2009-01-27 16:08:06 -
athenahealth, Inc., (Nasdaq: ATHN), a leading provider of Internet-based business services to physician practices, and the Illinois State Medical Society (ISMS), the state's largest medical physician organization, today announced an agreement to offer athenahealth's centrally-hosted, on-demand practice management services to the over 12,000 ISMS physician members in an effort to drive their member practices' operational and financial outcomes. Under the terms of the agreement, ISMS members will receive a discount on athenahealth's practice management service, athenaCollectorSM.
"One of ISMS' goals is to help our members improve their practices' financial and business operations," commented Shastri Swaminathan, M.D., President of ISMS. "As we evaluated various healthcare technology vendors, it became clear that athenahealth has taken a leadership role in this
endeavor through their unique web-based service offerings. We are confident in athenahealth's ability to provide accurate, efficient, and cost-effective on-demand business services for Illinois physicians."
athenahealth's software-enabled service (SeS), athenaCollector, is a physician revenue cycle management offering that integrates web-based practice management software, continually updated payer knowledge, and back-office processing specialists into a single service. athenahealth's proprietary payer and clinical rules engine, athenaRules, is a real-time database of payer rules and regulations with new rules being continuously added. ISMS member physicians will now have access to athenahealth's award-winning athenaCollector practice management and billing service, which is designed to deliver faster reimbursement, increased revenue, and ultimately, improved practice workflow and operations.
"As a solo physician practice, I am confident using athenahealth's billing and collection system, which has improved my collections by about 10 percent over the past two years and reduced my Days in Account Receivable from 60 days down to 30," explained Steven Diamond, M.D., a solo family physician based in Rockford, IL and an Illinois State Medical Society member. "I am pleased that athenahealth has alleviated some administrative duties by providing me with a completely transparent web-based billing and collections process so that I can focus on what is really important for my practice, which is providing quality medical care to my patients."
"Over the past four years, sixteen state medical societies have endorsed athenahealth's practice management and electronic medical record services to thousands of physicians as they look to deliver increased value to their members, operate more efficient practices and elevate the quality of care delivered," said Nancy Brown, Senior Vice President of Business Development and Government Affairs for athenahealth. "We are thrilled the ISMS has selected athenahealth and they should be applauded for realizing that the number one challenge facing their member physicians is dealing with the tangled web of insurance rules that dictate the format and content - as well as the submission and remittance guidelines - of medical claims."
About Illinois State Medical Society
The Illinois State Medical Society is a professional organization that represents and unifies its physician members as they practice the science and art of medicine representing over 12,000 physicians practicing in all medical specialties statewide. The Society represents the interests of member physicians, advocates for patients and promotes the doctor/patient relationship, the ethical practice of medicine, and the betterment of the public health. For more information visit
www.isms.org/ or call (800) 782-1654.
About athenahealth
athenahealth is a leading provider of internet-based business services for physician practices. The Company's service offerings are based on proprietary web-native practice management and electronic medical record (EMR) software, a continuously updated payer knowledge-base and integrated back-office service operations. For more information visit www.athenahealth.com/isms or call (888) 652-8200.
This press release contains forward-looking statements which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding the benefits of the Company's service offerings. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in these forward-looking statements. In particular, the risks and uncertainties include, among other things: the risk that our services offerings will not operate in the manner that we expect, due to design flaws, security breaches or otherwise; potential interruptions or delays in our internet-based services offerings; our reliance upon third parties, such as computer hardware, software, data-hosting and internet infrastructure providers, which reliance may result in failures or disruptions in our service offerings; errors or omissions included in our payer and clinical intelligence rules engine and database; and the evolving and complex government regulatory compliance environment in which we and our clients operate. Existing and prospective investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. athenahealth, Inc. undertakes no obligation to update or revise the information contained in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or circumstances or otherwise. For additional disclosure regarding these and other risks faced by athenahealth, Inc., see the disclosure contained in our public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Illinois State Medical Society
Laurie Peacock, 312-580-6497
lauriepeacock@isms.org
or
Media
athenahealth, Inc.
John Hallock, 617-402-1428
Director, Corporate Communications
media@athenahealth.com
or
Investors
athenahealth, Inc
Jennifer Heizer, 617-402-1322
Senior Manager, Investor Relations
investorrelations@athenahealth.com 
