After your organization signs up, athenahealth begins with a thorough assessment of your specific needs and goals. This includes a kickoff call with your dedicated onboarding project lead, who will guide you through the initial planning and data-gathering phase.
2. Assembling the Implementation Team
Both athenahealth and your practice assign key personnel to the project. Your team might include an onboarding lead, a clinical representative, and staff from IT and administration.
3. Workflow Personalization and System Configuration
The onboarding team works closely with your practice to customize the software. This involves setting up workflows, templates, billing processes, and scheduling to match your practice’s requirements.
4. Data Migration and Integration
If you’re moving from another system, athenahealth helps import patient records, billing data, and other important information. Integration with labs, imaging centers, and other third-party systems is handled during this stage.
5. Credentialing, Contracting, and Enrollment
Your practice completes credentialing and contracting, while athenahealth assists with payer enrollment to ensure claims and payments are processed smoothly.
6. Staff Training and User Preparation
Comprehensive training is provided through self-paced modules, live sessions, and personalized coaching. Training is tailored to each role and must be completed before the system goes live.
7. User Acceptance Testing
Before going live, your team tests the system in a real-world environment to ensure everything works as expected and staff are comfortable using the software.
8. Go-Live and Post-Go-Live Support
The official transition to athenahealth takes place, often with a phased rollout. Support is available both on-site and virtually to address any immediate issues. After go-live, ongoing support and performance monitoring continue, with a dedicated Customer Success Manager assigned to your practice.
Customisation
athenahealth software is designed to be flexible and adaptable to fit the specific needs of different healthcare organizations. Here are the main ways it can be customized:
Templates and Workflows: Practices can modify clinical and administrative templates, visit types, and workflows to match their unique processes. This includes customizing documentation, scheduling, billing, and task assignments.
Specialty-Specific Features: The software offers pre-built options and workflows for various specialties, such as women’s health, urgent care, and more. These can be further tailored to your practice’s needs.
Reporting and Analytics: Users can create custom reports with a wide range of filters and schedule them for automatic delivery to specific staff members. Key performance indicators, financial data, and patient trends can all be tracked in ways that suit your business.
Integration and Interoperability: athenahealth can be integrated with labs, imaging centers, pharmacies, and third-party applications. Practices can use available APIs to connect other systems or automate unique workflows.
User Interface Personalization: Providers can personalize their dashboards and note-taking layouts. Customizations can be made at the user level, so each staff member can set up their workspace as they prefer.
Marketplace and APIs: The athenahealth Marketplace offers a variety of add-on applications, and APIs are available for deeper custom integration or automation.
Ongoing Updates: The software is regularly updated with new features and customization options to keep up with industry changes and user feedback.
Additional Costs
athenahealth aims for transparent pricing, but there are some additional costs to consider beyond the monthly subscription. Here are the main cost areas:
Subscription Fee: The typical starting price is around $140 per provider, per month. For a practice with five providers, this totals about $700 per month or $8,400 per year.
Billing Services Fee: If you use athenahealth’s billing services, the company usually charges between 4% and 7% of your practice’s total collections.
Data Migration: Migrating up to 1,000 patient records and two training sessions usually costs about $1,000. Data migration fees can range from $500 to $10,000, and for very large migrations (over 1 million records), costs can reach up to $25,000.
Custom Integrations: Connecting athenahealth to multiple external systems or creating custom integrations may cost between $2,500 and $25,000, depending on complexity.
Training: Training fees range from $500 to $5,000, based on the number and type of sessions needed.
Order Transmission Services: These services cost $150 per month, plus $0.45 to $1.00 per order, depending on your chosen package.
Support and Maintenance: Basic support, updates, and a dedicated Customer Success Manager are included in the subscription fee. There is no extra charge for standard support.
Setup Fees: For many products, there is little to no upfront setup fee. In some cases, there is no setup fee at all.
Contract Terms: athenahealth does not require long-term contracts, and there are no hidden fees or penalties for leaving.
Training
athenahealth provides a thorough training and support program to help new users get started and succeed:
Dedicated Onboarding: Each new client is assigned a project lead who guides them through setup, workflow analysis, data migration, and system configuration.
Role-Specific Training: Training is customized for different roles, such as clinicians, administrators, and billing staff, so each user learns the features most relevant to their job.
Self-Paced eLearning: Users have access to interactive, on-demand eLearning modules that cover all essential system functions. These resources are available for both initial onboarding and ongoing learning.
Live Training Sessions: In addition to online modules, athenahealth offers live webinars, group sessions, and one-on-one coaching to address specific needs and questions.
Ongoing Support: After the system goes live, users have access to 24/7 support via phone, email, chat, or web. A dedicated Customer Success Manager is available for ongoing optimization and troubleshooting.
Continuous Learning: Users can join live and recorded webinars, virtual classrooms, and user communities to share best practices and ask questions.
Included in Subscription: Most standard training and support resources are included in the subscription fee, with no extra charge for onboarding or ongoing assistance.
Security Measures
athenahealth uses a comprehensive, multi-layered approach to data security:
Multi-Factor Authentication: All users are required to use multi-factor authentication or single sign-on, adding a strong layer of protection against unauthorized access.
Encryption: Data is encrypted both while being transmitted and while stored, ensuring patient information remains secure at all times.
Continuous Monitoring: The network is monitored in real time to detect threats and vulnerabilities, allowing for quick responses to any incidents.
Specialized Security Teams: Dedicated teams focus on threat detection, risk management, cloud security, and secure software development.
Industry Certifications: athenahealth maintains top industry certifications for healthcare security, demonstrating adherence to strict standards.
Regulatory Compliance: The platform is built to comply with healthcare regulations, including HIPAA and HITECH, with technical safeguards like access controls and auditing.
Best Practice Frameworks: Security controls and risk management processes are aligned with recognized industry frameworks.
Mobile Security: On mobile devices, application sandboxing prevents other apps from accessing or changing sensitive data, and data integrity controls ensure information is not corrupted.
Secure Data Centers: All data is stored in secure, access-restricted facilities managed by athenahealth.
Updates
athenahealth keeps its software current and secure with regular updates:
Major Updates: Three major releases are delivered each year, typically in the spring, summer, and fall. These updates bring new features, improvements, and regulatory compliance changes.
Minor Updates: Smaller updates and bug fixes are released every two weeks to address minor issues and enhance stability.
Automatic Deployment: All updates are automatically deployed to users, so practices always have the latest features and security protections without needing to take action themselves.
Clear Communication: Practices are notified in advance about upcoming changes, and training materials are updated to reflect any new features or workflows.
Product Roadmap: athenahealth maintains a transparent development roadmap, prioritizing regulatory needs, patient safety, and innovation.
Data Ownership and Portability
athenahealth’s policy ensures that client organizations always retain ownership of their data. All information entered into the system by your organization or its authorized users—including patient records and protected health information—remains your property. athenahealth’s agreements, including those required for healthcare privacy compliance, clearly state that clients own their data.
athenahealth is permitted to use your data only as needed to provide services, improve their products, and fulfill legal obligations. This use does not mean ownership is transferred; it simply allows athenahealth to operate on your behalf. Clients can access, correct, or request deletion of their data in accordance with applicable laws.
When it comes to data portability, clients have the right to request a copy of their data in a portable and usable format. This means you can export your information if you decide to switch vendors or need to transfer your data elsewhere. athenahealth is required to respond to such requests within the timelines set by relevant regulations.
Scaling Up / Down
athenahealth’s platform is designed to be flexible and scalable, making it easy for organizations to adjust their usage as needs change:
Adding Users or Locations: You can quickly add new providers, staff members, or even entire locations. The onboarding process for additional users is streamlined, supporting rapid growth without significant administrative burden.
Reducing Scale: If you need to downsize—such as by reducing the number of providers or services—athenahealth allows you to adjust your subscription accordingly. You may switch to different pricing models or reduce active users, helping you manage costs.
Flexible Contracts: athenahealth typically does not require long-term contracts, so you can scale your subscription up or down as needed without penalties or complicated contract changes.
Automation and Efficiency: The system’s automation tools help maintain operational efficiency whether you are expanding or contracting, reducing manual work for your staff.
Support for Organizational Changes: The platform can accommodate mergers, acquisitions, or integrations with other systems, ensuring smooth transitions as your organization evolves.
The terms & conditions for contract renewal and cancellation
athenahealth is known for offering flexible contract terms designed to accommodate the changing needs of healthcare organizations. Here are key data points regarding renewal and cancellation:
No Long-Term Contracts Required: athenahealth typically does not require clients to commit to long-term contracts. Clients often have the flexibility to engage on a month-to-month or annual basis, making it easier to adjust or exit as needed.
Simple Renewal Process: Contracts generally renew automatically unless the client provides notice of cancellation within a specified period, which is usually outlined in the service agreement. This notice period is designed to give both parties adequate time to prepare for changes.
Cancellation Policy: Clients can cancel their services by providing written notice within the timeframe specified in their agreement. There are usually no penalties for cancellation, and clients are not locked into multi-year commitments.
Scaling Terms: If an organization needs to add or remove users, locations, or services, adjustments can be made to the contract without renegotiation or penalty. This flexibility supports both growth and downsizing.
Data Portability at Cancellation: Upon cancellation, clients retain ownership of their data and can request a copy in a portable format, ensuring continuity and compliance when transitioning to another system.
No Hidden Fees: athenahealth emphasizes transparent pricing, so clients are not typically subject to hidden fees or unexpected charges when renewing or cancelling their contract.
Compliance
athenahealth software meets a broad range of industry and regulatory compliance standards to ensure security, privacy, and interoperability in healthcare. Key certifications and standards include:
HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act): athenahealth is HIPAA compliant, ensuring the confidentiality and security of protected health information.
HITECH/ARRA (Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health/ American Recovery and Reinvestment Act): Demonstrates compliance with enhanced privacy and security requirements for electronic health records.
ACA (Affordable Care Act) and Omnibus Rule: Conformance with federal healthcare reform legislation and privacy updates.
HITRUST Common Security Framework (CSF): athenahealth holds HITRUST CSF certification, a widely recognized security framework in healthcare.
EHNAC (Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission): Certification for conformance with federal and state healthcare legislation.
PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard): Compliance for secure handling of payment card information.
EPCS (Electronic Prescriptions for Controlled Substances): Certification for secure electronic prescribing, including controlled substances.
DirectTrust Certification: Accreditation for secure health information exchange.
Kantara Initiative Certification: Credentialing for identity management and secure access.
SOC 1 (SSAE 18): Demonstrates controls for financial and operational reporting.
ONC 2015 Edition Certification: Certification by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, confirming compliance with federal standards for health IT.
ICD-10 Compliance: athenahealth guarantees compliance with ICD-10 code sets for medical billing and claims, including Medicare medical necessity checks.
NIST AI Risk Management Framework: For modules using artificial intelligence, athenahealth aligns with NIST’s framework and federal requirements for transparency and risk management.
