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Healthcare · head to head

Included Health vs Kareo

Included Health logo

Included Health

Healthcare

Care navigation and virtual care in one contract for self funded employers and health plans

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Kareo logo

Kareo

Healthcare

Cloud-based EHR and billing for small practices

From
$99/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Included Health owning both the navigation recommendations and the virtual care delivery creates a structural incentive to steer members to the vendor own clinicians, and an employer should require disclosure and measurement of how often that happens.; Kareo kareo is now part of Tebra and sold under the Tebra brand rather than as a standalone product
  • They diverge on capability: Included Health covers Care navigation, Kareo covers Electronic Health Records.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Included Health and Kareo actually diverge.

Attributes where Included Health and Kareo differ
AttributeIncluded HealthKareo
Starting priceOn request$99/month
Pricing modelquotesubscription
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb, Mobile
FoundedUnknown2010

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Healthcare).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Included Health

  • Care navigation
  • Provider quality steerage
  • Expert medical opinion
  • Virtual primary care
  • Virtual behavioural health
  • Virtual urgent care
  • Benefits integration
  • Employer reporting

Only in Kareo

  • Electronic Health Records
  • Scheduling
  • Patient Portal
  • Medical Billing
  • Payment Processing
  • Labs
  • Pharmacies
  • Clearinghouses

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Included Health

  • A large self funded employer whose members cannot tell which specialist to see and who currently absorbs the cost of poor referral decisionsnot Kareo
  • An employer that has bought several point solutions and needs one front door that routes members to the ones already paid fornot Kareo
  • A self funded plan wanting expert second opinions before high cost elective surgery, where a changed recommendation pays for the programmenot Kareo
  • An employer replacing separate navigation and telehealth vendors with one contract and one member experiencenot Kareo

Kareo

  • Practice management, scheduling and billing for independent medical practicesnot Included Health
  • Electronic health records and e-prescribing for small clinicsnot Included Health
  • Insurance claim submission and patient payment collectionnot Included Health

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Included Health

  • Owning both the navigation recommendations and the virtual care delivery creates a structural incentive to steer members to the vendor own clinicians, and an employer should require disclosure and measurement of how often that happens.
  • Pricing is per employee per month across the whole eligible population, so a plan with low navigation engagement pays for everyone to serve the minority who call.
  • Savings claims rest on avoided costs and changed referral decisions, which are counterfactual by nature, so performance guarantees need very careful definition or they measure activity rather than money.
  • The company is a merger of three organisations with different origins, and members and benefits teams still encounter seams between navigation, virtual primary care and behavioural health that the single brand implies are absent.
  • It sells primarily to large self funded employers, so mid market employers and fully insured plans find both the pricing and the implementation effort disproportionate to their size.

Kareo

  • Kareo is now part of Tebra and sold under the Tebra brand rather than as a standalone product
  • Tebra publishes no rate: pricing varies with provider count, features and implementation requirements and is quoted during a demo
  • Billing counts clinical providers such as MDs, DOs, NPs and PAs, so adding a prescriber raises the bill even though non clinical staff are free
  • Electronic prescribing of controlled substances setup costs about $75 per provider as a one time fee
  • PDMP integration costs $500 one time per facility plus about $50 per user per year

Pricing, plan by plan

Included Health

On request
  • Included Health$undefined/year
    • Per employee per month across the eligible population, quoted not published
    • Navigation and virtual care modules priced separately or bundled
    • Some components offered with performance guarantees tied to measured savings

Kareo

$99/month
  • Starter$99/month
    • EHR
    • Scheduling
    • Patient Portal
  • Professional$199/month
    • Everything in Starter
    • Billing
    • Reporting

Which should you pick?

Choose Included Health if

  • You need care navigation.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want provider quality steerage.
Included Health review

Choose Kareo if

  • You need electronic health records.
  • You work on Web, Mobile.
  • You also want scheduling.
Kareo review

Questions people ask

Is Included Health or Kareo better?
Neither clearly leads. Included Health starts at On request and Kareo at $99/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Included Health or Kareo?
Included Health starts at On request and Kareo at $99/month.
Does Included Health or Kareo run on more platforms?
Included Health runs on Web, iOS, Android. Kareo runs on Web, Mobile.
What is Included Health best used for?
Included Health is most often used for a large self funded employer whose members cannot tell which specialist to see and who currently absorbs the cost of poor referral decisions, an employer that has bought several point solutions and needs one front door that routes members to the ones already paid for, a self funded plan wanting expert second opinions before high cost elective surgery, where a changed recommendation pays for the programme, an employer replacing separate navigation and telehealth vendors with one contract and one member experience. Of those, a large self funded employer whose members cannot tell which specialist to see and who currently absorbs the cost of poor referral decisions and an employer that has bought several point solutions and needs one front door that routes members to the ones already paid for are not what Kareo is typically brought in for.
What can Included Health do that Kareo cannot?
Included Health covers Care navigation, Provider quality steerage, Expert medical opinion, Virtual primary care. Kareo covers Electronic Health Records, Scheduling, Patient Portal, Medical Billing.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Included Health: What exactly is Included Health?

The combination of Grand Rounds Health navigation, Doctor On Demand virtual care and the original Included Health concierge service, operating under one brand since late 2021.

Kareo: Does Kareo publish its pricing?

No. Kareo (now rebranded as Tebra) uses custom per-practice pricing that varies based on the number of providers, features needed, and implementation requirements. Pricing is determined during a demo with the sales team.

Source
Included Health: Who pays for it?

The self funded employer or the health plan pays a per employee per month fee. Virtual care visits may also carry member cost sharing depending on plan design.

Kareo: Are there discounts for adding multiple modules?

Yes. Tebra states that many practices qualify for bundled pricing or volume incentives when adopting multiple modules like EHR, billing, and patient experience tools together.

Source
Included Health: Is there a minimum size?

No published minimum, but it sells primarily to large self funded employers and the pricing and implementation effort do not suit small organisations.

Kareo: What are the additional costs for controlled substance prescribing?

For providers who prescribe controlled substances, EPCS setup costs approximately $75 per provider as a one-time fee, and PDMP integration costs $500 one-time per facility plus around $50 per user per year.

Source
Included Health: How does it recommend providers?

Through data driven quality analysis rather than a plain directory. Ask specifically how those recommendations are produced and how often they resolve to the company own virtual clinicians.

Kareo: Does Kareo offer a free trial?

Kareo's website does not mention a free trial option. Access to pricing and trial arrangements requires contacting the sales team to request a demo.

Source
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