Athenahealth Review - why 4.3 stars?

Shlomi Lavi / updated: Feb 17, 2023

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What is Athenahealth?

Athenahealth is a cloud-based medical software that aims to streamline administrative tasks for medical practices and improve the overall patient experience. The software offers a suite of features designed to help medical professionals manage their practice more efficiently and deliver quality care.

The software is primarily designed for medical practices, including primary care physicians, specialists, and small to mid-size practices. Athenahealth's features can be customized to fit the unique needs of each practice, and the software is HIPAA compliant to ensure patient data is protected.

One of the most significant features of Athenahealth is its electronic health record (EHR) system, which allows medical professionals to manage patient records and track patient health data in real-time. This feature provides doctors with quick and easy access to patient medical histories, making it easier to diagnose and treat patients.

Another key feature of Athenahealth is its practice management system, which helps practices streamline administrative tasks like appointment scheduling, billing, and insurance claims. This feature is particularly useful for smaller practices that may not have a dedicated administrative staff.

Athenahealth also offers a patient engagement platform, which allows practices to communicate with patients and provide them with relevant health information. This feature includes a patient portal, which patients can use to access their health records, schedule appointments, and communicate with their doctors.

Athenahealth was founded in 1997 in Watertown, Massachusetts. Since its inception, the company has grown significantly and now has over 5,000 employees. The company's headquarters are still located in Watertown, but it also has offices in other locations across the United States.

Overall, Athenahealth is an innovative medical software that offers a range of features to help medical practices run more efficiently and deliver better patient care. Its cloud-based design means that it can be accessed from anywhere, making it ideal for practices with multiple locations or remote staff.

In addition to its core features, Athenahealth also offers several add-on services, including revenue cycle management and population health management. These services are designed to help practices improve their financial performance and optimize patient outcomes.

Athenahealth's commitment to innovation and customer service has made it a leader in the medical software industry. With its easy-to-use interface, customizable features, and reliable support, Athenahealth is an excellent choice for any medical practice looking to improve efficiency and deliver quality care to their patients.

Who is it best for?

Athenahealth's medical software is primarily designed for medical practices, including primary care physicians, specialists, and small to mid-size practices. The software is intended to help medical professionals manage their practice more efficiently and improve the overall patient experience.

The software is particularly useful for medical practices that want to streamline administrative tasks, including appointment scheduling, billing, and insurance claims. Athenahealth's cloud-based design means that it can be accessed from anywhere, making it ideal for practices with multiple locations or remote staff.

Here are five examples of companies that use Athenahealth's medical software:

1. ZOOM+Care: ZOOM+Care is a healthcare provider that offers on-demand primary care services. They use Athenahealth's software to manage patient records, scheduling, and billing.

2. Bingham Memorial Hospital: Bingham Memorial Hospital is a non-profit hospital located in Idaho. They use Athenahealth's software to manage their electronic health records, patient engagement, and practice management.

3. Access Health CT: Access Health CT is Connecticut's official health insurance marketplace. They use Athenahealth's software to manage enrollment and billing for their insurance plans.

4. Engage Behavioral Health: Engage Behavioral Health is a mental health and addiction treatment center located in California. They use Athenahealth's software to manage patient records, scheduling, and billing.

5. Foxhall Internists: Foxhall Internists is a medical practice located in Washington, DC. They use Athenahealth's software to manage their electronic health records, patient engagement, and practice management.

Overall, Athenahealth's medical software is used by a wide range of companies in the healthcare industry. From hospitals to primary care practices to insurance marketplaces, Athenahealth's software is designed to meet the unique needs of each customer and provide them with the tools they need to succeed.

Main features and functionalities

Athenahealth Medical software can help your business in several ways, especially if you are in the healthcare industry. Here are a few ways that Athenahealth's software can benefit your business:

1. Streamlined administrative tasks: Athenahealth's software can help your business streamline administrative tasks like appointment scheduling, billing, and insurance claims. This feature is particularly useful for smaller practices that may not have a dedicated administrative staff. With the software, you can manage all of these tasks in one place, which saves time and reduces the risk of errors.

2. Improved patient experience: Athenahealth's software can help improve the overall patient experience by providing doctors with quick and easy access to patient medical histories, making it easier to diagnose and treat patients. The software also includes a patient engagement platform that allows practices to communicate with patients and provide them with relevant health information. This feature includes a patient portal, which patients can use to access their health records, schedule appointments, and communicate with their doctors.

3. Increased efficiency: Athenahealth's cloud-based design means that it can be accessed from anywhere, making it ideal for practices with multiple locations or remote staff. The software's customizable features and reliable support also help improve overall efficiency, which can save time and reduce costs for your business.

4. Compliance with HIPAA regulations: Athenahealth's software is HIPAA compliant, which means that it meets the requirements for protecting patient data. This compliance helps ensure that your business is meeting the necessary regulatory requirements, which can reduce the risk of fines or other penalties.

5. Add-on services: Athenahealth offers several add-on services, including revenue cycle management and population health management. These services are designed to help practices improve their financial performance and optimize patient outcomes. By using these additional services, you can gain insights into your practice's performance and make data-driven decisions to improve patient care.

In conclusion, Athenahealth Medical software can help your business in many ways by streamlining administrative tasks, improving the patient experience, increasing efficiency, ensuring compliance with HIPAA regulations, and offering add-on services to optimize patient outcomes. 

What is the actual cost?

AtenaHealth offers only one base price for the users. The price of the Basic plan is around:

• Basic Plan: The starting price of AtlenaHealth is around $140 per month. For a practice of 5 physicians, AthenaHealth costs at least $700 per month, which is a minimum $8400 annually. The cost for migrating around 1000 patient records along with staff training is $1000, making the overall total for the first year around $9400.

ITQlick pricing score is 4 out of 10 (10 is most expensive). Access ITQlick pricing guide for Athenahealth. You can also find here pricing information from Athenahealth's website.

Pros

• AthenaHealth software has a well-organized system (EHR)
• The medical system has a mobile version
• Cloud-based: Athenahealth cloud-based design means that it can be accessed from anywhere, making it ideal for practices with multiple locations or remote staff. This is a significant advantage over competitors that require on-premise installations.
• Ease of use: Athenahealth software is known for its intuitive, user-friendly design. Compared to some of its competitors, which can be complex and challenging to navigate, Athenahealth software is easy to use and requires minimal training.
• Customer support: Athenahealth is known for its excellent customer support, which includes 24/7 phone and email support, online help resources, and a user community forum. This level of support is superior to some of its competitors, which may offer limited support options or require additional fees for support services.
• It has a robust reporting module

Cons

• The software needs to be improved in the way it handles user roles
• Limited customization: While Athenahealth software is highly intuitive and user-friendly, it may not be as customizable as some of its competitors. This can be a disadvantage for larger healthcare organizations or practices that require highly specialized features.
• The customer support of this medical EHR solution doesn’t offer live chat option for users
• Higher pricing: Athenahealth pricing is generally higher than some of its competitors. This can be a disadvantage for smaller practices or those with limited budgets.
• Limited add-on services: While Athenahealth offers several add-on services, including revenue cycle management and population health management, its competitors may offer a wider range of additional features and services. This can be a disadvantage for practices that require highly specialized tools or more extensive support.

How it stacks up?

Access a head to head analysis of Athenahealth vs alternative software solutions.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is Athenahealth right for you or your business?

AthenaHealth is designed for clinics in various healthcare practices. Even though they officially target 14 healthcare specialties, they have about 110 different specialties using the software. Athenahealth boasts of being used by top health organizations in the United States. The software can be used by small to large healthcare practices like Gastroenterology, Lab and Imagine centers, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Management Services Organizations, Federally Qualified Health Centers, etc.