How we arrived at Free
(and why you can believe it).

On that latter point, one issue led the pack: Costs.

Working with thin margins, therapists told us that financial pressure is a constant. Practice management and EHR costs can act as speed bumps to growth if not be a barrier to care altogether. For new therapists, technology costs sometimes delay entry into the field. We heard other therapists talk about MacGyver-like workarounds, mixing and matching tools and technology to make ends meet, even at the risk of HIPAA compliance and data security. 

The drivers

Compared to other industries, pricing for practice management technology is driven by an inordinate number of considerations.

• Features
• Production costs
• Demand
• Competition
• Perceived value
• Profit margin goals
• Distribution channels
• Security level
• Design execution
• Values

There’s more. The economy comes with its own bag of drivers, such as inflation, supply chain interruptions, geopolitics, and the possible impacts of tariffs. As the costs of living rise for employees, technology companies may need to raise prices simply to keep paying living wages. 

Nevertheless, it’s clear to us that costs are as important as any other feature we consider within our design solution — be they siloed platforms, migration complexities, or hundreds of other features. In fact, we could argue that cost is the most important consideration given that any technology, no matter how whiz-bang, is useless if it’s unaffordable.

So how did we get to a free price point?

At the start of our pricing exploration, we found ourselves working with a significantly different set of pricing considerations, with only three main drivers.

1. Smart, efficient design
   Efficiency in practice management and EHR design has been, for many years, there for the taking. So why have efficient systems been so elusive in practice management technology? Well, smartly designed systems with built-in efficiencies that actually solve problems might take longer to develop, while ultimately being less expensive to sell and operate. That means a bigger upfront investment with a lesser return. Big (often venture-owned) tech giants can’t have that. Venture-owned systems are beset with aggressive growth metrics and are priced to squeeze short-term profits from practices. It’s all about speedy profit; efficiently designed technology is the farthest thing from their business model.
2. Independence
   As an independent org, our motivations and values are different. And so is our level of transparency. While we do need to operate a responsible business, profit isn’t our motivation. Rather, we’re driven by the need to fix broken healthcare technology so prevalent in the sector. To do that, we must hold on to our values and lean into the needs of patients and providers, not profiteers. We see independence as an advantage to that end. Without a larger entity or enterprise to answer to, we have the freedom and flexibility to set priorities and pricing our way. And, unlike venture-controlled systems, we’re taking our own sweet time to do this right. We believe that the high value of our technology shouldn’t come at the expense of the therapists or of care.
   
3. The right canvas
   Priorities aside, and as any entrepreneur will tell you, you’ve got to have a solid business model canvas (BMC) to act as a guide to your startup. (We like the BMC approach for its agility and openness throughout a product or service lifecycle.) Our BMC helped us see where efficiency and independence could make for great dancing partners. Key partnerships, customer relationships, and other elements of the canvas pushed the synergy further. We could also see that an integrated and free practice management and EHR platform was doable. Building with advanced technology (not unlike non-healthcare technology already in use) and efficient design, we can meet a broad range of repeatable EHR and practice management needs at little to no cost. In fact, the highest cost we would incur would be for the encrypted, high-quality, and HIPAA-compliant video. And we see some potential in making that more cost effective. What we didn’t see was the need to build in feature upcharges, nickel-and-dime add-ons, or silly fees. We could make this work without smoke and mirrors. In the interest of transparency, I will mention that pass-through charges from third parties for transactions and AMA CPT codes do apply.

One other thing appeared in the Cost Structure segment of our BMC, and it gave us a bit of a surprise: a pricing breakthrough. And it might well disrupt an industry (in a good way).

Quality top to bottom

With no compromises in quality or skimping on features, the roadmap was set for world-class, secure, and integrated practice management/EHR technology that also sets a new precedent for price. What’s more, therapists had an affordable and long-overdue alternative. 

We were practically giddy at the thought of giving startup practices the ability to open with little-to-no costs for practice management and EHR technology. 

We loved the idea that even the most established therapists will never pay more than $50 a month each for the MediSprout platform. That leaves more runway for practice growth.

We also couldn’t help but notice that our pricing, at most, still comes in at about half of what a therapist would pay for similar features on SimplePractice and many other platforms.

Keep asking questions

Our cost structure does raise eyebrows, not to mention a few questions. And it should. But we love providing the answers because it speaks to the heart of MediSprout, our values, why we’re doing this, and for whom. 

Our cost structure should also be raising questions for those over-priced platforms out there: Why do you charge so much? What’s influencing your cost structure? What values do you uphold? Why all the lack of transparency? Are you really interested in fixing healthcare?

All comers welcome

Our platform and cost structure are unique in the industry. To help fix healthcare technology, they have to be. 

We assume that other platforms will try to match our pricing. They will have a tougher time matching our efficient design and high-end quality. 

If they somehow can or do match us on both fronts, then I’m all for it. That would be a good thing for mental healthcare. 

Reach out anytime to chat more about this important topic. 

Dr. Samant Virk is the founder and CEO of MediSprout