JotPsych vs. Upheal - side by side comparison for psychiatry [2025]

Introduction

As a behavioral health clinician, your expertise is best applied to caring for your patients—not wrestling with paperwork. Thankfully, AI scribes promise to reduce documentation time so you can concentrate on delivering transformative care. Two top solutions in the AI scribe space, especially for mental health, are Upheal and JotPsych. At first glance, both leverage artificial intelligence to convert recorded sessions into comprehensive clinical notes. However, when you dig deeper, JotPsych emerges as the stronger solution, offering powerful customization, billing support, and a laser focus on behavioral health that genuinely elevates your practice. This blog post compares both platforms to help you make the most informed choice.

Why AI Scribes Matter

Clinical documentation can quickly become a burden for behavioral health professionals, with many reporting more than three hours a day spent on notes. By using AI scribes, you reclaim this time. Automatic note generation not only lightens the paperwork load but can also improve accuracy by systematically capturing the nuances of each session. This means a less stressful workday, lower risk of clinician burnout, and better care quality, since you can focus on the therapeutic relationship rather than your keyboard.

Comparison at a Glance

Below is a quick-reference table highlighting how each platform stacks up on key features that matter to behavioral health clinicians:

Feature	JotPsych	Upheal
Behavioral Health Focus	Yes, built exclusively for BH with medication & code integration	Yes, targets therapists & psych providers
Customization	Custom templates, AI-driven editing & learning	Custom templates, multiple note formats
Billing & Coding	Advanced: identifies ICD-10 & CPT codes automatically	Basic, future roadmap for auto codes
Patient Tracking	Rich clinical context, medication changes, follow-ups	Session analytics & insights
Integration Workflow	Copy-paste notes into any EHR, iOS app, Chrome extension	Browser extension, telehealth, scheduling
Data Security & HIPAA	HIPAA compliant, HITRUST, automatic PHI redaction	HIPAA compliant, SOC 2 Type II certified
Price & Accessibility	Premium-level subscription with robust features	Offers free tier, focus on smaller practices
Biggest Strength	Comprehensive BH documentation, advanced coding & meds	Session analytics & ease of entry

Deeper Dive into Key Differences

1. Behavioral Health Specialization

Both Upheal and JotPsych cater to mental health clinicians. Upheal’s marketing spans therapists, psychiatrists, and even coaches, while JotPsych focuses heavily on the medical side of behavioral health. This distinction becomes crucial if your work involves medications or requires justification for insurance. JotPsych’s design ensures robust coverage of diagnostic criteria, meeting the stringent demands of psychiatric and clinical documentation. For providers who frequently address medication management and rely on precise codes, JotPsych’s depth offers a clear advantage.

2. Customization & Workflow Efficiency

Neither platform confines you to a single note format. Upheal provides pre-built templates like SOAP, DAP, and BIRP, and allows some rearranging to match your workflow. JotPsych, however, not only includes numerous behavioral-health-specific note sections from the start, it also lets you edit drafts with AI-driven suggestions on the fly. Over time, it learns your style, allowing you to fine-tune both the tone and the structure of your notes. If you’re seeking an AI scribe that adapts to your practice—rather than the other way around—JotPsych’s interactive customization truly stands out.

3. Billing & Administrative Support

A key difference favoring JotPsych is its built-in billing and coding functionality. As it transcribes a session, the AI flags potential ICD-10 or CPT codes that may apply, saving you time on insurance claims and reducing the chance of denied claims. It also helps document medical necessity by justifying each code within the note. Meanwhile, Upheal is working to develop a similar feature. At present, though, it lacks the same capacity for automatically identifying and inserting diagnostic or billing codes. If you rely heavily on insurance billing, JotPsych provides a clear head start by incorporating coding suggestions right into your workflow.

4. Patient Context & Tracking

Upheal’s signature feature is session analytics, offering insight into talk-time ratios, silences, and other metrics that help you assess patient engagement. This can be a unique tool if you’re focused on tracking therapeutic process data or refining your own technique. JotPsych, in contrast, shines in capturing rich clinical context—previous diagnoses, patient history, changes in medication, or follow-up tasks—and integrates these data points into your newly generated note. For clinicians who prefer referencing older documentation for continuity of care, JotPsych automatically handles that layer of context, ensuring nothing important is missed.

5. Integration & Ease of Use

Both platforms aim to fit seamlessly into your workflow. Upheal offers a browser extension and telehealth option, making it possible to conduct sessions within its own platform. JotPsych also uses a Chrome extension or an iOS app for recording, and afterward, it delivers a clean draft that you can copy-paste into your EHR of choice. The primary benefit of JotPsych here is speed and completeness—users often find that the notes need minimal edits, whereas Upheal might require more manual adjustment. That said, smaller practices may prefer Upheal’s built-in telehealth and scheduling if they want to consolidate multiple tools.

6. Security & HIPAA Compliance

In mental health, data security is non-negotiable. Fortunately, both solutions comply with HIPAA and use robust encryption. Upheal boasts SOC 2 Type II certification, and JotPsych is hosted on HITRUST servers with automated processes to redact personal health information (PHI). Crucially, JotPsych also deletes audio files immediately after transcription is complete, minimizing stored data risk. So while both are secure, JotPsych’s extra step of routine PHI redaction offers an additional measure of privacy assurance.

Who Should Choose JotPsych?

JotPsych stands out for clinicians needing in-depth, medically rigorous documentation complete with automatically identified ICD-10 and CPT codes. Psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, and multi-provider clinics will appreciate its power and customization options, especially if they must manage medications and billing claims frequently. If you require a deeply adaptable scribe that “learns” your style and thoroughly incorporates everything from meds to next steps, JotPsych will prove itself indispensable. It’s a premium solution, but one that addresses the advanced needs of clinical behavioral health practices, significantly reducing the risk of denied insurance claims or incomplete notes.

Who Might Consider Upheal?

Upheal deserves credit for its innovative session analytics and relatively simple entry point (including a free tier). If you’re a smaller or solo practice primarily interested in measuring patient engagement, analyzing talk-time, or simply experimenting with AI scribes, Upheal can be a solid starting place. Those less reliant on thorough billing codes or advanced psychiatric detailing may find Upheal’s current feature set sufficient. But if you plan to scale your practice or require advanced clinical depth—including medication management—then JotPsych offers more robust tools out of the box.

Conclusion

Both Upheal and JotPsych represent exciting advancements in AI for behavioral health documentation, saving clinicians countless hours of note-taking. Upheal’s session analytics and budget-friendly tier are commendable, but for providers needing truly comprehensive notes, including ICD-10/CPT coding, medication details, and extensive customization, JotPsych emerges as the clear winner.

When every minute counts—and when documentation can mean the difference between successful insurance reimbursement or hours of extra work—JotPsych consistently goes the extra mile. From powering through billing codes to summarizing medication changes, it ensures no detail slips through the cracks. If you’re committed to optimizing your workflow, minimizing risk, and delivering high-quality care with minimal administrative friction, JotPsych is your definitive choice. ​