Electronic Health Reporter

WATERTOWN, Mass., Aug. 22, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — athenahealth, Inc. (Nasdaq:ATHN), a leading provider of cloud-based services for electronic health record (EHR), practice management, and care coordination, today announced that it has signed a strategic partnership with Primary Care Development Corporation (PCDC), a leading non-profit organization supporting primary care, to deliver unmatched technology and consulting services to primary care providers (PCPs) in underserved communities. The partnership will help practices optimize performance and improve processes, as well as alleviate administrative burdens through the use of cloud-based services and information technology (IT), so PCPs can focus on providing high-quality care to patients.

Founded in 1993, PCDC is a non-profit organization dedicated to expanding and transforming primary care in at-risk communities to improve health outcomes, lower health costs, and reduce disparities in the availability and quality of care. Their programs are three-pronged: capital investment; performance improvement, which includes consulting, training, and services that help practices deliver a patient-centered model of care; and policy and advocacy. To date, PCDC has helped more than 900 organizations serving more than seven million patients.

athenahealth and PCDC will kick off the partnership with a series of educational presentations across the country on the best HIT strategies for improving primary care. These seminars will highlight athenahealth’s proven success meeting providers’ HIT needs and PCDC’s ability to support providers’ efforts to develop patient-centered models of care.

Dr. John Rugge, founder, Hudson Headwaters Health Network, said: “As a member of PCDC’s board of directors, and a long-time athenahealth client, I’m excited to see these two organizations commit together to drive the success of primary care practices across the country. I know too well the challenges primary care providers face, despite an earnest mission to deliver the best care to the neediest patients. Back in 2008, our community health center was struggling to pay bills and keep doctors. Fortunately, after adopting athenahealth’s EHR and practice management services, we were able to see more patients more efficiently, improve our bottom line and operations, and successfully achieve Patient Centered Medical Home status. As for PCDC, this is an organization that is well recognized for working tirelessly to transform these centers from struggling practices in underserved communities to high-performing medical groups. It’s great to hear that more community health centers stand to benefit from the combined knowledge of these two organizations.”

This is PCDC’s first partnership with a health care technology vendor to deliver expanded services to primary care practices. Together, these two organizations are dedicated to supporting health care’s highest priority—the expansion of strong patient-centered primary care that will lower costs and improve health outcomes for families and communities. The benefits to community health centers include:

• Access to leading technology services: athenahealth offers cloud-based services for EHR, practice management, care coordination, patient communications, financial and population health analytics, and more. athenahealth currently has 43,000 providers on its national network. athenahealth leads the industry in successful Meaningful Use attestation on behalf of its clients and has won Best in KLAS awards for its EHR and practice management solutions, as well as KLAS designation for the most usable EHR.
• Practice transformation and certification: PCDC and athenahealth have extensive experience helping primary care practices undertake the challenges of becoming a true patient-centered medical home, and achieve the recognition to qualify for financial incentives.
• Help with cumbersome reporting: With regulation comes heavy reporting requirements; athenahealth can advise on and deliver the technology resources needed to help report on quality outcomes and clinical measures, helping community health centers to save precious time and money and allowing them to see more patients and be more efficient.

Todd Rothenhaus, MD, Chief Medical Officer, athenahealth said: “Primary care is the foundation of health care; yet increasingly, FQHCs face daunting administrative and financial burdens that take time and resources away from patient care. At the same time it is in the DNA of community health centers and their dedicated PCPs to meet any challenges head on, and like PCDC, we want to be able to support these providers to become more efficient, better manage clinical and business operations, and report out on quality measures. We are honored to partner with PCDC to support their work and deliver the consultative services community health centers need to adopt the most effective technology strategy.

Peter Cucchiara, Managing Director of PCDC Performance Improvement added: “It is critically important that health centers and other primary care practices have electronic health records and health information technology systems—and that these tools are used to improve both health center business operations and patient care. PCDC is delighted to partner with athenahealth, which has a proven track record working with community health centers to help transform them from fledgling institutions to well-run, profitable organizations. We’re looking forward to working closely with athenahealth to provide expanded services to primary care providers that help them meet their goals and, ultimately, better serve those patient populations who need great care.”

For more information on athenahealth’s full suite of cloud-based services for primary care, please visit our website, www.athenahealth.com, or follow along on our blog, Twitter, and Facebook.

For more information on PCDC’s capital investment & performance improvement services and to learn more about its policy initiatives, visit PCDC’s website, www.pcdc.org, or follow along on Twitter and Facebook.

About athenahealth, Inc.

athenahealth is a leading provider of cloud-based services for 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 visit www.athenahealth.com or call 888-652-8200.

About Primary Care Development Corporation (PCDC)

Founded in 1993, PCDC is a nonprofit dedicated to expanding and transforming primary care in underserved communities to improve health outcomes, lower health costs and reduce disparities through capital investment, performance improvement services, and policy and advocacy. For more information please visit www.pcdc.org or call 212-437-3900.