TherapyNotes’ export process could take one clinic over 320 staff hours to retrieve its own patient data

One clinic leaving TherapyNotes asked for a complete copy of its records. The only route support offered for clinical notes runs one patient chart at a time.

By Nate Peereboom, CEO of JotPsych

A clinic leaving TherapyNotes asked JotPsych to move its records. We first asked TherapyNotes about a bulk export on August 24, 2026. The clinic wanted a complete copy of its practice data: patient information, clinical notes, questionnaires, uploaded files, portal forms, signatures, appointments, and billing records. Any format would do. The clinic asked for the expected date and any fee. Its account held 19,613 patient profiles and a report listing 312,327 notes.^{1, 2}

Support replied that “there is no additional workaround available.” Its instructions export patient demographics as one spreadsheet. For clinical notes, support wrote that TherapyNotes does not have access to them and that the clinic would need to use Download Multiple, a link inside each patient’s chart.¹

“Download Multiple” means multiple notes for one patient

The link sounds like a bulk export. It works inside one patient’s chart and combines that patient’s notes into one file. Uploaded documents download separately. Then the process starts over for the next patient.³

What TherapyNotes told us before we published

We sent TherapyNotes a draft of this article. We asked whether a practice can get a complete export without opening each patient chart, and asked the company to point out any error. TherapyNotes’ chief executive replied that the draft contained inaccuracies and wrote: “We do have an export tool that can export most of a practice’s records.” The reply said the company was reviewing the practice’s past requests to see whether support had given it false information, or whether the requests came before the tool was available. The reply did not identify which statements were inaccurate.⁴

We asked the chief executive, with the clinic’s owner copied, to run that tool for the clinic, to confirm that the export includes every document, and to give its format, delivery date, and fee. As of publication, we have not received that export.⁴

Support answered our question in writing after the chief executive’s reply:

TherapyNotes support’s written answer to JotPsych, September 2026

Support later wrote that its earlier emails describe the export options available in TherapyNotes, and that it could not comment on the article’s conclusions or assumptions. If TherapyNotes provides a bulk export for this clinic, we will update this article.¹

What the storage option does

Support also offered Storage Mode: $9 a month for the first login and $3 a month for each additional login. The clinic keeps read access to its records and billing history in TherapyNotes, but cannot create notes or appointments.⁵

The next visit depends on the last one

Before a visit, a clinician reads the earlier notes: the symptoms the patient described, the treatments tried, and what changed afterward. TherapyNotes’ own blog describes notes as a record of what worked and what did not, one that helps patients continue care when they change providers.⁶ A patient list tells the new system who is coming in. The clinical record tells the clinician what came before.

Before you choose an EHR, ask to see the bulk export

Federal guidance says a vendor that holds a clinic’s records must keep them “accessible and usable upon demand” and, when the agreement calls for it, return them at the end of the contract in a reasonable format.⁷ The guidance sets no standard for a bulk export, so ask three questions before you sign:

• Can you show me the full-practice export? Ask for a demonstration across the practice, not a download from one patient’s chart.
• What does the export include? Clinical notes, uploaded documents, forms, and patient details should each be listed, with any exclusions named.
• Who runs it, how long does it take, and what does it cost? Ask how the new system matches each file to its patient, too.

Test a sample in the new system before you end access to the old one. Compare the notes and files, find anything missing, and retrieve it before the next patient visit.

JotPsych is helping this clinic move its records and sells competing software. The clinic’s identity and patient details are withheld.