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Healthcare · head to head

Included Health vs Open Dental

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
Open Dental logo

Open Dental

Healthcare

Powerful, Affordable Practice Management

From
$169/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.; Open Dental uS support is $199 per month per location on an initial 12 month contract, dropping to $149 per month only after that year
  • They diverge on capability: Included Health covers Care navigation, Open Dental covers Patient scheduling.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Included Health and Open Dental actually diverge.

Attributes where Included Health and Open Dental differ
AttributeIncluded HealthOpen Dental
Starting priceOn request$169/month
Pricing modelquotesubscription
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWindows, Web, Api
FoundedUnknown2003

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 Open Dental

  • Patient scheduling
  • Clinical charting
  • Insurance claim processing
  • Treatment planning
  • Digital imaging integration
  • Patient communication
  • Reporting and analytics
  • eServices integration

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 Open Dental
  • An employer that has bought several point solutions and needs one front door that routes members to the ones already paid fornot Open Dental
  • A self funded plan wanting expert second opinions before high cost elective surgery, where a changed recommendation pays for the programmenot Open Dental
  • An employer replacing separate navigation and telehealth vendors with one contract and one member experiencenot Open Dental

Open Dental

  • Practice management, charting and scheduling for dental officesnot Included Health
  • Dental insurance claims, billing and treatment planningnot Included Health
  • Running an open source dental system with direct database accessnot 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.

Open Dental

  • US support is $199 per month per location on an initial 12 month contract, dropping to $149 per month only after that year
  • The monthly fee covers up to 3 providers per location; each additional provider is $20 per month
  • Fees are charged per location, so a multi site practice pays for every office
  • eServices are charged separately per location, including eClipboard at $45 a month, ODMobile at $35 a month and eConfirmations at $25 a month
  • Electronic prescribing through DoseSpot costs $57 per month per prescribing provider
  • Conversion and implementation fees are not published and require consultation

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

Open Dental

$169/month
  • Standard$169/month
    • Full software access
    • Unlimited workstations
    • Technical support
  • Cloud$249/month
    • Everything in Standard
    • Cloud hosting
    • Automatic backups

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 Open Dental if

  • You need patient scheduling.
  • You work on Windows, Web, Api.
  • You also want clinical charting.
Open Dental review

Questions people ask

Is Included Health or Open Dental better?
Neither clearly leads. Included Health starts at On request and Open Dental at $169/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Included Health or Open Dental?
Included Health starts at On request and Open Dental at $169/month.
Does Included Health or Open Dental run on more platforms?
Included Health runs on Web, iOS, Android. Open Dental runs on Windows, Web, Api.
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 Open Dental is typically brought in for.
What can Included Health do that Open Dental cannot?
Included Health covers Care navigation, Provider quality steerage, Expert medical opinion, Virtual primary care. Open Dental covers Patient scheduling, Clinical charting, Insurance claim processing, Treatment planning.

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.

Open Dental: How much does Open Dental cost?

Open Dental costs $199/month per location or office with a 12-month contract minimum. After the initial 12-month term, pricing continues on a month-to-month basis at a reduced rate.

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.

Open Dental: What does the $199/month fee include?

The monthly fee includes software access, full telephone support, all software releases, imaging and video capture, patient portal and web forms, and automated reminder features for up to 3 dentists per location.

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.

Open Dental: Does Open Dental offer a money-back guarantee?

Open Dental includes a 90-day money-back guarantee on subscription fees.

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.

Open Dental: What additional costs are there?

Data conversions from other dental software systems incur additional fees. Customized training with an Open Dental trainer is also available at extra cost.

Source
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