Considering a Healthbridge alternative? A fair comparison

Healthbridge is a major South African medical billing and practice management company. Its website says almost 7 000 private medical practices use it, and that it pioneered real-time claim processing in the early 2000s. If you're comparing it with Baselayer.med, this page sets out the differences using each company's public information, so you can decide what suits your practice.

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The short version

Healthbridge may suit you better if:

• billing and medical-aid claims are your main need, and you want real-time claims and automated reconciliation that are established today
• you'd like to outsource billing to a bureau (Healthbridge Bureau)
• you're a specialist, anaesthetist or orthopaedic surgeon looking for discipline-specific billing workflows
• you're an independent primary-care provider who wants to try a basic EMR at no cost (Healthbridge Clinical Go is advertised as free for six months)

Baselayer.med may suit you better if:

• you want a flat, published monthly price that doesn't change with how much you bill: R2 499/month for unlimited users or R899/month for up to 2 users
• your priority is running the whole practice in one place: digital consent forms, kiosk check-in, appointment book, clinical notes, scripts and referrals, charting, practice tasks and built-in accounting
• you're in one of our 9 professions, including dentistry, physiotherapy, biokinetics, chiropractic, psychology and aesthetics
• you're comfortable that Baselayer.med's electronic medical-aid claims are launching soon as an optional add-on, so they aren't the reason to switch today

Healthbridge vs Baselayer.med at a glance

Why some practices look for an alternative

The common reason is cost predictability. A percentage-of-claims model means fees rise with your billing. A flat subscription stays the same however busy you are. Which works out cheaper depends on your claim value, so ask Healthbridge for a quote and compare it with R2 499 or R899 a month.

What switching from Healthbridge looks like

1. Check your notice period. Healthbridge's FAQ states one month for its billing software.
2. Request your full data export early: patient list and demographics, plus anything else you need. Ask for it in writing as soon as you give notice.
3. Start your Baselayer.med trial and set up your practice, team, consent forms and appointment types.
4. Import your patient list with our AI-assisted patient data migration. It maps columns, validates SA ID numbers and phone numbers, removes duplicates and lets you preview every record.
5. Keep claims running on your existing setup until your notice ends, or until Baselayer.med claims are available for your practice.

Full guide: Switching to Baselayer.med.

Keeping your records safe while you switch

Whichever system you use, the practice remains responsible for patient records under POPIA and the HPCSA's record-keeping guidelines. Keep a complete copy of the export you receive. With Baselayer.med, an owner or admin can download a full practice export (CSV tables plus stored documents) at any time from Settings, so you're never dependent on us to get your data back.

Pricing, side by side

• Baselayer.med Practice: R2 499/month, unlimited users, every feature
• Baselayer.med Solo: R899/month, up to 2 users, every feature
• Healthbridge billing software: a percentage of monthly claim value, by quote
• Healthbridge Clinical Go: advertised as free for six months

See Baselayer.med pricing.

Frequently asked questions

Does Baselayer.med do medical-aid claims like Healthbridge? Not yet. Electronic medical-aid claims are launching soon as an optional add-on. Healthbridge offers real-time claims and a bureau service today. If claims are your main need right now, factor that in.

How is Baselayer.med priced compared with Healthbridge? Baselayer.med is a flat monthly fee (R2 499 for unlimited users or R899 for up to 2 users) that doesn't depend on your claim value. Healthbridge prices its billing software as a percentage of monthly claim value and speciality, by quote.

Can I get my patient data out of Healthbridge and into Baselayer.med? Request a patient export from Healthbridge when you give notice. Baselayer.med imports CSV files with AI-assisted column mapping, validation and a preview before import.

What notice do I need to give Healthbridge? Healthbridge's GP page says it doesn't lock practices into long-term contracts and that you can terminate with one month's notice. Check your own agreement.

Can I try Baselayer.med before I cancel? Yes. Run the 30-day free trial alongside your current system, with no credit card required.

Which professions does Baselayer.med support? Dentists, GPs, physiotherapists, biokineticists, chiropractors, psychologists, cardiac physiologists, anaesthetists and aesthetic practitioners. See the pages for GPs, physiotherapists and psychologists.

See it with your own practice

Set up your consent forms, import your patients and run a normal day before you decide.

Start your 30-day free trial · Book a 15-minute demo · How switching works

Healthbridge, Healthbridge Clinical, Clinical Go and Healthbridge Nova are trademarks of their respective owner. Baselayer.med isn't affiliated with Healthbridge. Competitor information comes from public sources as of 2 October 2026 and may have changed. Please verify with the vendor.