If you need to communicate with your patients outside of their sessions, you should be using a secure messaging platform. However, with a sea of options promoting security features and various additional features, what are the top secure messaging platforms for therapists? These seven offer peace of mind and efficiency for therapists and their clients.
1. Owl Practice
Owl Practice is a leading management software for mental health practices, built to comply with Canadian privacy laws. Its website states that it is Canada’s most secure platform, so you know you’re getting the security you need. Its ease of use helps you and other staff members avoid becoming insider threats, while the one-on-one onboarding and support assist in learning.
Its secure messaging offers read receipts so you know when a client has seen your message. The system also makes it easy to loop in other members of their care team, administrators and family members. Owl Practice encrypts every message you send, so you and your patient can discuss sensitive topics or share files without worry. Its commitment to confidentiality and streamlining make it rank among the top secure messaging platforms for therapists.
Key Features
- 14-day free trial with no payment required
- One-on-one onboarding
- Calendar management, note-taking, billing and video options
2. Klara
Klara boasts an 84% utilization rate, which is 27 percentage points higher than the rate for patient portals. It can automatically route client messages to staff, create shared inboxes and tag in the necessary people to streamline collaboration. The platform also allows therapists to connect with labs, pharmacies and more providers with less delay.
Read receipts allow both parties to know when the other has seen their message, while automated touchpoints enable quick scheduling adjustments. You can also turn your practice’s main phone line into a texting line or use one Klara provides. Big names like GE and Athena Health trust this platform to secure their communications.
Key Features
- A free demo so you can test without commitment
- Rated Best Est. ROI, Grid Leader, Momentum Leader and Users Most Likely To Recommend by G2
- Options for every step of the patient journey
3. OhMD
More than 1,200 practices trust OhMD to help manage their inbound calls. It offers artificial intelligence (AI)-powered conversations to answer simple questions, as well as streamlines handoffs to human team members for more complex answers. This ease of communication helps avoid phone tag and enables a 4% increase in patients.
Additionally, staff could answer up to 68% fewer phone calls, meaning you can spend more time on critical tasks. You may also increase savings by 65% by enabling scheduling around the clock, as well as reduce Short Message Service expenses by 50% through Special Delivery — its two-way texting solution that complies with health care and messaging regulations.
Key Features
- Easy scheduling with automated responses
- Ability to transfer a client to the appropriate staff member, increasing client satisfaction
- More than 85 electronic health record (EHR) integrations
4. SimplePractice
SimplePractice offers a 30-day free trial with no credit card required, allowing you to test it thoroughly and see how it works in your practice. If you decide to proceed, you can pick your preferred payment plan and customize it with various add-ons. The up-front pricing avoids surprises for clearer budgeting.
This option utilizes encryption to keep sensitive information safe from prying eyes so your practice complies with essential requirements. You can also easily send announcements to all or some of your patients and automate replies when you’re out of the office. SimplePractice’s Client Portal enables scheduling and communication from any phone or computer.
Key Features
- Trusted by more than 250,000 practitioners
- Choice of phone, text or email messaging per patient
- EHR integration enables clients to confirm and cancel appointments via messaging
5. TherapyNotes
While TherapyNotes describes itself as the most trusted EHR for behavioural health, it is also one of the top options for secure patient messaging. It offers a central place to communicate with other therapists and all your clients and includes topics to keep these conversations organized. The secure messaging also meets the necessities of major security regulations.
Therapists and patients can message each other on mobile through the TherapyNotes and TherapyPortal apps, respectively. Doing so creates a more streamlined and accessible experience, while custom email notifications ensure you never miss a completed payment or important question. Access management enables decision-makers to toggle access to clinical, administrative and billing communications.
Key Features
- Ability to notify staff of arrivals, billing, scheduling, and equipment and room availability in individual or group messages
- 30-day free trial with no payment necessary
- Praise for its support team’s efficiency and helpfulness
What Are the Top Secure Messaging Platforms for Therapists? The Methodology Behind the Choices
The options featured in this list were selected based on the security features they offered, ease of use and reputation. While it was important to compare the protections they used to keep messages out of hackers’ hands, ease of use helps ensure people follow the recommended security protocols, and positive reviews are good indicators of your possible satisfaction.
Why Are Secure Messaging Platforms Important for Therapists?
Threat actors love targeting health care software because it contains a wealth of personally identifiable information, which could put clients at risk if they gain access. These attacks have been on a steady upward trend since 2011, with 725 reported to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in 2023 alone. While that may not sound like many, over 133 million records were exposed in those attacks.
The impacts of even a single attack are broad, and they take a while to recover from. In December of 2024, the OCR listed that there were 882 breaches still under investigation. During such significant downtime, clients will likely lose trust in the care provider, especially if they can’t offer an answer for how many of their records were stolen or how the attack started.
For these reasons, secure messaging platforms are critical for therapists. Patients express some of their most personal thoughts in your care, so you owe it to them to use the most protected options possible. Considering that one of the most common reasons people avoid using telemedicine is the security of their data, increased protection could also lead to increased usage and retention.
Adopting the Top Secure Messaging Platforms for Therapists
The best messaging platform for your practice is one that integrates easily into your workflow and offers top-tier digital protection. Using a solution that prioritizes both efficiency and security can help your patients feel even more confident sharing their thoughts and personal information with you. Explore the options listed here to narrow down your search.
