Alpaca Health vs Passage Health
Passage Health is software for a practice you already run. Alpaca Health sets up the practice and runs the business side with you.
Alpaca Health and Passage Health compared
| Compared on | Alpaca Health | Passage Health |
|---|---|---|
| Cost to start | Alpaca Health$0 | Passage HealthSoftware subscription |
| How your pay is set | Alpaca HealthSet rates per session, higher when you find the client | Passage HealthNone, software fee only |
| When you get paid | Alpaca HealthEvery 2 weeks, guaranteed | Passage HealthYou bill and collect |
| How long credentialing takes | Alpaca HealthTypically weeks, under existing contracts | Passage HealthYou credential your practice |
| Who sources your clients | Alpaca HealthShared, referrals stay yours | Passage HealthYour practice |
| Who sources your RBTs | Alpaca HealthBoth post jobs, Alpaca Health runs payroll | Passage HealthYour practice |
| Clinical software | Alpaca HealthBuilt in house | Passage HealthPassage Health is the software |
| Who owns the practice | Alpaca HealthYou do | Passage HealthYou do |
| States covered | Alpaca HealthTexas, Colorado, North Carolina, Hawaii, Michigan | Passage HealthNationwide software |
What you get with Alpaca Health
Alpaca Health runs the business side of your practice, and the software comes with it.
How long credentialing takes
You cannot bill until you are credentialed, so the wait decides how long you go without income after leaving a salary.
Alpaca Health
You are credentialed under existing group contracts, including Medicaid, so you join contracts that already exist instead of applying for your own.
Passage Health
Passage Health tracks certification dates for your team inside the software. Applying to insurers is work your practice does.
When you get paid
Payment timing sets how long a new practice has to cover payroll out of its own pocket.
Every two weeks, guaranteed
Alpaca Health pays on a fixed two-week cycle rather than when the insurer settles.
Denials and clawbacks absorbed
If a claim is denied or delayed, Alpaca Health takes the loss. Your payout does not change and nothing is clawed back from your practice, so a rejected claim never reaches your payroll.
How Passage Health handles it
Passage Health submits claims and tracks payments inside the software. Your practice collects from the insurer, so cash flow follows the insurer's timeline.
Who brings you clients and staff
Alpaca Health brings in leads. Passage Health gives you software to manage the clients your practice finds.
Where your clients come from
Passage Health publishes marketing guidance for practice owners. Finding clients is work your practice does.
Alpaca Health shares the work
Alpaca Health runs national marketing and press to bring in leads, and your practice does its own local outreach, so the referral relationships you build stay with you.
Hiring RBTs
Your practice posts the role either way, and Alpaca Health also posts it on Indeed and other job boards. Alpaca Health runs the payroll, and Passage Health gives you timesheets and supervision tools.
What software you use
You will work in this software every day, and support comes from whoever builds it.
Alpaca Health builds its own
Scheduling, data collection, session notes, billing, intake and payroll run in one system built and maintained in house. Payroll runs off the sessions your staff sign out, and AI session note and treatment plan tools are built in, with the clinical decisions left to you.
Passage Health is the software
Data collection, graphing, session notes, scheduling, claim submission and authorization tracking run in Passage Health, which works with over 7,000 payers.
What happens if you leave or switch
The agreement with Alpaca Health runs one year and renews. You can end it with 90 days' notice at no cost.
Is there a lock-in or exit fee?
Alpaca Health does not ask for exclusivity, so you can work with another platform at the same time, and there is no termination fee. You keep your own LLC and brand throughout and are credentialed under contracts that already exist.
What happens to your data?
Client records and session data live inside the software you use, and moving them takes planning.
What happens to your families and staff?
Clients you found stay with your practice. Clients Alpaca Health referred to you stay with Alpaca Health. Staff Alpaca Health recruited for you can come with you. There is no non-solicit on them.
Which states are covered
Where a company is credentialed today decides where you can bill. Alpaca Health is credentialed in all five states below.
Alpaca Health covers five states
Passage Health sells nationwide
Passage Health is software, so it is not limited by state. Whether you can bill in your state depends on your own insurance contracts.
Why BCBAs choose Alpaca Health
You own the practice and the brand, and Alpaca Health takes no equity in it.
Paid every two weeks, guaranteed
Alpaca Health pays on a fixed cycle and absorbs denials and clawbacks, so a rejected claim never lands on your payroll.
The business side is run for you
Credentialing, billing, intake and payroll are handled for you, and the software they run on is included.
Credentialed under existing contracts
You join insurance contracts that already exist, including Medicaid, across all five states Alpaca Health operates in.
If you are weighing other alternatives or thinking about switching, Alpaca Health is also compared with Headstart Health, Finni Health, Tilly Therapy, Success On The Spectrum and Hi-5 ABA. Compare all major ABA platforms.
Frequently asked questions
Does Passage Health take equity in my practice?
No. Passage Health is software you subscribe to, and Alpaca Health takes no equity either. With Alpaca Health you keep your own LLC and your own brand throughout.
What does Passage Health charge?
Passage Health sells a software subscription and gives pricing on a demo. Alpaca Health pays your practice set rates per session from a rate sheet, and the rate is higher for clients you find yourself. You get the rate sheet for your state on a first call, so you can model your take-home pay.
What happens to my insurance contracts if I leave?
With Passage Health your practice holds its own insurance contracts, because your practice applied for them. Alpaca Health credentials you under contracts it already holds, which is what makes it fast. If you leave Alpaca Health, the clients you found stay with your practice and staff Alpaca Health recruited can come with you. There is no termination fee, and the agreement can be ended with 90 days' notice.
Do I have to use a particular clinical software?
Yes with both. Passage Health is the software. Alpaca Health builds and maintains its own, so scheduling, notes, billing, intake and payroll sit in one system and support comes from the team that wrote it.
Which company operates in my state?
Passage Health is software, so it works in any state. Alpaca Health supports practices in Texas, Colorado, North Carolina, Hawaii and Michigan, and in those five you join insurance contracts that already exist there, including Medicaid.
Who brings in the clients?
Passage Health publishes marketing guidance, and finding clients is work your practice does. Alpaca Health shares it, running national marketing and press while your practice does its own local outreach, which means the referral relationships you build stay with you.
How does Alpaca Health compare with other ABA platforms?
Alpaca Health is compared with Headstart Health, Finni Health, Tilly Therapy, Passage Health, Success On The Spectrum and Hi-5 ABA. Compare all major ABA platforms.
Start your own ABA practice with Alpaca Health
Alpaca Health sets up your legal entity, credentials you under existing insurance contracts including Medicaid, and runs billing, payroll and intake on software built in house. You own the practice and the brand, and Alpaca Health takes no equity.