In 1997, Jonathan Bush founded a women’s health and natal care clinic called Athena Women’s Health, but pivoted less than two years later to build practice management and physician billing tools as Athenahealth. Over the ensuing 20 years, Athenahealth became a major provider of electronic medical records and medical billing technology with more than 100,000 providers using the company’s tools by the time Bush resigned in 2018 amid a protracted takeover bid from Elliott Capital Management, the hedge fund run by activist investor Paul Singer.
After three years out of the game following being “full-on canceled,” as he puts it (at the time of his ousting from Athenahealth, reports circulated about his treatment of female employees and his ex-wife), Bush returned to the healthtech game late last year, founding Zus Health, which is focused on creating a shared health data platform designed to be used by the growing crop of digital health companies. Last year, Zus raised a $34 million Series A round of funding led by Andreessen Horowitz to build out his vision. Bush spoke to Fast Company about the shift taking place in healthcare that he’s hoping to capitalize on, how healthtech founders can succeed as VC funding contracts, and what he makes of Amazon’s acquisition of OneMedical.
The Athena EMR: What you need to know
EMRs are a great way for doctors to streamline their practice. Before you decide on the right EMR for you practice, here are some things you need to know. These include interoperability and cost, usability and customer support.
Interoperability
Interoperability with other systems is one of the main benefits of Athena EMR. Athenahealth has over 81 million patient records and handles five billion data transactions each year. It can easily integrate with other systems, thereby enhancing patient care and improving care coordination.
The athenahealth software includes interoperability tools, such as athenaClinicals to order new lab tests or prescriptions. AthenaNet is a network that includes more than 150,000 healthcare providers. The software can send patient data to the AthenaNet. It also offers recommendations for optimizing patient care. The athenaCommunicator also offers a patient portal that includes HIPAA-compliant messaging.
Athenahealth products can be used by small and large practices. The cloud-based or hosted offerings of Athenahealth help to improve efficiency and productivity. Gamify is an example of a management dashboard, which provides leaderboards and dashboards. Other features include authorization management, zero pay resolution and claim scrubbing.
Cost
Athena EMR's cost varies depending on which features you select and how many providers and doctors you plan to enroll. The software is available separately for $140 per user. A standalone version costs $140 per month. Practice management and medical billing tools are also available. To get a customized quote tailored to your needs, you can contact an athenahealth representative.
Athenahealth's pricing structure is unique because it offers both cloud-based and on-premise versions. This is an advantage for new practices or those with fewer patients. It's also less expensive than its competitors.
Interoperability tools are also available in the software that allow doctors and patients to work together. For example, information can be sent to the CDC's Immunization Information System. This allows practices to meet the meaningful-use requirements set forth by Medicare and Medicaid Promoting interoperability Programs. Athenahealth's patient portal allows patients to make changes to their contact information. Before any changes can be made to a patient's record, they must be approved by the clinical staff. Patients can also fill out their own intake forms prior to their visit. This makes it easier for them and their doctor to start seeing new doctors.
Useability
KLAS recently evaluated the usability and functionality of various EMRs. Athenahealth was found to be the most user-friendly EHR for ambulatory use. This is compared to eight other vendors. Athenahealth has a usability rating of 85% and the highest overall functionality score. It also provides recommendations on how to improve the user experience and highlights common problems for providers.
Although athenaClinicals is the biggest vendor of EMR software it has its flaws. Many users are unhappy about the small service fees and usability issues. Many users also complain about the inability to provide support for older EMRs. It is important to look at the history of a software before you choose an EMR.
Athenahealth offers interoperability tools that allow practices to connect with other health care providers. It can, for example, send vaccine data to the CDC's Immunization Information Systems Database. It can help practices meet the meaningful-use requirements set forth by Medicare and Medicaid Promoting Interoperability Program. It is designed to make it easy for patients to see a new doctor. Patients can log in to the patient portal to update their contact information, history, and complete an intake form before a visit.
Customer support
Athenahealth, a private American company, provides network-enabled healthcare services as well as point-of-care mobile apps. Athena EMR is its flagship product. It provides physicians with an intuitive interface for managing patient records. Its services simplify the workflow of physicians and lower costs for hospitals.
The athena EMR has powerful functions that simplify everyday care. The software is simple to use with minimal downtime, according to users. Users also reported that the customer service team was responsive to all their concerns. Some users were disappointed with the claims functionality. Some users noticed that the system couldn't make customizations they desired.
athenahealth provides tools for practitioners to evaluate and monitor key metrics. Quarterly customer success meetings are held by athenahealth where customer service managers review practice reports and discuss ways to improve. A dashboard allows users to compare their practice's performance with the average athenaNet one.
