Practice Better's built-in telehealth lets you conduct secure, one-on-one video sessions with your clients, right from your booking page. This article walks you through the prerequisites, how to book a session, and what your client needs to join.
In this article:
- Before You Begin
- Setting Your Default Telehealth Application
- Booking a Telehealth Session for Your Client
- What Happens After You Book
- Access to the Client Portal Is Required
- Telehealth Confirmation and Reminder Emails
- Rescheduling or Canceling a Telehealth Session
- Recording Sessions With the AI Charting Assistant
- Group Sessions and Zoom
- System Requirements
Before You Begin
Make sure the following are in place before you try to book a telehealth session:
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Starter plan or higher. Practice Better Telehealth is included on the Starter, Professional, Plus, and Team plans. It is not available on the free Sprout plan.
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At least one bookable service. Telehealth sessions are booked through a service, so you'll need one set up first. See Working with Services in Practice Better →
- An active client on your account. You'll select this client when booking the session.
Setting Your Default Telehealth Application
Before booking your first session, it's worth confirming which telehealth option is set as your default. This determines what your clients see in their confirmation emails and whether the Start Session button appears correctly.
Account-Wide Default
Go to Settings (gear icon) > Telehealth & Messaging and confirm Use Practice Better for my online/video chat sessions is selected. This is your account-wide default for all new bookings.
Per-Service Override
You can also set the telehealth method on a specific service, which overrides your account-wide default for that service only. Go to My Practice > My Services, edit the service, and under Booking Options, set your preferred video application.
💡 Tip: If a service is sold as part of a Package, sessions booked through that Package automatically inherit the service's telehealth setting, so there's no extra step needed there.
Booking a Telehealth Session for Your Client
- Go to My Practice > My Services, then click Book a Client next to the service you'd like to offer.
- Select your client from the pop-up to proceed.
- Select Online/Video Chat for the "How would you like to conduct this session" field.
- Confirm Use Practice Better is selected as the Telehealth application, if it isn't already.
- Complete the remaining details for your session, then click Schedule in the bottom-right corner.
✅ First time using telehealth? Create a test client and book a practice session with them to confirm your camera, microphone, and settings work before your first real appointment. Learn more about Setting Up a Test Client →
What Happens After You Book
Once scheduled, your session appears on your My Bookings page and on the client's individual bookings page. From either location, click into the session details to find the Start Session button.
You can join the session as soon as it's booked to set up your space or test your equipment. Your client won't be notified if you join early.
For the full session experience, including audio and video settings, screen sharing, and chat, see Using Telehealth Video Chat on Practice Better →
Access to the Client Portal Is Required
All native telehealth sessions are conducted securely within Practice Better. Your client needs an activated Client Portal account and a login before the time of their session.
If your client hasn't activated their account yet, send them an invitation first. Learn more about Sending a Client Invitation in Practice Better →
⚠️ Important: Your client cannot join the Practice Better telehealth session until they've completed client portal activation.
Practitioners and clients both need camera and microphone access enabled in their browser. If either of you runs into a blocked permissions error, see Enabling Camera and Microphone Permissions →
Telehealth Confirmation and Reminder Emails
Your client receives an email confirmation as soon as you book their telehealth session. This confirmation includes an .ics file so they can save the session to their calendar of choice, along with a "click here to join the session" link.
A reminder email before the session is optional and configured separately. Booking the appointment does not turn reminders on by itself. To set this up, go to My Schedule > Booking & Cancellation Settings and configure your Upcoming Session Reminders. Learn more about Managing Your Booking & Cancellation Settings →
💡 Looking to nudge a client toward booking a new session, rather than reminding them about one they've already booked? That's a different feature called Invite to Book. See Sending Booking Reminders to Clients →
Once your client has activated their account, they can join by clicking the link in their email; they may be prompted to log in first, and then will be redirected to the video session waiting room. If they are already logged in to their client portal, they can join the session by clicking the video icon next to their upcoming session on their Client Portal homepage.
Rescheduling or Canceling a Telehealth Session
If you reschedule the session from the practitioner portal, the session keeps its original telehealth link and details. If your client reschedules the session themselves, or if either of you cancels it, the session (and its link) is canceled and a new one is created if a new time is booked.
Recording Sessions With the AI Charting Assistant
Practice Better Telehealth doesn't record your sessions automatically. To capture audio, generate a transcript, and get an AI-written summary, you'll need the AI Charting Assistant add-on enabled on your account (available on Starter plan and up).
Once enabled, a recording button appears in your video session controls. Learn more about Getting Started With the AI Charting Assistant →
Group Sessions and Zoom
Practice Better Telehealth supports one-on-one sessions only, on every plan. It doesn't support group sessions.
If you need to meet with more than one client at a time, you'll need to link a Zoom account instead. Zoom and Practice Better Telehealth are separate, mutually exclusive options, selecting one for a session means you're not using the other. Group Zoom sessions require the Professional plan or higher and a paid Zoom account.
When using Zoom or another third-party video application, you're responsible for ensuring the compliance of that platform.
See Using Zoom for Telehealth → and Practice Better Versus Zoom for Telehealth → for a full comparison.
System Requirements
The latest version of Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge is required to conduct video sessions in Practice Better. Using an outdated or unsupported browser may result in failure to join or conduct your session.
For full details on internet speed, device compatibility, and camera/microphone setup, see Telehealth System Requirements and Compatibility →