{"id":19492,"date":"2016-11-18T16:51:31","date_gmt":"2016-11-18T21:51:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/can-digitization-save-healthcare-athenahealth-thinks-it-can\/"},"modified":"2016-11-18T16:51:31","modified_gmt":"2016-11-18T21:51:31","slug":"can-digitization-save-healthcare-athenahealth-thinks-it-can","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/can-digitization-save-healthcare-athenahealth-thinks-it-can\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Digitization Save Healthcare? Athenahealth Thinks It Can"},"content":{"rendered":"

At Athenahealth, the customer promise is boldly captured by the company motto: \u201cit\u2019s time to unbreak healthcare.\u201d Originally founded in 1997 as a women\u2019s health center, Athenahealth has since transformed into a cloud-based healthcare services platform serving 80,000 providers and generating over $750 million in revenue. [1] Currently valued at between $4-5 billion, the company claims that its network of services will revolutionize healthcare by streamlining physician workstreams and allowing them to focus on what really matters \u2013 the patient. [2] [3]<\/p>\n

The fundamental problem that Athenahealth seeks to address is a familiar one – healthcare in the US is plagued by problems of high cost and low quality. Despite spending on healthcare rising to 17.5% of GDP, the US continues to lag behind other nations on many quality metrics. [4] Additionally, the healthcare industry has earned a reputation for being notoriously slow to adopt technological innovation in its daily operations \u2013 many practices are still reliant on paper documentation for charting, billing, and other functions. Athenahealth argues that it can play a major role in \u201cunbreaking\u201d this terribly broken system through its wide variety of products and services, which include revenue cycle management, patient engagement, population health management tools, in addition to electronic health record (EHR) software. The underlying logic behind this claim? Company loyalists, or self-described \u201cathenistas\u201d believe that by increasing the efficiency of billing, charting, and other support services, practices can capture more revenue and allow their physicians to spend more time providing high quality care. [5]<\/p>\n

The Athenahealth network \u2013 \u201cletting doctors be doctors\u201d<\/u><\/p>\n

While developing an EHR is no longer a unique value proposition, Athenahealth believes that its cloud-based platform offers a distinct advantage. Rather than provide individual versions of software that live on a healthcare practice\u2019s local drives, Athenahealth offers its providers access to a single (but customizable) cloud-based application. The benefits of the cloud-based structure are numerous. For example, any improvements made to the software are instantly accessible to all users. Furthermore, it allows a constant stream of data to flow from healthcare practice to Athenahealth analysis centers and vice versa. A team of Athenahealth employees are tasked with monitoring how practices are utilizing the software, poised to identify inefficiencies and areas for improvement.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/a>
Screenshot of Athenahealth EHR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Digitalization of revenue cycle management, or the end-to-end process of tracking revenue from appointment booking, to provision of care, to filing insurance claims and billing patients, has also proved immensely valuable. Athenahealth employs a large cohort of back office support staff who receive and scan the large volume of faxes directed at providers in the Athenahealth network every day; the soft copies are then incorporated into the digital system. Providers on Athenahealth have enjoyed an 6% increase in collections and 32% reduction in days accounts receivable on average. [6]<\/p>\n

Other sources of differentiation include its payment model. Unlike major competitors in the electronic health record space, Athenahealth doesn\u2019t require a large upfront investment but rather charges a percentage of revenue collected by the healthcare practice. [7] Additionally, Athenahealth houses an innovation hub aptly named \u201cMore Disruption Please\u201d or MDP. The MDP network includes a venture accelerator that provides health tech start-ups with seed funding, as well as the Athenahealth Marketplace, which offers healthcare practices access to additional clinical tools developed by external partners that integrate with the Athenahealth platform. [8]<\/p>\n

Other features of the Athenahealth platform are less unique but clearly illustrate how digitalization has transformed physician workflows and patient engagement. Athenahealth offers a mobile application for its electronic health record system, allowing physicians to review patient charts on the go. Its patient engagement tool incorporates the now commonplace patient portal feature, which provides patients with the ability to message physicians and check their lab results.<\/p>\n

Next steps for Athenahealth<\/u><\/p>\n

Can one start-up lead the way in \u201cunbreaking\u201d healthcare? While Athenahealth has developed a best-in-class platform for streamlining documentation and revenue cycle management, more can and should be done to shift the focus back towards patient outcomes. Many of the metrics cited on the Athenahealth website describe increases in revenue and cost savings rather than improved patient care. Athenahealth\u2019s cloud-based platform and in-house staff of analysts are powerful tools that can be leveraged to improve actual care delivery. For example, Athenahealth could utilize EHR data to help practices identify their highest risk patients and develop specific care plans for management. Dedicated programs could be developed to monitor and communicate with patients with chronic health issues to enhance preventative care. Only by setting explicit goals around improvement in health outcomes can Athenahealth truly make the claim of supporting patient-centered care. Additionally, Athenahealth must develop capabilities to support the needs of large hospitals and academic medical centers in order to remain competitive in the EHR space. (784 words)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1] Athenahealth, \u201cResults and Insights,\u201d [http:\/\/www.Athenahealth.com\/network-data-insights], accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n

[2] Yahoo Finance, \u201cAthenahealth, Inc,\u201d [https:\/\/finance.yahoo.com\/quote\/ATHN\/key-statistics?ltr=1<\/a>], accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n

[3] Forbes, \u201cMost Innovative Growth Companies,\u201d May 2016, [http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/companies\/Athenahealth\/], accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n

[4] Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, \u201cNational Health Expenditure Data,\u201d [https:\/\/www.cms.gov\/research-statistics-data-and-systems\/statistics-trends-and-reports\/nationalhealthexpenddata\/nationalhealthaccountshistorical.html], accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n

[5] Jonathan Bush, \u201cThe CEO of Athenahealth on the role of anger in starting new businesses,\u201d 性视界 Business Review, December 2015, [https:\/\/hbr.org\/2015\/12\/the-ceo-of-Athenahealth-on-the-role-of-anger-in-starting-new-businesses<\/a>], accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n

[6] Athenahealth, \u201cResults and Insights,\u201d [http:\/\/www.Athenahealth.com\/network-data-insights], accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n

[7] Myles Udland, \u201cThis Man Says He\u2019s Buildilng the \u2018Healthcare Internet\u2019 and He\u2019s Started A Huge Controvery on Wall Street\u201d Business Insider, July 2014, [http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/how-Athenahealth-became-a-wall-street-debate-2014-7<\/a>], accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n

[8] Jen Wieczner, \u201cIs Athenahealth CEO Jonathan Bush in a bubble?\u201d Fortune, December 2014, [http:\/\/fortune.com\/2014\/12\/29\/Athenahealth-ceo-jonathan-bush-bubble\/], accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This cloud-based health services start-up believes it can &amp;quot;unbreak healthcare.&amp;quot; Is Athenahealth the digital solution that the healthcare industry has been waiting for? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1899,"featured_media":19493,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[41],"class_list":["post-19492","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthcare"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/assignment\/digitization-challenge-2016\/","yoast_head":"\nCan Digitization Save Healthcare? 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