Healthbridge alternative
Switching from Healthbridge to NetPractice
Healthbridge is one of the longest-established names in South African practice software, and it says it pioneered real-time claim processing in the early 2000s. It offers software practices run themselves and a bureau that runs billing for them, plus clinical tools. If you are weighing a move, the question is less about claims - both submit in real time - than about which model you want to pay for.
What Healthbridge says about itself
In Healthbridge’s own words, from its public website:
- Describes itself as a "fully cloud-based platform", "built through 25+ years of localized innovation".
- Offers "real-time claim submission".
- Healthbridge Bureau "handles claims administration and billing on your behalf".
- Advertises Healthbridge Clinical Go with "Zero costs. Zero contracts." and six months free; other products are priced through a quote.
- Lists GPs, specialists, anaesthetists, orthopaedic surgeons, allied professionals, optometrists, dentists and bureaus among the practices it serves, and offers a speech-to-clinical-notes tool.
Checked on 31 October 2026 against healthbridge.co.za. If anything here is out of date, email info@netpractice.co.za and we will correct it.
Healthbridge and NetPractice side by side
| Healthbridge | NetPractice | |
|---|---|---|
| Runs on | Cloud-based | Any browser, on a phone or a computer - nothing to install |
| Pricing | Quote-based; Clinical Go advertised as "Zero costs. Zero contracts." with six months free | Published: R9.50 per claim, first 10 each month free, no monthly fee or contract |
| Real-time claims | Yes | Yes - accepted or rejected back in seconds |
| Billing done for you | Yes - Healthbridge Bureau runs billing for you | No - software your practice runs. Bureaus can use our partner programme |
Healthbridge spans software, a bureau and clinical products, and prices most of it by quote. NetPractice is software your practice operates, priced per claim on a public page: R9.50 a claim, the first 10 each month free, no monthly fee and no contract. If you are on an introductory offer anywhere, the number to compare is what you pay once it ends.
When Healthbridge is the better choice
- You want someone else to do the billing. Healthbridge Bureau does that; NetPractice is software your practice runs itself.
- You are an anaesthetist or surgeon and depend on workflows Healthbridge lists for those specialties.
- Your clinical notes already live in Healthbridge Clinical and moving them is more disruption than the saving is worth.
If none of those is you, the rest of this page is how to move without losing money. If you are still choosing, the overview of South African billing software covers the wider market and the five questions that separate the products.
How to switch from Healthbridge without losing money
If a bureau has been doing your billing, switching to software means someone in the practice takes that work on - plan who, before the cut-over. Then ask for your patient list with scheme details and your outstanding balances, split scheme versus patient, and keep read access until every claim Healthbridge submitted has been settled.
-
Export before you give notice
Patient list with contact and medical-scheme details, and outstanding balances split scheme versus patient. CSV or Excel - a PDF is a picture of the data, not the data.
-
Open NetPractice alongside
Create your account and send new visits from NetPractice. The first 10 claims each month are free.
-
Let Healthbridge finish, then close
A claim already submitted cannot move: the scheme replies to the system that sent it. Keep read access until each one is paid, rejected or written off - up to four months for anything disputed - then take a final export and close the account.
The longer version, including what to negotiate on the way out, is in how to switch practice management software.
Frequently asked questions
Is NetPractice an alternative to Healthbridge?
For a practice that wants to run its own claims and billing, yes: both are cloud-based and submit to South African schemes in real time. If you want a bureau to do the billing for you, Healthbridge Bureau is the closer fit - NetPractice is software, not a bureau.
Does Healthbridge publish its prices?
As at 31 October 2026 it advertises Healthbridge Clinical Go as "Zero costs. Zero contracts." with six months free, and prices its other products by quote. Check what applies after any free period and ask for the full price in writing.
Can I try NetPractice before I leave Healthbridge?
Yes. Create a free account and submit real claims for new visits while Healthbridge finishes the claims it already sent. The first 10 claims each month are free, so running both for a payment cycle costs little or nothing.
See it against Healthbridge with a real claim
Submit a claim and watch the scheme’s answer come back. R9.50 a claim, the first 10 each month free, no contract.