Athena EMR. any users?

I've started a new thread, since this thread ate my response and wouldn't allow any new posts for a long while... and I'd like to take the digression of CCHIT/Bush/CEO cousin to a separate thread and allow the discussion of AthenaClinical to go on here.

New URL for the President Bush/CEO cousin/CCHIT discussion: http://www.emrupdate.com/forums/t/15612.aspx

 Darn it, Nick. Please fix emrupdate- it just swallowed another of my posts.

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DallasDoc:

After all, there are objective requirements to passing CCHIT. 

Yes and no.  We know of one vendor who is CCHIT certified, yet absolutely, unequivocally fails with respect to patient privacy.  It is such a gross HIPAA violation that I cannot believe they were able to achieve CCHIT certification. I could tell you who the vendor was - and prove what I'm saying with hard facts, but then I would be banned from emrupdate and my name dragged thru the mud - once again.

David, can you give us a hint, like what letter does the EMR name start with? 

(The show "CCHIT Jeopardy" )

We have been using the AthenaClinicals for one year now.  I am a solo cardiologist in Austin and have migrated from a billing service to the AthenaClinicals practice management system.   My AR is now the lowest it has ever been.   I hate "W" Bush but it doesn't matter if he is related to the CEO of Athena.  All I know, is that this company knows how to get us paid!  The installation has not been perfect, but it has been professional and it has paid dividends.  Their customer service is closer to American Express than most other vendors.

  My wife runs the office and she is the first one to praise the power of the practice mangement piece.  Regarding the EMR, i just saw the most recent demo.   As Al Borges has clearly proven, there is no perfect EMR out there!  However, my impression with Athena products is that they have their eye on the ball regarding reimbursement.  Consequently their EMR is structured to maximize revenue from the ordering physician. (Keepig an ongoing record of EVERY test you order from your office until it is completed)  Great for patient safety/accuracy but also helps to make sure you don't forget a single ECG, stress test, or whatever you have ordered for this patient, thereby keeping your revenue stream steady. 

  I have grown weary of multiple EMR demos, with promises, promises, promises, but I get the feeling with these guys they really "get it".  In solo practice you have to watch out for EMR salesmen trying to take your money.  Athena has been my best investment in my practice and they are the only PM (and hopefully EMR) vendors who are committed to your success. 

After seeing Borges' April Powerpoint presentation, i am not sure what the future holds with EMR's.  I have wasted thousands of dollars on various programs, ripped out a CCHIT certified piece of junk EMR last year and am quite dubious of salesmen.  You should be also!  It is your money on the line.  My rant finished, i am waiting to here from their specialist who is answering my questions on how to add dictation fields to the AthenaClinicals system.   Their scrolling fields are not great and their listing of files in chronological order is not what it should be (Distinct tabs for ECG, Echo, Labs, Operative Reports, etc), but I think i may be able to overcome the shortcomings.  Their best features include the sorting of all of your faxes by THEIR staff in Boston and sending back to you in the EMR. Sorry control freaks, but my staff can do other things rather than mindless filing.  Their presciription system is great; one of the only systems i have seen that populates a patients' medication list by authorizing the refill electronically. 

I have learned that Nothing is perfect, most EMR vendors suck, but I have hope for AthenaClinicals.  (I haven't signed the contract yet).

DISCLOSURE: NONE

Thank you for your helpful comments

AggieDoc:

We have been using the AthenaClinicals for one year now.

DISCLOSURE: NONE

Please give us your monthly costs of AthenaHealth as well as a summary of your costs adopting AthenaHealth.

FYI, AthenaHealth is a CCHIT certified (2006) ASP EMR.

AggieDoc,

"I have grown weary of multiple EMR demos, with promises, promises, promises, but I get the feeling with these guys they really "get it".  In solo practice you have to watch out for EMR salesmen trying to take your money.  Athena has been my best investment in my practice and they are the only PM (and hopefully EMR) vendors who are committed to your success. "

It is disturbing that, as a practicing physician looking for an EMR, you have such a dim view of the EMR industry. 

I hope that I will not  be the lone voice in saying this, but there are companies interested in your success.  I am happy to hear that AthenaHealth is.

Medtuity makes no promises to anyone- our pricing structure does not allow it, even if we wanted to lie through our teeth.  We have no contracts to sign and we have turnstile pricing. You pay a nominal "per encounter credit" for each new pt encounter. If you don't like our product, you have no huge upfront fee that is lost.

Our pricing strategy is simple-- pay for what you use.  We have a great incentive to keep our customers coming back for more-- that's the only way we get paid.

Humans answer the phone, we have no outbound sales force, and we strive to take very good care of our customers.

Most EMR companies charge a large upfront fee and then yearly maintenance. Our charges are about equal to other's maintenance fees.  Therefore, most companies have pocketed the majority of their money before their go-live date.   If you fail, ho hum.

Interesting comment in the post Jonathan Bush made in the HISTalk blog.  He did not see any financial benifit from the Athena EMR other than paper handling, which is basically what any scanning/document management system would provide.

http://www.histalk2.com/

So the journalist asked a reasonable question: How much cash flow does athenahealth’s EMR service provide for physicians?

And I had a totally unreasonable answer: "Uh…"

The fact is, I don’t know! Here’s what I do know: Our EMR increases cash flow by removing paper from the process. Unlike old school EMRs, our athenaClinicals service handles all of the documents that enter our clients’ office as part of the service.  So far, that’s more than 60 documents every day per FTE physician — 68% of which would have to be handled manually by the client. This means that even if they had traditional EMR tools, our clients would still be handling a large portion of their documents manually. But how much was it costing them to handle those manual documents before they got onto the athenahealth network?? Not the foggiest clue.