MSSNY names athenahealth as preferred EHR vendor

athenahealth, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATHN), a leading provider of web-based practice management, electronic health record (EHR), and patient communication services to medical groups, today announced that it has been named a preferred EHR vendor by the Medical Society of the State of New York (MSSNY). MSSNY plans to help thousands of member physicians throughout the State of New York learn about the benefits of athenahealth's web-based EHR service, athenaClinicals®, and provide them with an assisted and streamlined route to implementation. athenahealth will also help these member physicians meet the criteria to participate in the HITECH Act, which is part of the larger American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 (ARRA). athenahealth's web-based practice management and medical billing service, athenaCollector®, has been recommended by MSSNY to their members since 2002. MSSNY currently has more than 30,000 members consisting of licensed physicians, medical residents, and medical students.

“Being selected as a preferred EHR service provider by MSSNY is a great win for athenahealth, but, more importantly, a win for doctors across the State of New York who need help navigating the complexities of creating a paperless exam room”

After an extensive evaluation process, MSSNY invited a handful of EHR vendors to appear before their Health Information Technology (HIT) sub-committee to present evidence of financial stability, industry accreditation, and operational functionality. In addition to providing an overview of new products, vendors were also asked to demonstrate how their products will meet and achieve the "Meaningful Use" and interoperability criteria, as well as allow primary care physicians to meet recognition by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Medical Home criteria. athenahealth's web-based EHR service successfully met all of these requirements.

"athenahealth's cloud-based clinical service solution goes far beyond what simple web-hosted or stagnant client server software offerings can do. We are excited to begin work with them on EHR adoption in New York and feel their ability to rapidly adapt to the changes in the health care landscape will greatly benefit our physicians going forward, particularly in regard to the HITECH act," said Sal Volpe MD, Chair of MSSNY's Committee on Information Technology. "With all of their medical group clients sharing the small clinical platform, athenahealth is now delivering a Meaningful Use-certified EHR to all athenaClinicals clients instantaneously, which further demonstrates the power of the Company's web-based service model and commitment to their clients' success."

The most recent version of athenaClinicals is 2011/2012 compliant and was certified as a Complete EHR on September 30, 2010, by the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT®), an ONC-ATCB, in accordance with the applicable eligible provider certification criteria adopted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The 2011/2012 criteria support the Stage 1 meaningful use measures required to qualify eligible providers and hospitals for funding under the ARRA.

athenahealth recently extended the timeframe in which doctors can qualify for its federal stimulus bonus payment guarantee program that assures the Company's web-based services will help doctors across the nation, including New York, meet EHR certification requirements for achieving "Meaningful Use" and thereby qualify for reimbursement funds authorized by the HITECH Act. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) formally announced the final definition of Meaningful Use on July 13, 2010. With this deadline extension, physicians will now have until June 30, 2011, to participate in the program. Please visit www.athenahealth.com/bonus to learn more about athenahealth's EHR and the Company's federal stimulus bonus payment guarantee program.

"Being selected as a preferred EHR service provider by MSSNY is a great win for athenahealth, but, more importantly, a win for doctors across the State of New York who need help navigating the complexities of creating a paperless exam room," said Jonathan Bush, Chairman and CEO of athenahealth. "The flexibility of our web-based EHR and its position in the cloud enables physicians to meet not only the current HITECH Act eligibility requirements but also future requirements of this program, as well any others that emerge over time. We look forward to getting MSSNY health care providers up and running on our EHR quickly and painlessly while they remain focused on their patients."

SOURCE Medical Society of the State of New York