pediatrics or pregnancy) to reflect the nutrient needs of that group. Once you input the clients intake, it will let you know where their diet may be lacking depending on the specific life stage. Then, you can create meal plans for your client by choosing foods from 15 food composition databases and Nutrium will calculate the plan’s nutrient values. This is such an awesome feature given the fact that you don’t have to pay for a separate nutrition analysis software like Esha, Eat Love or That Clean Life.
Nutrium also allows you to develop a website and blog through their platform to keep absolutely everything in one place. This is another feature not offered by other platforms. Although Nutrium doesn’t have a built-in video calling platform, you can easily integrate your preferred platform, like Zoom, Skype or Google Hangouts to conduct virtual sessions.
Price:
Nutrium’s pricing plan depends on your client volume. They have a great 14-day free trial which allows you to play around with the platform and test it out before you buy. It continues to be free if you have 1 new client per month.
*Prices are listed per month, but a yearly discounted rate is also available
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- 14 day free-trial
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- 1 new client per month = Free
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- Up to 10 = starting at $28 USD / the equivalent of about ~$35 CAD per month
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- Up to 25 = starting at $44.80 USD / the equivalent of about ~$56 CAD per month
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- Up to 75 = starting at $61.60 USD / the equivalent of about ~$77 CAD per month
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- > 75 = starting at $78.40 USD / the equivalent of about ~$99 CAD per month
Compliance:
Nutrium is HIPAA compliant, so it is a great option for dietitians in the US. However, it is not yet compliant with PIPEDA in Canada, although this is something that they are working on, so should be available soon!
Overall:
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- Appointment booking and scheduling
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- Client health record storage
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- Can create packages
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- Nutritional analysis and meal planning
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- Smartphone app
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- Payment processing capability
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- Video calling integration
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- Client communication
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- Free trial
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- HIPAA compliance
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- Affiliate program so you can earn a commission by sharing with colleagues
Practice Better
Features:
Practice Better includes everything mentioned above for Nutrium, however it does not have the meal planning or nutrient analysis capability. Practice Better also offers a few unique features. For example, they actually have a supplement database so you can retrieve information related to common supplement brands. They are also integrated with Fullscript if you recommend supplements often.
Practice Better also contains templates for 24-hour recall, client intake forms, 3-day food records and some client forms and waivers. However, we do still recommend that you get your client forms developed by a lawyer. Click here for US client forms and here for Canadian client forms.
They also have a fully integrated video calling system, so you can actually run your virtual sessions right through the platform, and have the option to record them if you’d like.
For booking, you also have the option to create packages that clients can purchase directly through the site and it allows you to create a “discovery call” option for clients to have the opportunity to chat with you before booking.
Pricing:
*Prices are listed per month, but a yearly discounted rate is also available
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- Free up to 3 clients (but does not include telehealth capability)
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- Up to 10 clients = $19 CAD / the equivalent of about ~$15 USD per month
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- Up to 200 clients = $49 CAD / the equivalent of about ~$39 USD per month
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- Unlimited clients, up to 3 users = $79 CAD / the equivalent of about ~$63 USD per month
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- Unlimited clients, up to 20 users = $135 CAD / the equivalent of about ~$107 USD per month
Compliance:
Practice Better is compliant with HIPAA for US dietitians and nutritionists, and PIPEDA for Canadian dietitians and nutritionists (check for provincial-specific compliance by Googling “[your provincial privacy legislation] Practice Better compliance”).
Overall:
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- Appointment booking and scheduling
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- Client health record storage
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- Can create packages and discovery calls
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- Smartphone app
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- Payment processing capability
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- Video calling
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- Client communication
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- Free trial
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- HIPAA, PIPEDA compliance
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- Affiliate program so you can earn a commission by sharing with colleagues
Healthie
Features:
One of the differentiators between Healthie vs. Practice Better and other telehealth platform for dietitians is that they were built to scale as your business grows. Healthie works with large organizations and so they have the capability to offer unique benefits for group practices, health systems and organizations. For example, you can actually build an online course within the platform, instead of having to use a third-party online course host like Teachable or Kajabi (however you have to purchase the Practice Plus membership to get access to this capability).
As with the other platforms, Healthie allows you to manage client bookings, chart, review food journals within the platform, communicate with clients and process payments. However, it does not have the nutritional analysis component like Nutrium.
Another differentiator is that they actually allow for direct billing with insurance companies for both US and Canadian dietitians. So if you take on a lot of insurance clients and direct bill for dietitian services, this might be a more efficient option for you.
Pricing:
*Prices are listed per month, but a yearly discounted rate is also available
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- Free 14 day trial
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- Beginnings – Up to 5 clients = $29 USD / the equivalent of about ~$36 CAD per month (does not include Superbilling)
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- Small Practice – Unlimited clients = $79 USD / the equivalent of about ~$99 CAD per month (does not include telehealth integration or online course)
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- Practice Plus – Unlimited clients = $115 USD / the equivalent of about the equivalent of about~$145 CAD per month
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- Group Practice – Unlimited clients = $135+ USD / the equivalent of about ~$170 CAD per month (allows for multiple providers)
Compliance:
Healthie is compliant with HIPAA for US dietitians and nutritionists, and PIPEDA for Canadian dietitians and nutritionists (check for provincial-specific compliance by Googling “[your provincial privacy legislation] Healthie compliance”).
Overall:
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- Appointment booking and scheduling
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- Client health record storage
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- Can do packages, group workshops and online courses (only in upgraded memberships)
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- Smartphone app
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- Payment processing capability
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- Direct billing for both Canada and the US
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- Video calling (only in upgraded memberships)
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- Client communication
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- Free trial
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- HIPAA, PIPEDA compliance
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- Affiliate program, however it credits your Healthie account so is not paid out in cash
Kalix
Features:
Kalix is fairly comparable to Practice Better in terms of functionality. They offer appointments and scheduling, direct billing (similar to Healthie), telehealth, fullscript integration and client messaging. They also include a collection of templates for client forms that you can customize for your practice.
Pricing:
Kalix offers a 30-day free trial and their pricing is quite simple compared to some of the other platforms.
*Prices are listed per month, but a yearly discounted rate is also available
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- Free 30 day trial
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- Standard = $27 USD per month (unlimited clients but does not include telehealth) / the equivalent of about ~$34 CAD per month
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- Virtual Practice = $47 USD per month (unlimited clients and telehealth) / the equivalent of about ~$59 CAD per month
Compliance:
Kalix is compliant with HIPAA for US dietitians and nutritionists, and PIPEDA for Canadian dietitians and nutritionists (check for provincial-specific compliance by Googling “[your provincial privacy legislation] Kalix compliance”).
Overall:
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- Appointment booking and scheduling
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- Client health record storage
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- Direct billing
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- Smartphone app
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- Payment processing capability
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- Video calling
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- Client communication
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- Free trial
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- HIPAA, PIPEDA compliance
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- Templates of client forms
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- Fullscript integration
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- Affiliate program so you can earn a commission by sharing with colleagues
Jane.app
Function:
Jane.app is quite comparable to Healthie. They have direct billing capability, online scheduling and booking, telehealth appointments and charting. However, it appears from their website as though they are moreso designed for larger clinics vs. solo practitioners as their base plan starts at $74 USD per month (which does not include direct billing).
Another unique feature of Jane.app is that you can customize the look and feel of your booking page to match your business branding to allow for a streamlined user experience.
Pricing:
*Prices are listed per month, but a yearly discounted rate is also available
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- Base Plan = $74 USD per month (does not include direct billing) / the equivalent of about ~$93 CAD per month
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- Insurance Plan = $99 USD per month / the equivalent of about ~$124 CAD per month
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- Corporate Plan = $369 USD per month (for multiple practitioners) / the equivalent of about ~$463 CAD per month
Compliance:
Jane.app is compliant with HIPAA for US dietitians and nutritionists, and PIPEDA for Canadian dietitians and nutritionists (check for provincial-specific compliance by Googling “[your provincial privacy legislation] Jane.app compliance”).
Overall:
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- Appointment booking and scheduling
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- Client health record storage
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- Direct billing
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- Smartphone app
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- Payment processing capability
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- Video calling
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- Client communication
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- HIPAA, PIPEDA compliance
Which platform is best based on where you’re at in your business?
New to your business:
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- Nutrium is a great option for US dietitians who are just getting started. It is reasonably priced, and it also has the nutrient analysis option. This way, you don’t have to spend extra money on a separate software and you can keep everything in one place! Plus, their payment plans increase as your business increases.
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- Practice Better is a great option for Canadian dietitians or nutritionists who are just getting started, since they are PIPEDA compliant and prices increase as your client load increases.
Looking to expand your business with other practitioners or do a lot of direct billing:
- If you’re at this stage, we recommend Jane.app or Healthie. These platforms were built to be able to scale with you and have payment plans available for multiple practitioners. Plus, they have built-in direct billing for insurance, so offer a more efficient option for a larger client load.
Prefer to listen as a podcast? Check out the episode here.
Dietitian Success Center is THE professional development resource for dietitians and dietetic students. Our mission is to make it easier for dietitians and dietetic students to build expertise. We do this through evidence based online nutrition courses, community and ready-to-use client handouts. Plus – we give you the tools to start and grow your dietitian private practice!
Check out our membership options here.
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