athenahealth EHR Software

Pros

Fairly straightforward. Easy to learn in a short time frame. Relatively clean and easy to navigate.

Cons

The reports feature is an absolute nightmare. Being a Clinical Research Coordinator, I am constantly trying to run reports for all of our different studies and my success rate for running a functional report is pretty minimal. I also do not like how it doesn't hold accountability very well. I feel that Athena should demand start and stop dates for medications as well as treatments/problems. Also! Be careful- it's far too easy to delete things!

Pros

The user interface is very friendly and everything is set up to guide you through easily while entering patient information.

Cons

Sometimes the add on software like the label printer and document printer would stop working, but that is rare.

I was very happy with the ease of finding patient charts and having everything in one spot.

Pros

This software is user friendly and easy to navigate.

Cons

This software really doesn’t have any cons. I was very happy with it.

Pros

I have used this software as the patient, and I think it’s great! The easiest part is the billing. Medical bills can be difficult to keep track of often, however this software makes it easy for a patient to see all their billing info in one place.

Cons

I’m always a fan of apps, and I wish there was an app!

I am able to streamline reports more accurately for the questionnaires I complete so it paints a better picture of the patient population we work with. I can match it up to see if we have a need for research studies within a specific age group and disease category.

Pros

Charting is easy. There is a report function is helpful in order to determine patient visit and diagnoses type of statistics for feasibility questionnaires that I complete.

Cons

Some of the filters could be more specific for reports I require. Otherwise, it works well.

It is a great software to use and cost effective compare to other EHR software.

Pros

athena Clinicals is a great EHR software, user friendly and save time for documentation and billing process. It is useful to get all patient information including medical history, labs and medication chart.

Cons

It required basic computer skills to navigate through different tab and initially take some time but with in week or two costumer can understand how to navigate it.

Pros

Athena definitely has potential, however it is not one of my favorite EMR's used. It is nice how it can departmentalize different physicians and checking their schedules is relatively easy.

Cons

Athena is not very user friendly. Do not try to run reports, as these can be highly inaccurate.

Overall, it keeps medical charts organized and it is easy to update and change information. They do try to update the software regularly, so that is nice.

Pros

It is generally easy to use. A recent update in the last year, so the layout is much improved. It is pretty user-friendly.

Cons

First, there is not enough security in terms of being able to secure certain types of notes to keep them from being accessible to people within your network. Second, when you send patient cases back and forth, there is no notification of new notes on an open case.

Pros

This tool is great for fast information and effective systems. Switching to Athena helped our company create a better end user experience for our employees and customers.

Cons

Some buttons would be useless to us. I wish we could get rid of these keys for the space. Rearranging would be beneficial.

Pros

I like how I can easily search through outpatient records when caring for them in the hospital setting. Everything I need to know is located in one place such as past medical history, current medications, previous lab work and imaging ect. I can see where the patient was seen last and what was done for them. I especially like how I can message providers in order to stay in close communication with them. This allows a smoother transition when going from the inpatient to outpatient setting.

Cons

I do not like how not all providers are connected with Athena. If a provider is not part of the system then I can not communicate with them.

I implemented this product in a practice, then started training providers on this product. I am stationary now and using another product that doesn't come close to Athena. Unfortunately, I am unable to switch over to Athena! I have used several different EMR/Practice management products and Athena is the best!

Pros

Athena can do most anything in their EMR/Practice Management product!

Cons

Percentage rate of collections can be a little high. Billing department can be a little hard to get a hold of, but over a great product.

Pros

Honestly, the salesperson was the reason we went with Athena. Everything that they promised never came to fruition.

Cons

The most difficult EHR to use. Definitely NOT user friendly and the training was horrible.

Went live with Athena on 5/2018 and it has been a bumpy ride since.

Pros

-New modern interface compared to what we were using before.
-Easy to Navigate once a workflow is established

Cons

-Support really isn't that great. I've still got open tickets from months ago with no resolution. Occasionally you'll get someone who can fix your problem on the first call.
-Training is subpar. Previous EMR was here for a month training users. Athena send a few people a couple weeks ahead to train only the superusers. Then they send a few more the week before (3), the week of (8) and the week after(3). Most of those people don't even have the answers. They tend to stick what is in the training but any questions outside of that they have to get back to you on.

IS NOT SUPPOETED ON ANY DEVICE OTHER THAN AN IPHONE. I WAS NOT EVEN ABLE TO ATTEMPT AN EXPERIENCE.

Pros

I was esctatic when my co-worker showed me I could access on my mobile device. I wouldn't have to be around my laptop if I needed to check labs or do some quick follow up on my day off.

Cons

But then I tried and tried and tried to log in on my phone. To no avail. Not supported by my browser. I looked at all their advertising for how amazing Athena clinicals is....tried to figure out why I couldn't get it to work for me. Called customer support at Athena only to hear what I dreaded - only supported by iPhones. Why? How in 2018 does a company provide a service that can only be utilized by iPhones!? We operate their Athena EHR in our office on Windows based computers....does not require Macs to operate their EHR, why limit their mobile support to iPhones!??? My advice from tech support, make a suggestion. Anyone else out there who doesn't operate on an iOhine, can you please make a suggestion too!?

Pros

There are none the cons out way any possible pros. Do your homework they are liars and will sell you an emr that doesn’t exist.

Cons

The company is horrible. They do not honor the business contract they gave us. No support, our office has done our own leg work because Athena’s supports staff is incompetent. No billing support what so ever.

Knowledge to use on others

Pros

This software is easy to use once you learn the process. Which helps that the customer service people are very helpful and will walk you threw any issues

Cons

The only issues I would say that isn't as much helpful is the verification part. It's so complicated to understand

Pros

I do not use this software from a clinical perspective. The layout is aesthetically appealing and it has an IM feature to send quick messages. From a reporting standpoint, setting up reports and building them from scratch couldn't be easier. It's very simple to export the reports to excel or Tableau for even better analysis. It does come with prebuilt reports. If you need to create a custom report, there is a report building feature that walks you through the steps. For the most part, Athena does a good job at defining the fields, but sometimes it does require some trial and error.

Cons

Though the software has really user friendly reporting features, sometimes the data itself does not make sense. For instance, we ran a report for no shows and there were instances of 1 no show/0 booked slot. There are also different report categories that include/exclude certain types of data. ie you may not find certain billing data in a clinical category report.

Pros

You can probably tell that I like it! Its secure and excellent for billing my clients. The secure text messaging is great and is compatible with my apple watch.

Cons

Bit pricey compared to the competitors but probably worth it given the vast array of features that are present.

It takes the most time consuming events and simplifies them

Pros

This system basically takes the things that take the most time for you or your staff and makes them simple thus saving you time and money

Cons

For us it was a little bit challenging to start using but that was about it, otherwise it seems very awesome

Pros

Obtaining insurance eligibility and getting immediate feedback to correct claims prior to submission. Billing software is very good, but then you lose control of the claims since Athena has payments made to a bank account they control.

Cons

Patient notes -- very difficult to make your own templates and what is pre-installed is awkward and missing options. The team that does the billing is unresponsive when there are issues. Support is slow we also had an issue since January, unsolved.
System limitations--you can't message a patient directly--that simple feature is missing. You can't fax most documents from the software, only certain items. Cannot export chart to a fax number--has to be with a pre-existing contact in the software (must ask permission with a form to add a contact).