Athenahealth Offers Stand-alone HER - Analyst Blog

Leading medical billing and records software provider Athenahealth Inc (ATHN) has announced that from now on it will offer its web-based "athenaClinicals" electronic health record (EHR) service on a stand-alone basis to hospitals and community physicians.

 

Previously, the customers were required to buy the company's flagship service "athenaCollector" (an Internet-based billing and practice management solution) to use athenaClinicals under a bundled service platform.

 

The stand-alone athenaClinicals solution will offer all the quintessential features and functionalities of the core integrated athenaClinicals HER service. The new service, which will be operated from the company's nationwide web-based platform "athenaNet", has been designed to provide clients enhanced flexibility in executing their connectivity programs.

 

The stand-alone service will make Athenahealth's EHR product more appealing to hospitals and affiliated physician practices, especially those who cannot afford to adopt the company's existing fully-integrated service platform.

 

Physicians and hospitals that adopt EHR and use them meaningfully are eligible for incentives under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The incentives, effective in 2011, could reach at least $2 million for hospitals. Athenahealth guarantees that the software component of the stand-alone EHR service will be a "certified EHR technology" to meet the "Meaningful Use" criteria, thereby enabling its clients to qualify for the incentive.

 

Massachusetts-based Athenahealth is a leading provider of Internet-based business services for physician practices. The company has done a remarkable job in differentiating athenaCollector and building it into one of the leading brands in the Health IT market. Higher adoption of athenaCollector and athenaClinical by physicians and medical providers fueled a revenue growth of 28% in the recently reported quarter.

 

However, Athenahealth continues to face stiff competition across all of its operating platforms. Established Health IT players such as Allscripts-Misys (MDRX), Quality Systems (QSII) and GE Healthcare, a division of General Electric (GE), are a major threat to the company. Nevertheless, Athenahealth remains positive about its growth prospects in each of its market segments.