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EHR import

Moving your practice over? Upload the export from your previous EHR at Settings → EHR Import and we bring your clients, their notes and documents, and their past appointments into Practice Harbor. A person on our team runs every import and emails you when your clients are in, usually within 1–3 business days.

The EHR Import page with the Select Your EHR dropdown

In this guide, we'll cover:

What comes over​

Comes overWhere you'll find it
Every client, with contact details and date of birthClients list
Active, inactive and prospective statusClients list filters; prospective clients land in Inquiries
Emergency contactsThe client's profile, under contacts
Insurance (payer, member ID)The client's Insurance section
Progress notes, with session date, diagnosis and service codeThe client's Notes
Treatment plans and diagnosesThe client's chart
Completed intake forms, signed consents, questionnaires, uploaded documentsThe client's Files tab, as PDFs
Past appointments, with attended / canceled / no-showThe client's appointment history and your calendar
Doesn't come overWhat to do
Future appointmentsRe-enter them. We send you a list of each client's next appointment to work from
Cards on fileClients add a card again through intake or their portal
Balances, payments and open claimsFinish open claims in your old system, or record payments here by hand
Billing documents: claims, invoices, statements and superbillsKeep your export from your old system as your billing record. They aren't added to your clients' Files tabs, so those stay focused on clinical records
Your blank forms and templatesSet them up once at Settings → Shareable Documents (see Intake forms)

Moving from SimplePractice​

You'll download three files from SimplePractice: one data export and two reports. Set aside about five minutes, plus the wait while SimplePractice prepares the data export.

Exports expire after a week

SimplePractice permanently removes an export a week after it's made. Download yours once it's ready, and add it here soon after.

Your computer opened the report in Excel or Numbers?

That's fine. Add the file that program saved. Reports are accepted as CSV, Excel (.xlsx or .xls) and Apple Numbers (.numbers) files, and you don't need to convert or rename anything.

Don't see the checklist on your import page?

The report upload is being switched on practice by practice. If your import page asks only for a .zip file, email support@practiceharbor.com and we'll turn it on for you. The .zip alone still imports your clients, notes, documents and past visits; the reports add statuses, emergency contacts and demographics.

1. The data export (required)​

In SimplePractice, go to Settings → Data export and start an export.

  1. Choose All clients in the practice.

    Choosing All clients in the practice when starting the export

  2. Choose Complete, and leave "Include separated data" on. A password is optional; if you set one, keep it handy for the upload.

    Choosing the Complete export

  3. SimplePractice emails you when the export is ready. Download the .zip from Recent exports. Don't unzip it.

    The finished export, ready for download

2. Client details report​

Go to Analytics → Reports → Client details.

  1. Open the status filter and tick Active, Inactive, Prospective and Archived. The report starts with Active only, which would leave everyone else marked active after the import.

    The Client details status filter with all four statuses ticked

  2. Open More and turn on Include Contacts. This is where emergency contacts come from.

    Turning on Include Contacts

  3. Open Manage report and choose Download CSV (Excel works too).

    Downloading the Client details report

3. Client demographics report​

Go to Analytics → Reports → Client demographics and click Export. This report carries date of birth, sex, gender identity, race, relationship status, employment and preferred language. It's available on SimplePractice's Essential and Plus plans; if you don't have it, skip it.

The Client demographics report with the Export button

Uploading your files​

Go to Settings → EHR Import and choose SimplePractice. The page walks you through it one step at a time, in the order that wastes the least waiting:

  1. Start the data export in SimplePractice. It takes a while to prepare, so you start it first.
  2. Collect the two reports while it's being prepared. Each step shows the same pictures as this guide, has a button that opens the right SimplePractice page, and has a spot for that report. When you add the file, the page moves to the next step.
  3. Download the .zip once SimplePractice emails you that it's ready, and add it. If you set a password on the export, type it in on the same step.
  4. Review and submit. The last step lists what you added and what each missing report leaves out. Click Submit securely.

If your data export isn't ready yet​

You don't have to wait for it. On the last step, click Send my reports now. We store your reports and email you a receipt that lists them.

When SimplePractice emails you that the export is ready, come back to Settings → EHR Import. The page shows the reports we already have, so you only add the .zip and click Submit securely. If you add a report again, the new file replaces the one we stored.

The import starts once the data export is in. The reports on their own can't be imported, because the export is what holds your clients' notes and documents.

A few things that make it easier:

  • You don't need to rename anything. Each report is recognized by its contents. If you add a report on the wrong step, it's saved under the right one and the page tells you. If the page can't tell which report a file is, it keeps the file on the step where you added it and sends it with the rest; our team sorts it out during the import.
  • The page checks your Client details report. If it was downloaded without contacts, or with only Active clients, you'll see a note so you can download it again before you submit.
  • You can skip a report. The page tells you what skipping leaves out, and you can come back to the step before you submit.
  • Already have all three files? Click I already have all my files to add them all at once.
  • Files are held in your browser until you send them. Reloading the page before you submit, or before you send your reports, means adding them again.
Prefer to email your files?

That works too. Send them to support@practiceharbor.com and we'll take it from there. If your export has a password, send the password along in a separate email. Two things to know: a full export is often too large for email (most providers stop at about 25 MB), and the upload page keeps your .zip and reports together, so uploading is usually the easier route.

What happens next​

  1. You get an email confirming we received your files.
  2. We check your files against each other before anything is created: every client folder is matched to its row in your reports, and a name alone is never enough to match two records. Clients who share a name are told apart by date of birth, email or phone.
  3. We run the import and email you when your clients are in, within 1–3 business days.

After the import​

When the import has run, Settings → EHR Import shows Your import is in — take a look before we call it done, with one row per client. Click a client to see what your export said beside what is now on their chart: status, contact details, clinician, insurance, notes, past visits and files. A row marked worth a look has at least one difference; Worth a look only narrows the list to those, and Find a client searches by name. When it looks right, click Looks good — finish import. If it doesn't, email us before you start charting; the import can be undone.

  • Spot-check a few clients you know well: status, contact details, a recent note, a document.
  • Review insurance. Imported insurance lands as the primary policy with the client as the policyholder. Secondary policies and policies held by a parent need a quick look.
  • Re-enter future appointments from the list we send you.
  • Past appointments are history only. They show what happened and when. They don't send reminders, create invoices or claims, or sync to a connected calendar.
  • Past visits come from your signed notes. Each signed progress note brings in its visit, with the session's date, time and service code. A note that doesn't state a time is placed at 9:00 AM. Canceled visits and no-shows are not brought over.
  • Couples and families are imported after individual clients, so shared records land on profiles that already exist.

Something look wrong? Email support@practiceharbor.com before you start charting on the imported clients. An import can be undone and run again.

Moving from Sessions Health or another EHR​

Sessions Health — in Sessions Health go to Account Settings → Data Exports, click + Add, and generate an All Clients export with the "combined" option unchecked. Upload the .zip at Settings → EHR Import with Sessions Health selected. When the import is ready you review each client side by side and confirm.

Headway — in Headway, open Settings → Export records, pick the clients and the record types you want, and start the export. Headway emails you when it's ready; download the .zip from the same page and upload it as it is at Settings → EHR Import with Headway selected. Each client comes over with their contact details and emergency contact, signed session notes (dated at the session, with the service code and diagnosis), treatment plans (as drafts for you to review and sign), scored measures such as the PHQ-9 and GAD-7, and signed forms, all with the original PDFs on the Files tab.

TherapyNotes, My Clients Plus, TheraNest, Jane, IntakeQ, Owl Practice, ICANotes, Valant or another EHR — at Settings → EHR Import, pick your system (or Another EHR if it isn't listed and type its name) and upload what it can export. Many practices bring over just their client list:

  • Client list — a spreadsheet (Excel or CSV).
    • TherapyNotes: click Patients, list all your patients (active and inactive), and export the list to Excel.
    • My Clients Plus and TheraNest: go to Organization → Export Data and click Export All Clients.
  • Notes (optional) — as PDFs. One file per client is fine; put the client's name in the file name.
    • TherapyNotes: open a patient, go to the Documents tab and click Download Multiple.
    • My Clients Plus and TheraNest: open a client's profile, click Reports → Notes History → Print Notes History for All Cases and save it as a PDF.

Spreadsheets, PDFs, Word files, images and .zip files are accepted, up to 500 files. We import it for you and confirm when your clients are in. Upcoming appointments are easiest to add in Practice Harbor directly. You can also email your files to support@practiceharbor.com.