athenahealth Unveils Medical Coding to Reduce Administrative Burden for Providers

Streamlined medical coding service enhances patient care with faster electronic communications and claims processing

WATERTOWN, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--athenahealth, a leading provider of network-enabled software and services for medical groups and health systems nationwide, today announced the general availability of its new athenaOne® Medical Coding solution. This service will relieve providers and staff from coding-related work that slows them down and delays claim submissions.

With this service, athenahealth customers will gain access to high-quality coding support via certified specialists who help deliver timely and reliable medical coding within the athenaOne platform. Communication between the practice and athenahealth’s medical coders is integrated directly into the interface and launches seamlessly from the provider’s workflow. For practices and medical groups looking to reduce the administrative burden of medical coding, athenahealth’s new service will provide unmatched ease of coding support from a highly qualified team of coders.

Physicians spend an average of 90 minutes after hours focused on coding work, according to time and productivity studies conducted by athenahealth. With athenaOne Medical Coding, providers and staff are freed up to focus on higher value work and spend more time with patients.

Through athenahealth’s Medical Coding, Village Pediatrics – a two-clinician pediatrics primary care practice in Seattle – saw a 50% reduction in clinicians’ time spent coding, a streamlined integration, and more billable codes identified.

“I can see all the notes in one spot. I can communicate things when I send the claim—send notes for extensive visits, for instance,” said Staci Scott, ARNP, CPNP, MSN, Village Pediatrics. “And if the coders have questions, communication is so much easier and more streamlined now.”

This new service is backed by a robust quality assurance program and works seamlessly with providers’ current workflows to deliver fast, reliable, and accurate coding.

“We are excited to officially announce our Medical Coding service, and we are already thrilled with the benefits we are bringing to providers across the network. Provider organizations are seeing a 30% reduction in coding-related claim scrubs and coding-related denials, based on data from customers using the service for six months or more,” said Paul Brient, chief product officer at athenahealth. “We believe this service will help reduce cognitive overload and improve work-life balance for the providers in our country that work tirelessly each day to serve their patients.”

To be eligible for this service, customers must be live on athenaCollector® and athenaClinicals®, or the full athenaOne suite. These services are currently available to practices with seven or fewer physicians and will be available to larger customers later this year. For more information about athenahealth’s Medical Coding, please visit: https://www.athenahealth.com/solutions/medical-coding#demo.

About athenahealth, Inc.

athenahealth partners with medical organizations across the country to drive clinical and financial results. Our vision is to create a thriving ecosystem that delivers accessible, high-quality, and sustainable healthcare for all, and we are pursuing this through our medical record, revenue cycle, patient engagement, and care coordination service offerings. Our expert teams build modern technology on an open, connected ecosystem, yielding insights that make a difference for our customers and their patients. For more information, please visit www.athenahealth.com.