athenahealth and MedChi to Streamline Practice Management and Improve Care Coordination for Maryland Physicians

Collaboration will Promote Benefits of and Offer at a Discount Cloud-Based Services for State Practices and Hospital Groups

WATERTOWN, Mass. & BALTIMORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--athenahealth, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATHN), a leading provider of cloud-based practice management, electronic health record (EHR), and care coordination services to medical groups, announced that they will work with MedChi, The Maryland State Medical Society. This collaboration is intended to help Maryland physicians more easily realize the clinical and financial benefits of cloud-based services in their practices.

As part of this relationship, MedChi will offer its members across the state of Maryland an easy path to accessing and implementing, at a discount, athenahealth’s suite of cloud-based services, including athenaClinicals®, the company’s EHR offering; athenaCollector®, its practice management and medical billing offering; athenaCommunicator®, its patient communication service; and athenaCoordinator®, its care coordination service. Physicians who implement these services benefit from the knowledge and best practices of athenahealth’s network of more than 35,000 physicians nationwide, who are kept current with ever-changing clinical requirements and payer rules—so that they can stay focused on quality patient care.

Gene Ransom, MedChi CEO, said, “For many physicians in Maryland, adapting to today’s complex health care environment is daunting. Some practices have been disadvantaged in efforts to qualify for Meaningful Use dollars or become Accountable Care Organizations, while others are putting disproportionate time and resources towards front-of-office administration. These physicians need solutions to stay viable businesses. We’ve chosen to work with athenahealth because they have proven to be a trusted partner for physicians and hospitals. athenahealth knows how to navigate the inefficiencies physician practices deal with every day and help them keep their focus on providing care.”

Jonathan Bush, CEO and chairman of athenahealth, added, “MedChi shares a focus on removing the distractions that threaten the business of medicine and the physician-patient relationship. We’re moving into an era of heightened accountability, and, as more providers in Maryland seek Patient-Centered Medical Home status and Accountable Care Organization designations, they’ll need uncomplicated solutions that handle their clinical administration burdens, measure their effectiveness, and help ensure quality outcomes.”

About athenahealth

athenahealth, Inc. is a leading provider of cloud-based business services for physician practices. athenahealth’s service offerings are based on proprietary web-native practice management and electronic health record (EHR) software, a continuously updated payer knowledge-base, integrated back-office service operations, and care coordination services. For more information, please visit www.athenahealth.com or call 888-652-8200.

About MedChi

MedChi, The Maryland State Medical Society, is a non-profit membership association of Maryland physicians. It is the largest physician organization in Maryland. The mission of MedChi is to serve as Maryland's foremost advocate and resource for physicians, their patients and the public health of Maryland.