Comparison
The Klara alternative for medical practices
Klara is text-first patient messaging, now sold by ModMed as ModMed Patient Engagement. Calls become text threads, and your team works the inbox.
Caesar’s agent answers the call, books in the EHR and files faxes to the chart. This page shows what each puts on the chart, in ModMed’s own words and dates.
At a glance
Caesar Health
AI agents for phone, documents, intake and clinical documentation, configured around the practice's current EMR. Confirm each proposed workflow and writeback during the demo.
Revenue Cycle is in beta with design partners. Confirm which workflows are available for your practice.
Klara
ModMed describes ModMed Patient Engagement, powered by Klara, as patient communication with app-free two-way texting, call-to-text, shared inboxes and an AI Front Office Assistant.
ModMed acquired Klara in February 2022. Pricing is demo-led, with no published price.
The decision
Klara is a patient messaging product. Caesar Health is an agent that answers the call and does the work in your EHR.
Klara is now ModMed's. ModMed acquired Klara in February 2022 and sells it as "ModMed Patient Engagement, powered by Klara." The klara.com address redirects to that ModMed page.
If your patients text and your team works the inbox, Klara is built for that. If the painful part is the phone, and what staff do in the EHR after it, this page shows where Caesar fits.
Where the phone and the chart come in
As published on 9 October 2026:
- Calls become texts. Klara's call-to-text lets "patients who call … start texting instead." It also converts "calls and transcribed voicemails into encrypted text chats."
- One thread per patient. A ModMed video says messages are "consolidated into one patient thread" that "interfaces with your preferred EHR." It does not say what is written to the chart.
- Intake and payments reach the record. ModMed says details "collected during intake or text payments flow directly into the patient record."
- Fax is a separate ModMed product. Enhanced Faxing is a ModMed EMA feature that sorts faxes with AI and attaches them to the patient record. It is not described as part of Klara.
Caesar's agent answers the call itself. It finds the patient, searches your live open slots, and books, reschedules or cancels in ModMed. It texts the patient back, and it files faxes to the chart. Filing to athenahealth is live today.
Side by side
| Decision point | Caesar Health | Klara (ModMed Patient Engagement) |
|---|---|---|
| Category | AI agents for calls, texts and faxes, with the work done in the EHR | Patient messaging and engagement, sold by ModMed |
| Who answers the phone | The Phone Agent, day or night. Warm transfer to your staff | No published claim of a phone system or an AI that answers calls |
| Calls | Answered and booked on the call. Recording, transcript and summary attached to the patient | Call-to-text turns calls and voicemails into text threads |
| Texting | Two-way SMS agent. Books, reschedules and cancels by text | App-free two-way texting, shared inboxes, routing |
| AI | Books and finishes the request on a call or a text | AI Front Office Assistant for the inbox: flags urgent messages, answers basic scheduling questions with booking links, summarizes chats |
| Booking | Books in athenahealth, ModMed and EZDERM | Self-scheduling by text. ModMed's footnote says it may require additional purchase |
| Fax | Inbound faxes read, classified and filed to the chart. athenahealth filing is live | Not part of Klara. ModMed EMA has Enhanced Faxing |
| Texts and calls to the chart | Booking written to the EHR. Call record attached to the patient | No published claim of messages or calls written to the chart. Intake and payments flow to the record |
| EHRs named | athenahealth, ModMed, EZDERM | ModMed EMA, gGastro and ModMed Practice Management |
| Published pricing | See pricing | Demo-led. No published price |
Klara details as published by ModMed on 9 October 2026. Some AI and retention features sit under ModMed's forward-looking-statements notice, and some are limited to select specialties. "No published claim" means the capability is not described on those pages. Ask ModMed.
Where Klara is strong, plainly
It is built for ModMed. If you run EMA or ModMed Practice Management, intake texts go to the practice management record, and payments post through ModMed Pay.
It is text-first. Patients don't need an app or a password. Staff get shared inboxes, @mentions and routing.
It covers the messaging jobs. Reminders, broadcasts, surveys and text-to-pay come from one vendor.
ModMed is adding AI to it. ModMed acquired Bonsai Health in April 2026. It describes Klara as the communication hub and Bonsai as a proactive AI layer for outreach and scheduling.
Choose Klara if…
You run ModMed. Your patients prefer text. You want one inbox for texts, call-to-text threads and payments, from the vendor that makes your EHR.
Choose Caesar Health if…
You want the call answered and the appointment booked without a person touching it. You need the agent to work in more than one EHR. You get faxes that must be read and filed to the right chart. You want one agent for phone, text and fax.
On ModMed, Caesar runs beside Klara. Forward the calls you want the agent to answer and leave the inbox where it is.
What to ask on either demo
- Call the line after hours and book a visit. What is on the patient's chart afterward that nobody typed?
- Text the same patient. Does the thread and the call sit on one record?
- Send a fax. Who files it, and where does it land?
- Which of the AI features you are shown are available for your specialty today?
Frequently asked questions
Is Klara a phone system?
Klara's pages describe call-to-text, voicemail transcription and texting. They don't describe a phone system, desk phones or call routing. Ask ModMed what is available.
Does Klara have an AI receptionist?
Klara's pages describe an AI Front Office Assistant for the message inbox and AI outreach for overdue and lapsed patients. They don't describe an AI that answers phone calls. Some of these features are limited to select specialties.
Does Klara write messages and calls to the patient chart?
ModMed says intake details and text payments flow into the patient record. Its pages say messages "interface with" your EHR and do not say what is written to the chart. Ask ModMed to show a message on the chart.
Is Caesar Health an alternative to Klara?
For calls, texts and faxes, yes. Caesar answers calls, texts patients and files faxes. Klara also provides broadcasts, surveys and text-to-pay. Caesar's staff phone, with a softphone, extensions and ring groups, is in pilot.
Can I use Caesar with ModMed?
Yes. Caesar books, reschedules and cancels in ModMed against open slots. See the ModMed integration.
How much does Klara cost?
ModMed doesn't publish a price. It offers a 30-minute demo. Caesar's pricing is on the pricing page.
Is there a comparison with Weave for ModMed practices?
Yes. See Klara, Weave and Caesar Health for ModMed practices.
Sources (accessed 9 October 2026)
- Category headline, call-to-text, voicemail conversion, AI Front Office Assistant, intake and payment flow, ModMed integration, forward-looking-statements notice:
https://www.modmed.com/what-we-do/patient-engagement/ - "Powered by Klara", call-to-text, patient thread, demo-led pricing:
https://www.modmed.com/what-we-do/patient-communication/ - Self-scheduling and intake to practice management:
https://www.modmed.com/what-we-do/patient-communication/beyond-patient-engagement-pre-visit-collaboration/ - Acquisition of Klara, 8 February 2022:
https://www.modmed.com/press-release/modmed-acquires-maker-of-the-klara-practice-patient-collaboration-platform/ - Acquisition of Bonsai Health, April 2026:
https://www.modmed.com/press-release/modmed-acquires-bonsai-health-to-accelerate-ai-powered-patient-engagement/ - ModMed EMA faxing:
https://www.modmed.com/what-we-do/faxing/ - Redirect from klara.com:
https://www.klara.com/
Other comparisons
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- The Weave alternative for medical practices
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- The Spruce alternative for medical practices
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- The Dialpad alternative for medical practices
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- Klara, Weave and Caesar for ModMed practices
ModMed practices comparing patient messaging, phones and AI workflows alongside their existing EHR.
See it run on your own workflows
Pick the workflow your front desk hates most. We will run it end to end, in the EMR you already use, and you can watch it finish.