Product Profile
Product name
athenaClinicals
EHR Certification
CCHIT Child Health
Meaningful Use – Stage 1 (ONC-ATCB Certified 2011/2012)
CCHIT 2008
History of development and product ownership
As an SaaS (SeS) company, athenahealth writes, maintains and enhances the software our clients access via the internet. We also build, operate, and maintain all of the technical infrastructure (hardware, software, interfaces, etc) required for athenaNet.
Was the product known by any other names in the past three years?
No
Year that a fully functional version of this EHR product was first implemented in a medical practice in the US
2006
Number of full time equivalent (FTE) staff fully dedicated to this product
Product development: 172
Sales: 120
Implementation: 80
Support and maintenance: 100
Typical size of practice in which this EHR has been implemented
1–3 physicians
4–10 physicians
11–25 physicians
>25 physicians
Typical setting in which this EHR system is used
Community Health Center/Clinic
Multispecialty Clinic
Private Ambulatory Care Office
What specialties does this EHR support?
Addiction Medicine
Adolescent Medicine
Allergy and Immunology
Cardiology - Invasive/Interventional
Cardiology - Non Invasive
Dermatology
Endocrinology/Diabetes/Metabolism
Gastroenterology
General Internal Medicine
General Practice/Family Practice
Geriatrics
Hematology
Hepatology
Hospice and Palliative Medicine
Infectious Disease
Nephrology
Neurology
Neurosurgery
OB/Gyn & Women's Health
Oncology
Ophthalmology
Orthopaedic Surgery
Osteopathic Medicine
Otolaryngology
Pain Management
Pediatrics
Physical/Rehabilitation Medicine
Plastic Surgery and Aesthetic Medicine
Public/Community Health
Pulmonary Medicine
Rheumatology
Sleep Medicine
Sports Medicine
Surgery - Cardiothoracic
Surgery - General
Surgery - Oral & Maxillofacial
Surgery - Other
Surgery - Vascular
Urology
Areas of the United States in which this EHR product is sold
North East
Mid Alantic
South
Midwest
South West
West
Hardware / Network
Operating system platform(s) supported
athenaNet is written using a primarily open source stack: Linux, Apache, Perl. The key exception is the database, which is Oracle 11g.
Please see our Technical Specifications document for more information on our connectivity standards.
Does the company resell any hardware?
As a web-based platform, we do not require data servers, application servers, scanners, back-up systems, or interface servers.
Preferred list of 3rd party hardware suppliers
athenahealth recently signed a partnership with Dell to provide standard pricing and end-user hardware for clients.
Preferred list of 3rd party IT Support vendors?
One of the many unique advantages of the athenahealth platform is that no IT services partners are required for installation, configuration, or operation of athenaNet, which reduces the amount and cost of IT support required in the practice.
Does the product work over a wireless (WIFI) network?
No
athenaClinicals requires comprehensive wireless LAN access and power outlets in designated clinical areas to charge tablet or convertible PCs; LAN access should be tested for signal strength in all areas of your practice.
VARs - Value Added Resellers
Do you use value added resellers to sell and distribute this EHR?
No
Can customers purchase your product directly from your company or only from your VAR’s
No
N/A
Can customers who have purchased your product through a VAR contact your company for support?
No
N/A
Application Service Provider
Do you offer an ASP version of your EHR product?
No
We only offer a web-based, software-enabled service (SeS) version of our EHR. athenaNet is a web-based, centrally hosted, fully integrated single platform software that is updated continually and all clients use the same version of athenaNet.
Can you use Dragon or MS voice tools on your ASP solution?
Yes
Dragon Naturally Speaking version 9.0 or higher is compatible with all text fields in athenaNet.
Company policy regarding data ownership for the ASP EHR
athena does not transfer ownership or make a determination as to ownership of data. To the extent that a practice owns data, it will remain the practice’s data.
Location of data hosting centers
Primary: Bedford, MA
Secondary: Belfast, ME
Software & Database
What programming language were used to develop the application?
athenaNet is written using a primarily open source stack: Linux, Apache, Perl. The key exception is the database, which is Oracle 11g.
Do you provide a test version of your EHR product for training and quality assurance(QA) purposes as well as the full production environment that is installed in the clinic? (The test version is a segmented area where users can make changes to templates or forms without it affecting the live environment)
Yes
Because athenaNet is a centrally hosted web-based platform, our testing environment is a true mirror of production; regression tests run in this testing environment are the most critical gate in the production testing process.
Are 3rd party applications required to use your EHR?
Yes
An internet browser Microsoft Internet Explorer reccomended
Do you use standard terminologies, e.g., SNOMED-CT, LOINC, ICD9, ICD10 in your program?
We use a mixture of 3rd party and proprietary clinical vocabulary libraries in our application. We use ICD-9 for our patient problem list and Medicomp Medcin database for our clinical terminology dataset. This data can be mapped to SNOMED-CT, ICD-9-CM, CPT4 and other standards as needed. We use First Databank's medication dictionary for all drug and allergy information and interactions algorithms. First Databank's drug library is mapped to RxNorm.
Our order set is proprietary.
Expected date to be in compliance with ICD10 coding
no later than 10/1/2013
Expected date to be in compliance with SNOMED-CT
As mentioned, our clinical terminology database already has a mapping to SNOMED-CT.
Interfaces / Interoperability
Does this product have existing lab interfaces with Quest? If Yes, please explain whether the interfaces are uni or bi-directional.
Yes
Uni-directional (bi-directional interfaces are being built.)
If Yes to the previous question, are the interfaces bundled or provided at additional cost? Please explain.
No
Inbound lab interfaces are built at no additional charge.
If the lab company picks up the costs, will the practice be charged maintenance and support fees? If Yes, please explain.
Does this product have existing lab interfaces with Labcorp? If Yes,
Yes
Uni-directional (bi-directional interfaces are being built.)
If Yes to the previous question, are the interfaces bundled or provided at additional cost? Please explain.
No
Inbound lab interfaces are built at no additional charge.
If the lab company picks up the costs, will the practice be charged maintenance and support fees? If Yes, please explain.
Does the company offer an integrated EHR/PM system? (i.e. a combined EHR/PM system)
Yes
fully integrated with, our practice management, our billing solution, and our patient portal solution.
[If yes to the previous question] Does your system used a single shared database (not interfaced) for the EHR/PM system?
Yes
Can your product be interfaced with a different PM system if the practice chooses to do so?
No
Does not currently support interfaces to other practice management systems.
List of Practice Management systems with which you have existing interfaces
N/A
If you do not have an interface with a particular PM system, are you willing to develop a custom interface?
No
N/A
If an interfaced PM system is used, does your EHR product transfer billing and coding data captured during the encounter to the PM system? If yes, is this a one-step or multi-step process?
No
N/A
Does the EHR use an interface engine?
No
Not an off the shelf product
Implementation and training
Tools and/or services offered to clients in order to achieve meaningful use of their EHR?
athenahealth has developed a suite of Meaningful Use reports available as of early 2010. These reports will help practices understand their clinical performance according to Meaningful Use criteria. We will submit these reports on behalf of practices to the appropriate CMS/ONC data warehouses. In addition to reports, we'll develop dashboards and 'data capture prompts' to monitor and drive meaningful use of athenaClinicals. We will assess meaningful use according to ONC's criteria.
Tools and/or services offered to clients for current workflow analysis and redesign when using an EHR?
athenahealth has developed the “Five Stages Encounter” designed to measure and optimize physician and staff documentation. This background monitoring tool measures all documentation and workflow routing, giving the practice the information it needs to optimize workflows. Our EHR captures data on every mouse click and keystroke, and we measure how long each user takes to complete sub-sections of every screen to help us improve user interface without affecting patient throughput or physician time.
Do you recommend a graduated implementation or a big-bang implementation (all live at the same time) for your EHR?
N/A
What training mechanisms are used by the EHR Vendor?
Web Based
Web Based interactive
Is there a minimum amount of training required by your company in order to satisfy the support and maintenance contract that we would sign with you?
No
Little training is required – athenahealth’s standard training is generally sufficient.
Do you provide any guarantees regarding the ability of a practice to meet meaningful use requirements?
Yes
As a service-based EHR, our monthly fee is the only payment we receive from clients for our EHR. If you do not receive the Federal Stimulus reimbursement dollars when they are available, we will credit you 100% of your EHR service fees for up to six months until you do.
Does your company provide any guarantees that your EHR product will comply with Stage 2 and Stage 3 meaningful use requirements?
No
At present we have not provided a guarantee for Stage 2 and Stage 3 meaningful use compliance of our EHR. However, our web-based service model allows us great flexibility, so we are confident in Stage 2 and Stage 3 compliance.
Is there a minimum amount of training required by your company in order for our practice to satisfy compliance with meaningful use guarantees?
No
However, the terms of the Guarantee stipulate that the providers meet and comply with the terms of "meaningful use," as determined by CMS.
What services do you offer for post-implementation optimization of the system with respect to training and system customization?
We provides clients with Account Management support and a Client Support Center. Acct managers ensure customer satisfaction, help customers use our services effectively and serve as the advocate within athenahealth. All support, software maintenance, upgrades, and co-sourcing fees are included in monthly costs. Built on a truly web-native platform, athenaClinicals constantly evolves and improves (with releases every 6-8 weeks) to adapt to changing industry and regulatory requirements.
Prescribing
Does your product support ePrescribing? Is there an additional charge for this service or is it included in the overall cost?
Yes
At no extra cost
Which formulary does your product use?
The use of Surescripts in athenaClinicals will be dependent upon applicable state laws for e-prescribing and will only be available for pharmacies supported by the Surescripts network.
Does the system allow users to add drugs that may not be in the original database?
No
How are drug allergies and adverse reactions recorded and integrated into the prescribing module?
When prescribing multiple medications, am I presented with an ability to separately acknowledge or document individual alerts?
No
Is there an ability for the physician or practice to modify preset alerts? (e.g. Severe vs. mild or moderate)
Yes
Providers can suppress the lowest level interactions if they choose.
Is there an ability for the physician to filter the display of alerts?
No
How are episodic and long-term medications tracked in the patient’s record?
Providers can set future reminders for each patient, and these can be based on a prescription running out.
Does the system allow users to switch drug interaction checking on or off?
No
In the medication list, is a user able to sort medications by multiple parameters including date prescribed, diagnostic code, active or discontinued?
No
Templates
What pre-defined templates do you provide?
Definition: A template is a pre-defined structured capability to rapidly record content including information on clinical conditions or vital signs through mechanisms such as menus, predefined fields or checklis
We believe that good content, configurations and templates should be shared across the client base. EHR templates are provided for clients (current library consists of 400+ global templates) and shared throughout the athenaClinicals network. They comprise of History of Present Illness, Review of Systems, Physical Exam, Anatomical Drawings, and Procedures. All clients use global templates either as is or as a starting point (with modifications). Clients can easily customize templates.
Do you charge additional fees for any of templates?
No
Can clients customize existing templates?
Yes
athenaNet is designed to be highly configurable and maintainable. At the practice level, roles can be defined, templates can be defined, and enterprise-wide picklists can be defined. Most settings and templates can also be overridden or defined at the department / site level. At the user level, individual providers can configure their encounter layouts, face sheet layouts, and all key common picklists-- orders, problems, medications, etc.
Can clients use tools provided through the system to develop their own templates?
No
As a centrally-hosted web-based solution, every athenaClinicals customer uses one version of the software. It is configurable in some areas but it's not a fully customizable solution.
Will your company build custom custom templates to the practices specifications?
Yes
Screens, templates, quick-text, lists of most-used orders and many other things can be configured. athenahealth implementation teams will complete a Practice Assessment as part of the Implementation process and will provide recommendations.
If a doctor has created a custom template in their EHR, will the templates and custom rules be maintained when new full releases and patches are installed?
Yes
One of our key advantages, is that clients are not required to install any updates or patches. Since athenaNet is purely a browser-based application, hot-fixes and patches made to the application are administered centrally.
Support & Maintenance
What is the process for managing questions and service requests?
The Client Support Center (‘CSC’) is available to your practice for help with athenaClinicals functionality and workflow questions. athena currently offers two methods of contacting the CSC, either by phone or by an online portal.
Are different tiers of support offered (including pricing information)?
No
All athenahealth clients receive the same level of client support at no additional cost.
What are the options for a client to contact your company for support?
We currently offer two methods of contacting the Client Support Center (CSC): phone and online portal. A “case”, including tracking number and a due date, is assigned each time a client contacts the CSC.
What level and type(s) of support are provided during go-live?
Typically, there are two rounds of training.
• Super User Training – practice leaders and administrators will gather for 3 days of training.
• End User Training – Prior to Go-Live each user will receive role-based training typically 2 to 16 hours.
Is a formal users' group, online community forum or other form of social networking community available?
Twice each year athena hosts athenaUniversity, an education, feedback and networking forum. This is an outstanding opportunity to meet other practices, share ideas and learn about different approaches.
What are the standard hours of operation during which support is provided?
The CSC is staffed from 7:30 am to 7:00 pm EST business days and off hours by an on-call representative via mobile phone who is available 24/7/365 for urgent matters that require immediate attention.
What are the steps for a client to escalate a support request?
Approximately 83% of issues are resolved during the initial call/report of issue. If an issue cannot be resolved, a triage process is used to prioritize. If a client believes an issue requires higher priority, they can request escalation.
Do you use off-shore technical support?
No
All support services are conducted in the United States in Massachusetts and our Belfast, Maine locations.
Are software upgrades provided as part of the software maintenance contract?
Yes
Support is ongoing athenaNet is a web-based, centrally hosted, fully integrated single platform software that is continually updated. All clients use the same version of athenaNet. There is no additional charge for software licenses or upgrades.
How are customer requests for enhancements and customizations handled?
The Client Support Center is available to help with athenaClinicals functionality and workflow questions. Requests for new functionality or a change to existing functionality can be submitted via the CSC.
How are drug interaction tools updated in your system?
Medication interactions are handled through the FDB interactions database and are updated quarterly at no additional cost.
How are patient education materials updated in your system?
We provides best-in-class patient education materials from Healthwise at no additional cost. Healthwise provides patient-focused materials for thousands of different conditions and care plans. Practices can also upload their own education content.
How are requests from clients handle for customizations of their system post “go-live”?
If a client has a request for new functionality or a change to existing functionality, the practice may submit the request via the CSC. Product enhancement requests are reviewed immediately and logged for future consideration.
Is remote monitoring available with the ability to alert clients about system problems?
No
AathenaNet is a web-based, centrally hosted, fully integrated single platform software. We do not provide remote workstation and peripheral device monitoring, troubleshooting and problem resolution for subscriber’s devices.
What is your recommended backup strategy?
athena backs up your data continuously to a redundant infrastructure at our secondary data center. Corruption and loss are prevented by athenahealth by storing information in Oracle databases on standby systems located offsite from the primary location. The information stored on these machines contains back up data current to within an hour of real time. Additionally, we store full encrypted tape exports of your data off-site for four days. In detail, athenaNet has five layers of backup.
Do you offer remote backup for a client's system?
Yes
As explained above, athena backs up all practice data continuously at no additional cost.
When an interface goes down, how is that information recovered?
For real-time interfaces from athena to the practice, the athenaNet MX engine will hold onto the messages, and continue to try to deliver them until the server at the practice accepts and acknowledges receipt of the messages. For real-time interfaces from the practice to athena, athena expects the practice to hold onto the messages and continue to attempt to resend them until athena accepts and acknowledges receipt of the messages. If the interface on the practice side is unable to retain messages and re-attempt sending them, the practice should consider using a non-real-time interface, like secure FTP pickup.
Reporting Tools
Does your system provide a reporting tool with pre-formatted reports?
Yes
We have an extremely robust built-in reporting interface. Wizards exist for top query classes, and a SQL builder is available for advanced reporting. Custom reports can be saved and scheduled using this Report Builder tool.
Is your reporting tool able to create the following reports?
1.Generate a list of all patients with a chronic condition (e.g. Diabetes, COPD)
2.Generate a list of all patients with a specific condition who have not been seen within a defined period
3.Generate a list of all patients with a specific condition and lab result who have not been seen within a defined period. (e.g. diabetic patients with a HbA1c=9 not seen in the last 4 months)
4.Generate a list of all patients on a specific drug with an active medical problem
1.Yes
2.Yes
3.Yes
4.Yes
Are these reporting tools bundled with the EHR system or provided as add-ons?
Yes
Custom reports can be created using our user-guided reporting wizard. Off-the-shelf reports are available for a variety of conditions. External reporting software is never required. Query or report results can be exported to CSV and MSExcel.
Does your system support PQRI (Physician Quality Reporting Initiative) reporting?
Yes
athenahealth has self-nominated for PQRI registry submission for 2010. PQRI, like all P4P programs, will be implemented through the Quality Management Engine.
Order Management Tools
Does your program provide any order management tools?
Yes
Order entry is a key feature of athenaClinicals and is included in the cost. We take responsibility for closed loop order management on all order types, not just labs.
Does your program provide any document management tools?
Yes
Instead of each office having to scan, categorize, route and file incoming faxes, our Document Management team handles all this work. These services are included at no additional charge.
Does your program provide any other workflow management tools?
Yes
At no additional cost our “Five Stages Encounter” is designed to measure and optimize documentation. This background monitoring tool measures all documentation and workflow routing, giving the practice the information it needs to optimize workflows.
Patient Health Record (Portal)
Do you offer a Patient Health Record that integrates into your system?
Yes
Data Conversion
Do you offer data conversion services from other products to your product?
No
If clients at their expense can provide us an electronic extract of their patient demographic, appointment, E151 referring provider, and fee schedule data in a format we can convert, we will load it prior to Go-Live as part of the Implementation Fee.
Electronic Chart (Legacy data) conversion and imports: At this time, athena is unable to support importing data from external sources, such as another EHR vendor, due to the significant custom work required. If requested, athena can provide a file link into legacy data systems enabling a practice to view historical medical information as needed.
Data conversion is available for:
What are the data conversion and transfer costs?
$NA$