Electronic Health Reporter

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 7, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Today, from the annual conference of the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), athenahealth, Inc. (Nasdaq:ATHN), a leading provider of cloud-based services for electronic health record (EHR), practice management, and care coordination, announces that through the capabilities of its nationwide, cloud network it will push out Meaningful Use Stage 2 criteria and updates this month so that eligible professionals across athenaNet can begin practicing under Stage 2 rules for the remainder of 2013, be prepared to report on Stage 2 requirements, and have the opportunity to attest in the first quarter of 2014.

“Across the industry there’s a near 20 percent provider dropout rate from the Meaningful Use program. Many of the folks dropping out earned $18,000 in 2011, but were unable to sustain performance for the full year, and therefore didn’t earn the $12,000 second incentive in 2012,” said Todd Rothenhaus, MD, Chief Medical Information Officer, athenahealth. “At athenahealth, we blow the industry’s low attestation numbers out of the water. 96 percent of our participating providers successfully attested for 2012. 2014 is a huge year for the industry. Change is palpable and unrelenting, and we’re committed to making Meaningful Use attestation and the transition to ICD-10 just happen, in a totally unencumbered way.”

As part of athenahealth’s ongoing commitment to help clients thrive through change, and as part of the company’s ICD-10 guarantee, this quarter athenahealth will also release its ICD-10 readiness center. The ICD-10 readiness center uses athenahealth’s cloud-based software, deep network knowledge, and dedicated service organization to provide its client practices with a holistic view of organizational, payer, and supply chain readiness.

This week, athenahealth will be at booth #714 at the MGMA conference, held at the San Diego Convention Center. athenahealth’s entire suite of cloud-based services will be available for demo, including:

• athenaClinicals— Recognized by KLAS as the most usable ambulatory electronic medical record (EMR) system and as the #1 EMR among physician practices sized 1-10.
• athenaCommunicator— The highest rated patient portal according to a recent KLAS Research survey of more than 200 providers in which athenahealth outperformed vendors including Epic, Allscripts/Jardogs Cerner, eClinicalWorks, and Intuit Health.
• Epocrates — The #1 mobile medical reference app among U.S. physicians for trusted clinical information at the point of care.
• Epocrates Bugs + Drugs — A new, free geolocation-based, antimicrobial susceptibility reference app that combines athenahealth’s cloud-based clinical data with Epocrates’ user-friendly mobile interface. It is designed to help clinicians identify common and uncommon bugs types and bacterial resistance patterns in communities where their patients live to support appropriate antibiotic prescribing and better, personalized patient care.

Better Now — Guaranteed

Because of its cloud-based platform architecture, 100 percent of providers who use athenaClinicals now use a 2014 Certified Complete EHR, and, in fact, athenahealth guarantees that all eligible providers who partner with athenahealth to attest for Stage 1 or Stage 2 incentive payments will receive them in the first year in which they qualify. athenahealth also guarantees that it will be ready for ICD-10 by the implementation date or it will provide a credit to its clients against its service fees. To learn more about the terms of athenahealth’s guarantees and its commitment to making its clients “Better Now — Guaranteed” in the face of industry change, visit:http://www.athenahealth.com/cmp/this-is-how/better-now.php?cmp=10014130.

About Epocrates, Inc.

Epocrates, Inc., an athenahealth company, is recognized for developing the #1 medical application among U.S. physicians for clinical content, practice tools, and health industry engagement at the point of care. Epocrates has established a loyal network of more than one million health care professionals, including 50 percent of U.S. physicians, who routinely use its intuitive solutions to help streamline workflow and improve patient care. For more information, please visitwww.epocrates.com/company.

About athenahealth, Inc.

athenahealth is a leading provider of cloud-based services for electronic health record (EHR), practice management, and care coordination. athenahealth’s mission is to be caregivers’ most trusted service, helping them do well doing the right thing. For more information, please visitwww.athenahealth.com.