When Kareo and PatientPop merged to create Tebra, the goal was clear - give independent clinics a single platform to manage everything from billing to marketing. For insurance-based practices, that promise delivers: Tebra automates claims, supports reimbursements, and helps offices fill their schedules.
The platform also includes PatientPop’s marketing suite, giving clinics tools for SEO, online scheduling, and automated reviews which is ideal for insurance-based practices focused on patient acquisition. Tebra’s tools are designed primarily for insurance-based practices, automating claims, reimbursements, and patient acquisition.
But if your practice doesn’t rely on insurers and if you’re functional, integrative, or direct-pay, Tebra’s insurance-driven framework can feel like the wrong fit. What you gain in automation, you lose in flexibility and clinical depth.
That’s where Cerbo comes in. Designed from the ground up for independent care models, it lets you build a system around your workflow and not the other way around.
Tebra’s foundation is optimized for insurance billing workflows. Everything revolves around codes, claims, and reimbursements. That works when your success depends on quick claims submission but if you operate outside the insurance system, most of that infrastructure adds clutter rather than clarity. Even its analytics and reporting dashboards are built around CPT and reimbursement performance, offering little flexibility for direct-pay metrics like memberships or renewals.
For non-insurance clinics, that complexity can feel unnecessary like managing systems built for someone else’s business model.
Cerbo takes a different approach. Its billing tools are built for direct-pay care: membership plans, ACH payments, card-on-file, and renewals that are all tied to the visit types you define. No claims. No clearinghouses. No waiting weeks to get paid.
For practices that value independence and speed over red tape, Cerbo’s simplicity makes growth sustainable.
Tebra’s documentation tools were built for general medicine’s visit templates, encounter forms, and quick notes that fit standard medical codes. Functional and integrative care doesn’t work that way. You’re tracking timelines, environmental factors, and protocols that evolve with each patient.
While Tebra connects with common diagnostic labs, it isn’t optimized for specialty testing workflows, they’re geared toward standard diagnostic testing. Functional and integrative providers need specialty lab support, which Cerbo offers through 60+ connected partners.
Cerbo was designed to mirror that complexity, not compress it. With customizable Chart Parts, 60+ integrated labs, and flexible treatment templates, you can document cases exactly the way you practice. No rigid forms, no compromises on detail.
This makes Cerbo a better long-term fit for clinics delivering care that goes deeper than standard medical templates.
Tebra’s modules can be added separately depending on plan tier, often requiring extra fees or separate logins. Most feature adds another integration, another subscription, another password.
Cerbo keeps everything unified. From the EHR and patient portal to supplement management (via Fullscript and Wellevate) and membership billing, every feature connects naturally. It’s one login, one workflow, one reliable system.
That cohesion means your team spends less time troubleshooting and more time caring for patients. Cerbo’s simplicity extends to operations, keeping your team inside one ecosystem instead of juggling disconnected vendors.
PatientPop gave Tebra a marketing edge with SEO tools, campaign builders, and automated reputation management features. Tebra offers appointment reminders and limited two-way messaging, but engagement features focus mainly on acquisition rather than ongoing care.. Once patients are booked, engagement tools are limited to reminders and feedback requests. It’s a great system for driving first appointments but not for maintaining ongoing relationships or care visibility.
Cerbo’s focus is different in terms of depth. Its patient portal keeps communication open well beyond the visit. Patients can check lab results, follow care plans, message providers securely, and request refills, all inside one HIPAA-compliant space.
It’s not about generating clicks. It’s about cultivating connection. Cerbo’s approach centers on retention, giving patients continuous access to their health data and providers, turning one-time visits into long-term care partnerships.
Tebra’s pricing depends on provider type and modules selected, often shared during a sales consultation. Because it was built from the combined Kareo and PatientPop systems, costs can increase as clinics add telehealth, marketing, or billing modules. For independent and direct-pay practices, those bundled costs often include features they may never use.
Cerbo uses simple, transparent per-provider pricing with flat monthly rates that scale as clinics grow. Full-time and part-time plans make it easy for clinics to stay in control of costs without losing access to key EHR features. Learn more and check Cerbo’s pricing structure here.
Tebra gives insurance-based clinics the tools they need to handle billing and marketing efficiently. But for clinics that deliver care differently like functional medicine, integrative health, direct primary care, or membership-based practices, it’s not enough.
While Tebra streamlines the billing and marketing sides of healthcare, it leaves independent clinics piecing together patient communication, lab tracking, and workflow tools.
Cerbo provides a connected foundation that adapts to your model instead of forcing you into one. It supports every step of the patient journey, from charting and labs to payments and communication and in a way that feels seamless and intuitive.
Where Tebra is built for transactions, Cerbo is built for transformation, giving providers more time, flexibility, and confidence to focus on what matters most: patient care.
See how Cerbo supports modern, patient-centered care. Contact Cerbo today or check out our EHR interactive demo to learn more.
