Certinal

Certinal is a healthcare consent platform with electronic signing and API options. It is best suited to enterprise health systems coordinating consent across facilities and departments. Its appeal is the connection between patient intake, consent workflows, and EHRs; buyers should be prepared for custom pricing and implementation planning.

Overview

Certinal covers consent capture, digital signing, version control, and filing to an EHR. Patients can complete registration and consent before an appointment through a secure link sent by SMS or email, which makes it a strong fit for organizations bringing paperwork into digital intake. Its healthcare focus and enterprise orientation are less compelling for a small team that only needs basic document signing.

Direct integrations include Epic, Oracle Cerner, MEDITECH, and OpenEMR; other systems can connect through HL7 and FHIR APIs. Certinal also lists connectors for Salesforce, SharePoint, Workday, SAP, Oracle, and Google. That breadth can help fit consent into established systems, though the value depends on each organization's integration and implementation requirements.

Key features

Consent and signing workflows

Healthcare consent workflows span surgical, procedure-specific, clinical trial, general treatment, and data-processing consent. The Consent and Compliance Enterprise plan combines clinical and data-processing consent with multi-channel capture, EMR-native integration, and identity verification; another plan description also includes support for 80+ languages. This is a focused package for health systems managing consent across multiple hospitals, departments, and regulatory geographies, rather than a general-purpose signing plan.

Certinal eSignature supports sequential, parallel, and hybrid signing, so organizations can accommodate different approval paths. Audit trails and document templates support recordkeeping and repeatable workflows, while bulk sending can help when many documents need to be issued. SMS authentication adds another identity-check option. These capabilities suit structured, high-volume processes better than occasional one-off signing.

API, security, and implementation

The API Enterprise plan includes REST API access, embedded signing, white-labeling, real-time reporting, and customized workflows. That makes it the more relevant option for teams embedding signing into their own applications or processes. The API Sandbox provides an open REST API 3.0 sandbox with enterprise-level functionality, but it is a sandbox plan rather than a substitute for the Enterprise plan's production-oriented features.

Certinal says healthcare data is encrypted at rest with AES-256 and in transit with TLS 1.2 or higher, and that it provides a signed BAA for healthcare customers. Its compliance materials list ISO 27001:2013, SSAE SOC I and SOC II Type 2, IRAP, and other standards. These are pertinent assurances for healthcare buyers, but organizations should assess them against their own compliance requirements. eSignature implementation can be completed within a week, subject to implementation requirements, so the actual timeline depends on the environment.

Pricing

Certinal is paid software with custom pricing, and it offers a two-week trial at no additional cost. The trial gives buyers a defined window to assess fit, but no published price or seat quota makes it difficult to compare total cost without a provider quote.

• Consent and Compliance Enterprise: Custom pricing. Clinical and data-processing consent, multi-channel capture, EMR-native integration, and identity verification; one plan description also includes 80+ languages. It is aimed at enterprise health systems coordinating consent across multiple hospitals, departments, and regulatory geographies.
• eSign Enterprise: Custom pricing. The plan includes a 100 MB file-size limit. A separate plan description also names real-time status, templates, bulk sending, two-factor authentication, and mobile/tablet signing. Confirm which package terms apply when requesting a quote.
• eSignature API Sandbox: Custom pricing. An open REST API 3.0 sandbox with enterprise-level functionality, suited to evaluating an API-based workflow.
• eSignature API Enterprise: Custom pricing. REST API, embedded signing, full white-labeling, real-time reporting, and customized workflows. Choose it when integration and branded embedded signing are central requirements.

Pricing information does not establish seat counts or usage quotas, so buyers should confirm those alongside implementation requirements and the scope of any integrations before committing.

Platforms

Certinal supports web, iOS, Android, and API access. That combination serves organizations working across browser-based administration, mobile devices, and embedded integrations; the platform list alone does not establish that every workflow is available in every client.

Who it's for

Certinal is most appropriate for enterprise health systems that need to manage consent across multiple hospitals, departments, or regulatory geographies and connect it to EHR workflows. It is also a contender for organizations that need configurable signing sequences or want to embed signing through an API. Smaller practices and buyers focused chiefly on low-cost, general-purpose signatures are more likely to find its enterprise emphasis and custom pricing a mismatch.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Healthcare-specific consent types and patient pre-appointment intake address workflows that generic eSignature tools may not center on.
• Pro: Direct connections to four named EHRs, with HL7 and FHIR APIs for other systems, give health organizations multiple integration paths.
• Pro: Sequential, parallel, and hybrid signing, alongside templates, bulk sending, and audit trails, supports varied and repeatable approval processes.
• Con: Custom pricing and no stated seat or usage allowances make budget comparison dependent on a provider quote.
• Con: Implementation is subject to requirements, so the stated ability to complete it within a week is not a guaranteed timeline for every organization.
• Con: The enterprise healthcare orientation is likely more than a small practice or individual seeking occasional signatures needs.

Alternatives

For buyers who want another eSignature option, the E-Signature Software and Electronic Signature Software directories provide broader category comparisons.

• Esup-Signature is a free, Apache 2.0 open-source option for institutions willing to install it on their own server.
• OpenSign offers a free plan with unlimited digital signatures and templates, completion certificates, sequential signing, OpenSign Drive, and email notifications for buyers who want a free alternative.
• Sign.Plus has a free plan with three signature requests total and one template; consider it if that small allowance fits your needs.
• Dropbox Sign offers three signature requests per month on its free plan, making it a lower-commitment choice for light signing volume.
• Jotform has a free Starter plan with five forms and 100 monthly submissions, so it may suit teams centered on forms and submissions.
• Signaturely offers one document or signature request per month for free, with an audit trail and history, for very occasional use.
• BoldSign offers a free Essential plan with 25 envelopes per month, two templates, and one user, a defined allowance for small signing needs.
• eSignly has a lifetime free plan with five signing requests per month and a 5 MB PDF limit, for individuals with modest volume and small files.

Verdict

Choose Certinal if you are an enterprise health system that needs healthcare consent workflows tied to patient intake and EHRs, or an organization building signing into a product through APIs. Its strongest reason to buy is this combination of consent-specific workflows and integration options. Look elsewhere if a transparent, low-cost general-purpose signing tool is the priority: Certinal's custom pricing and implementation-dependent fit make that a less direct match.