Shopping around for NextGen or AdvancedMD seldom starts with the patient portal. You know, they think about billing and scheduling but then they’re like, ‘Oh, the portal is what patients are really touching on a daily basis.’
Both vendors have full EHR and practice management suites. Both have a patient portal somewhere in their price structure. The difference is in the packaging of that portal, the cost and the amount of self-service it provides to patients.
NextGen’s PxP Portal and NextGen Office’s YourHealthFile portal focus on secure messaging, self-scheduling and e-visits with premium add-ons sold separately. According to Advanced MD’s own pricing structure, the patient portal and mobile app are bundled into its $729/month EHR with Practice Management tier, so a direct price comparison depends on which plan each practice actually buys.
This guide explains the features, costs, and the most commonly asked questions by practices when choosing between the two.
NextGen Patient Portal Features What’s Included
NextGen has two portal products, depending on the EHR that the practice uses. Enterprise clients will have access to the PxP portal. YourHealthFile also offers NextGen Office for smaller practices.
NextGen PxP Portal – Enterprise
The PxP Portal is a component of the NextGen Patient Experience Platform that allows patients to perform routine tasks 24/7 without having to call the office. Core functions include secure messaging in which practices can send secure messages to patients, respond to messages sent by patients or save the communications in the patient’s chart. Patients can also use the portal to see their personal health records and book or request appointments.
One operational note worth flagging is that the Patient Portal related functions are disabled in NextGen Enterprise EHR and PM when the portal license expires and needs to be renewed through the License Manger. “That is a licensing dependency that AdvancedMD does not have in the same way.”
NextGen Pay allows practices to provide patients with more convenient payment channels directly through the portal.
NextGen Office YourHealthFile (Small Practice)
NextGen Office has its portal divided into standard and premium levels. Practices can register for the standard or premium Patient Portal, with the standard level meeting MIPS requirements. Premium features, such as custom check-in processes, e-visit setup, local search, provider pages, patient portal co-branding and Rx refill requests are available to practices but require contacting the sales representative to subscribe.
Patients can update their medication information, make appointments including e-visits, make payments, request medication refills, complete their intake information prior to appointments on a daily basis. Patients can request an appointment for a specific time period or schedule directly on the calendar on the scheduling side.
AdvancedMD Patient Portal Cost and Features
AdvancedMD’s patient portal isn’t sold as a stand-alone product. It’s baked into certain levels of its EHR and practice management pricing.
The Practice Management Scheduling and Billing plan starts at $429 per provider per month at the entry level and the patient portal is not listed as a core feature. The Patient Portal is available at the EHR With Practice Management level and above.
| AdvancedMD Plan | Monthly Price (per provider) | Patient Portal Included | Other Key Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| Practice Management Scheduling and Billing | $429 | No | Claims management, eligibility, collections worklists |
| EHR With Practice Management | $729 | Yes, plus mobile app | Customizable templates, ePrescribing, patient cards |
| Patient Engagement With EHR and PM | $999 | Yes, full engagement suite | Telehealth, messaging, reminders, check-in kiosk |
Source: softwarefinder.com AdvancedMD profile, 2026.
Beyond base plans, pricing varies by specialty. Medical specialties run $429 to $1,070 per provider per month, mental health runs $130 to $399, and physical medicine and addiction medicine both run $399. Practices with low claim volume can skip the flat monthly fee entirely: AdvancedMD offers per-encounter pricing for practices that prefer to pay based on submitted claims, ranging from $0.87 to $1.74 per claim for practice management alone, or $1.08 to $2.17 per claim when bundled with EHR.
On features, AdvancedMD’s core software description confirms the portal is grouped with other patient-facing tools: AdvancedMD software plans include a unified suite of practice management, EHR, and patient engagement tools, with core features including scheduling, billing, claims management, ePrescribing, patient charting, a patient portal, telehealth, and appointment reminders.
NextGen vs AdvancedMD Patient Portal: Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | NextGen (Enterprise/Office) | AdvancedMD |
|---|---|---|
| Secure messaging | Yes, built into PxP Portal | Yes, in Patient Engagement tier |
| Self-scheduling | Yes, 24/7 scheduling powered by Luma | Yes, appointment requests included |
| Telehealth / e-visits | Yes, e-visit requests on Office portal | Yes, included from EHR plus PM tier up |
| Online bill pay | Yes, via NextGen Pay | Yes, bundled with reminders |
| Mobile app | Browser-based, works on any device | Dedicated mobile app included |
| Pricing model | Quote-based, license required | Per-provider, per-encounter, or RCM percentage |
Source: NextGen.com, AdvancedMD.com, softwarefinder.com, 2026.
NextGen automates the mundane tasks of registration, eligibility verification, scheduling and appointment reminders and self-scheduling via Luma is available 24/7. But Forbes Advisor’s 2026 review also highlights a limitation: the platform offers basic messaging capabilities but not more advanced messaging features such as automatic outreach campaigns, bulk messaging or patient engagement tracking. That’s something to consider if a practice is interested in heavier automated outreach via the portal itself.
Which portal is best for your practice
Larger multi-specialty groups that already use NextGen Enterprise usually keep the PxP Portal because it links directly into the same chart and billing records. Smaller practices get a lighter version of NextGen Office with optional premium add-ons priced separately through a sales rep.
AdvancedMD is a good fit for practices that want the portal bundled into one predictable plan instead of negotiating a separate license. Practices comparing the two should also be sure to price out the full EHR plus PM bundle (not just the $429 base plan) before assuming that AdvancedMD is cheaper, since the portal is only included starting at the $729/month tier.
Practices that do consider a third option usually compare both to athenahealth’s patient portal, which again bundles messaging and bill pay but in a different way.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does NextGen have a patient portal app for mobile?
Yes. NextGen’s PxP Portal is browser based and works on any device. NextGen Office’s YourHealthFile portal allows mobile access to schedule appointments, pay bills and conduct telehealth e-visits. NextGen Enterprise clients also provide access to personal health records and secure messaging in a mobile-friendly environment through the same portal login patients use on the desktop.
Is the AdvancedMD patient portal included in the base price?
It is contingent upon the plan you choose. AdvancedMD’s Practice Management tier is $429/month and does not include the patient portal as a core feature, but the EHR With Practice Management tier is $729/month and includes the patient portal and mobile app as a standard feature, according to the company’s own pricing page.
Which patient portal is better for online bill pay?
AdvancedMD’s EHR and patient engagement tiers include online bill pay as a core feature, and the bundle includes reminders and check-in kiosk tools. NextGen also has online payments through NextGen Pay for both Enterprise and Office portals, so both vendors do bill pay but AdvancedMD makes it more visible inside one mid-tier plan.
So these portals do allow patients to schedule their own appointments?
Yes, both vendors do allow self-scheduling. NextGen’s Enterprise EHR includes 24/7 self-scheduling powered by Luma, while NextGen Office lets patients request or book time slots right on a provider’s calendar. The AdvancedMD portal also has appointment requests in its patient engagement module.
Do NextGen and AdvancedMD portals require an additional licensing fee?
NextGen Enterprise portal functions are tied to an active portal license and the related functions in the EHR and PM system are disabled if that license expires. AdvancedMD does not offer the portal as a stand-alone add-on, but rather bundles it up with some price tiers. This means the fee structure is different between the two vendors.
