First-of-its-kind patient engagement measurement will help lead the industry toward meeting patient expectations of a consumer-grade experience in healthcare 

athenahealth, Inc., a leading provider of network-enabled software and services for medical groups and health systems nationwide, today announced the athenahealth Patient Digital Engagement Index, a first-of-its-kind measurement capability for medical practices to understand how their patients use digital tools when receiving care – and how to take their interaction to the next level. The goal of the Index is to help providers measure and improve how they interact with and support their patients, equipping providers and patients to move together toward a more digital, technology-enabled experience that will ultimately lead to better care.

At a time when the expectation of seamless digital consumer experiences is a norm in nearly every other industry, the Index is expected to bring healthcare a critical step forward in the long-awaited journey toward a consumer-grade healthcare experience. It is designed to help athenahealth practices enhance the patient experience, improve overall patient satisfaction, and drive better health outcomes in communities across the United States. The Index is currently in limited release and will roll out to all athenahealth customers by the end of 2023.

Despite industry trends toward the consumerization of healthcare, many elements of the patient healthcare experience remain stubbornly analog, with patients filling out paper forms on clipboards and calling practices for appointments or test results. athenahealth is committed to changing this status quo by giving its providers the tools and insights they need to seamlessly integrate digital and mobile technology into key moments of care, meeting today’s patient expectations.

The Index offers medical practices a view into how their patients engage with them digitally across key areas, including health information updates, appointment scheduling, and payment options. Available in the athenaOne® Insights Dashboard, the Index enables practices to measure their patient digital engagement, compare their performance against similar organizations on the athenahealth network, and leverage critical insights, training, and best practices to improve patients’ digital engagement with the practice.

“The Patient Digital Engagement Index represents another significant milestone in athenahealth’s journey to create a consumer-grade patient experience, enabling providers and patients to more seamlessly manage health and wellness as active partners to drive better outcomes,” said Paul Brient, chief product officer of athenahealth. “With healthcare lagging most other industries in terms of digitization, we are excited to help our customers deliver a higher-quality patient experience and promote patient loyalty.”

The Index joins several recent patient experience enhancements that athenahealth made to capabilities within athenaOne, athenahealth’s integrated, cloud-based electronic health record (EHR), medical billing, and patient engagement solution.

Earlier this year athenahealth launched athenaPatient, a secure, patient-facing mobile app with quick, convenient login features to view upcoming appointments, access health information such as test results, and connect with care teams across all of a patient’s providers who use athenahealth. In addition, athenahealth continues to enhance its secure, pre-appointment self-check-in capabilities, which allow patients to complete several important tasks – such as updating health, medication, and insurance information – from home or on the go, improving convenience for patients and enabling providers to have important clinical data available at the point of care for improved focus on the patient and clinical decision making.

About athenahealth, Inc.

athenahealth creates innovative healthcare technology that connects clinicians, patients, payers, and partners in differentiated ways. Our electronic health record, revenue cycle management, and patient engagement solutions allow anytime, anywhere access, driving better financial outcomes for our customers and enabling our provider customers to deliver better quality care. In everything we do, we’re inspired by our vision to create a thriving ecosystem that delivers accessible, high-quality, and sustainable healthcare for all. For more information, please visit www.athenahealth.com.

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