Best Software for Mental Health Group Practices (2026)
How to choose software for a mental health group practice: audit-ready DAP/BIRP notes, supervision, group billing, telehealth, and secure messaging.
The best software for a mental health group practice keeps every clinician on one client record and covers the group's core jobs: documentation that survives an audit, supervisor review and co-signing, group and roster billing, telehealth, and secure client messaging. Ona is an AI-native, all-in-one practice management platform built to do all of this on a single record.
Quick answer:
- A mental health group practice needs one shared record where supervisors can review and co-sign supervisee notes, and where DAP (Data, Assessment, Plan) and BIRP (Behavior, Intervention, Response, Plan) templates, group billing, telehealth, and secure messaging all connect.
- Dedicated behavioral-health platforms such as TherapyNotes, SimplePractice, TheraNest, and Valant cover these jobs well. Verify current features and pricing on each vendor's own site.
- Ona brings documentation, consents, telehealth, and billing onto one record, with an AI receptionist that answers every call, so a growing group runs the whole practice in one place.
What a mental health group practice needs from its software
A group practice is not just a bigger solo practice. Once you add supervisees, a front desk, a biller, and a shared caseload, the software has to coordinate people, not only visits. Behavioral-health groups weigh five recurring needs:
- Documentation that holds up under review. Mental-health parity enforcement and prior authorization (prior auth) scrutiny mean notes get read outside the room, so templates and audit trails have to be ready.
- Supervision and co-signing. Associates, interns, and pre-licensed clinicians need a supervisor to review and co-sign their notes before those notes are final and billable.
- Group and roster billing. Invoices, insurance claims, and payments have to work across a roster of clinicians, not one calendar.
- Telehealth. A large share of behavioral-health visits are virtual, so video should live where the chart lives.
- Secure client and team messaging. Clients message the practice between sessions, and clinicians message each other about shared cases, all under one compliance umbrella.
Ona's behavioral-health page frames it in one line: notes that hold up when the auditor calls.
Documentation that survives an audit
Behavioral-health notes have their own formats. DAP (Data, Assessment, Plan) and BIRP (Behavior, Intervention, Response, Plan) are the two most common structures for a therapy or psychiatry note, alongside SOAP. The dedicated platforms handle this well: TheraNest (now Ensora Health) and Valant ship behavioral-health note templates, and TherapyNotes is built for the field.
Ona's automated charting supports SOAP, DAP, BIRP, a functional-medicine timeline, custom, and freeform templates. Placeholder fields pull patient and consultation data into the right slots, and drafts can come from an ambient recording, intake answers, or dictation. The audit part matters most for a group: every draft lands in a review state, and nothing leaves the chart until a clinician explicitly signs. Every recording, draft, and signature is timestamped with author, device, and IP address, and Ona states it never trains AI models on your recordings. See the behavioral-health documentation software guide for how audit-ready notes are built.
Supervision and co-signing
This is the feature that separates group software from solo software. When a supervisee finishes a note, a supervisor has to review and sign it before it can be billed under their credentials. TherapyNotes is well regarded here, generating a to-do item for the supervisor to co-sign, and Valant lets supervisors review and give feedback on supervisee documentation.
Ona handles the same job with co-signature routing on notes, so a supervising clinician reviews and signs before the note is final. Because every draft and signature carries timestamped author, device, and IP data, a group gets a defensible record of who wrote what and who signed off. Confirm the exact co-signing rules your state and payers require during onboarding, since supervision requirements vary.
Group and roster billing, and insurance
Group billing has to work across many clinicians and payers at once, and most behavioral-health platforms include it. The real question is whether billing sits on the same record as the note.
In Ona, billing generates itemized invoices straight from the signed note, and insurance adds real-time eligibility checks that show coverage, co-pay, deductible, and out-of-pocket maximum on the client record before the visit. Claims generate from the note into a pre-filled CMS-1500 insurance claim form and submit through an integrated clearinghouse, with a status pipeline and denial queue. Medicare and Medicaid are supported, and per-provider revenue splits matter when a roster shares one practice. Payments run on Stripe at pass-through rates, so Ona takes no cut of your collections.
Telehealth and secure messaging
Telehealth is standard in behavioral health. TheraNest, SimplePractice, and Valant all offer built-in video, and some support group sessions. Ona's telehealth is encrypted, browser-based video built into the chart: patients join from an emailed link with no app install, there is a waiting room with pre-flight checks, and audio recording is consent-gated and feeds the scribe. One honest caveat: Ona's telehealth is 1:1 today and does not ship group visits, so a practice running group therapy over video should confirm that need elsewhere.
For messaging, Ona's omnichannel inbox is one HIPAA-grade (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) thread for staff channels and per-client conversations, pinned to the chart with a full audit trail. Ona is clear that it does not detect crises from message content, so secure messaging is not a substitute for a crisis line or on-call protocol.
How the main platforms compare
The table below maps the core group jobs to how Ona handles each one, and where dedicated behavioral-health tools cover the same ground. Confirm current features and pricing on each vendor's site.
| Group behavioral-health need | In Ona | Dedicated behavioral-health tools |
|---|---|---|
| Audit-ready DAP/BIRP notes | SOAP, DAP, BIRP, custom, and freeform templates; every AI draft needs clinician review and signature | TherapyNotes, TheraNest, Valant, and SimplePractice offer behavioral-health note templates |
| Supervisor review and co-signing | Co-signature routing so a supervisor signs before the note is final, with timestamped audit data | TherapyNotes and Valant support supervisee review and co-signing workflows |
| Group and roster billing, insurance | Invoices from the signed note, CMS-1500 claims, real-time eligibility, per-provider revenue splits | Most behavioral-health platforms include group billing and claims |
| Telehealth | Encrypted browser video built into the chart; 1:1 visits today, not group video | SimplePractice, TheraNest, and Valant include telehealth; some offer group sessions |
| Secure client and team messaging | One HIPAA-grade inbox for staff channels and per-client threads, pinned to the chart | TherapyNotes, SimplePractice, and TheraNest offer client portals and secure messaging |
| One record across the group | CRM (customer relationship management), EHR (electronic health record), and RCM (revenue cycle management) on one client record | Varies by platform; confirm scope on the vendor's site |
| Never miss a new-client call | AI receptionist answers 24/7, books on the live calendar, and logs the call to the chart | Not a standard behavioral-health EHR feature; verify per vendor |
Where Ona fits for a group
The dedicated platforms are strong, specialized tools, and for a group that only needs notes, billing, and scheduling, any of them can be a good fit. Ona's difference is scope on one record: instead of stitching an EHR to a separate CRM and a separate RCM billing tool, it keeps intake, consents, notes, telehealth, messaging, insurance, and billing on the same client record, so a supervisor, a clinician, and a biller all see one source of truth.
The standout for a growing group is the AI receptionist, which answers every call 24/7, books on the live calendar, escalates urgent or sensitive calls to a human, and writes the call to the chart. Sensitive flows such as mental-health distress bypass the agent and ring a human. Every feature is on every plan, so a group is never forced up a tier to unlock what it needs.
Next step
The fastest way to judge fit is to see the shared record, co-signing, and billing running together. Book a 15-min walkthrough with no obligation and bring your real supervision and billing scenarios. You can also start the 14-day free trial with full access and no credit card required, and if you move, Ona migrates your data at no cost, typically within one business day.
FAQ
What is the best software for a mental health group practice?
The best software for a mental health group practice keeps every clinician on one shared client record and covers audit-ready documentation, supervisor review and co-signing, group billing, telehealth, and secure messaging. Dedicated behavioral-health platforms like TherapyNotes, SimplePractice, TheraNest, and Valant do this well. Ona brings all of it onto one record and adds an AI receptionist that answers every call.
Does Ona support DAP and BIRP notes for behavioral health?
Yes. Ona's note templates support SOAP, DAP (Data, Assessment, Plan), BIRP (Behavior, Intervention, Response, Plan), functional-medicine timeline, custom, and freeform formats. Placeholder fields auto-fill patient and consultation data, and every AI-drafted note lands in a review state, so nothing leaves the chart until a clinician reviews and signs it.
Can supervisors co-sign supervisee notes in Ona?
Yes. Ona routes co-signatures on notes, so a supervising clinician can review and sign a supervisee's note before it is final. Every recording, draft, and signature is timestamped with the author, device, and IP address, which gives a group a clean audit trail for supervised work.
How much does Ona cost for a group practice?
Ona uses transparent per-seat pricing, with every feature on every plan. The pricing calculator on ona.health shows 2 practitioner seats plus 1 staff seat at $305 per month (about $130 per practitioner seat, $45 per staff seat). The AI receptionist is a $499 per month add-on that includes 1,500 minutes. Practices with 5 or more practitioners get a tailored plan. There is a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.
Can I switch my group from another behavioral-health EHR?
Yes. Whatever electronic health record or practice management tool your group uses now, Ona helps you export and import your data at no cost, typically within one business day. You can try Ona free for 14 days before you decide to switch.
Written by
Ona Health team