How can a counseling or mental health practice handle intake forms and client records online?
Last updated . Healthcare plan with a signed BAA. From $199 a month per practice. General information, not legal advice.
A counseling practice can send intake forms, consents and policies as links clients complete on a phone, keep each client's documents in one record, and see what is missing, as long as the vendor signs a BAA. GetDocsSigned's Healthcare plan does that beside your EHR, priced per practice rather than per clinician: from $199 a month per practice, with unlimited staff users.
What should a counseling practice read first?
Guides for counseling and behavioral health
Which forms to collect before a first session, what an audit looks for, and when per-clinician pricing stops making sense.
- Private Practice Therapy Forms: Which Forms a Counselor Needs Before the First Session, and WhyCounselors, psychotherapists, and LCSWs in private practice need up to a dozen forms before seeing a client. Here's what each one is for, which ones the law requires, and which ones protect you.
- Compliance Documentation for Mental Health Practices: How Small Clinics Stay Audit-Ready Without Enterprise SoftwareCommunity mental health centers and behavioral health practices face mounting compliance demands. Here's how to organize treatment plans, consent forms, and audit documentation without expensive practice management software.
- Documentation Requirements for Substance Abuse Treatment Programs: A Digital Operations GuideSubstance abuse treatment centers face some of the heaviest documentation requirements in behavioral health. Here's how to organize intake, consent, treatment plans, and compliance tracking without enterprise software.
- SimplePractice Alternatives for Group Practices: When Per-Provider Pricing Stops Making SenseSimplePractice is great for solo therapists. For group practices with 5-20 providers, per-provider pricing adds up fast. Here's when splitting intake and patient records out of the EHR saves money, and when it doesn't.
What does a five-clinician group pay?
GetDocsSigned is not an EHR, so this is not a like-for-like swap. The difference matters when a group pays per clinician for intake and records it could run per practice. SimplePractice price checked on its pricing page on 2026-10-24.
| SimplePractice Plus | GetDocsSigned Healthcare plan | |
|---|---|---|
| A month, 5 clinicians | $395 ($99 plus $74 for each extra clinician) | From $199 a month per practice. |
| How the price grows | Per clinician | Per practice, unlimited staff users |
| Clinical notes, scheduling, insurance claims | Yes | No, keep your EHR for these |
Which parts of GetDocsSigned can hold client information?
The BAA is signed before any client information goes in, and covers only Healthcare accounts. The full terms and how to get a copy are on the BAA page.
| Covered by our BAA | Not covered, never use for client information |
|---|---|
| Healthcare forms and their submissions, including signature and initials fields inside them | E-signature envelopes and their signed documents |
| Patient records and files | Document packets |
| Fax: sending, inbox, and matching faxes to orders | Payments |
| Physician order and authorization tracker | The AI form builder (use blank templates only) |
| Every regular or free GetDocsSigned account |
Questions practices ask
Can a counseling practice use GetDocsSigned for client intake?
Yes, on a Healthcare account, which we set up with a signed BAA before any client information goes in. Regular and free GetDocsSigned accounts are not covered by a BAA and must not be used for client health information.
Does GetDocsSigned replace SimplePractice or another EHR?
No. It has no clinical notes, scheduling or insurance claims. It handles intake forms, client records, fax and order tracking, and runs beside the EHR you keep.
Is it priced per clinician?
No. The Healthcare plan is priced per practice and includes unlimited staff users, so adding a clinician does not change the price.
Do notification emails include client information?
No. Notification emails never contain patient or client information; staff sign in to see it.
Can we send treatment documents as separate e-signature envelopes?
Not with client information. Signature and initials fields inside healthcare forms are covered by the BAA; separate e-signature envelopes and document packets are not, so don't send client information through them.
How much does it cost?
Healthcare accounts start at $199 a month per practice, with unlimited staff users. That includes the BAA and setting up your forms from your blank PDFs. Practices with several locations get a quote.
See it with your own intake forms
Healthcare accounts start at $199 a month per practice, with unlimited staff users. That includes the BAA and setting up your forms from your blank PDFs. Practices with several locations get a quote.
Please don't put patient information in a regular or free account. General information, not legal advice: your practice still needs its own HIPAA risk analysis and policies. See what makes an online form HIPAA compliant.