IBM ( IBM) today announced that it has signed a business process services agreement with athenahealth, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATHN) a leading provider of Internet-based business services for physician practices. The engagement will enable athenahealth to focus its resources on simplifying and improving administrative and reimbursement processes while reducing staff workload, allowing physicians to focus on delivering higher quality care to their patients.
As part of the agreement, IBM will provide voice, data and administrative support for athenahealth in the areas of revenue cycle management such as ensuring timely physician reimbursement for the services they provide, and clinical data management services including data entry processes for information such as lab reports and physician's orders. IBM's expertise in these areas, based on hundreds of client engagements with health insurance plans and healthcare organizations worldwide, makes it uniquely qualified to support athenahealth's business processes and provide innovative tools and methods along with an expanded capability to scale in support of growing service demand.
"This is an important step in making athenahealth more competitive and supports a key component of our strategy to help more than 23,000 medical providers nationwide enjoy faster payment, increased collections, radically improved control over billing and clinical operations, and more time for their patients," said Jonathan Bush, chief executive officer of athenahealth. "IBM has a deep understanding of our business model and they share a common vision for enabling doctors to focus on quality of patient care."
IBM Managed Business Process Services will provide services to athenahealth from its global operations centers, helping athenahealth improve productivity and attain new efficiencies.
"We are confident that our extensive experience in business process services and healthcare industry expertise will directly benefit athenahealth's business and clients," said Sean Hogan, vice president, IBM Global Healthcare Delivery Systems. "Working together with athenahealth, we are enabling greater visibility and access to information for improved clinical decision making while addressing complex back office challenges. We look forward to helping athenahealth deliver advanced solutions and leadership in the healthcare industry."
IBM is creating a smarter, more connected healthcare system that delivers better care with fewer mistakes, predicts and prevents diseases, and empowers people to make better choices. This includes integrating data so doctors, patients and insurers can share information seamlessly and efficiently. IBM also helps clients apply advanced analytics to improve medical research, diagnosis and treatment in order to improve patient care and help reduce healthcare costs.
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