WATERTOWN, Mass., Aug. 10, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- athenahealth, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATHN), a leading provider of cloud-based services and mobile applications for medical groups and health systems, today announced updates to its Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Accelerator Program. Awarded an outstanding 35.25 automatic credits and 45.5 practice support points by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), athenahealth ® streamlines providers' pathway towards formal NCQA PCMH Recognition. Practices using athenahealth's electronic health record, athenaClinicals ®, and patient engagement service, athenaCommunicator ®, are now well positioned to achieve Level 3 recognition, with only 4.25 points of practice responsibility required to meet the 85 point threshold.

Acknowledged by the industry as an innovative primary care delivery model, the Patient-Centered Medical Home aims to replace episodic care with team-based, coordinated care. NCQA awards PCMH Recognition to providers who meet strenuous criteria for delivering continuous, comprehensive, accessible, and community-based care. Beginning in 2018, recognized providers will be eligible for a five percent reimbursement bonus from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The PCMH Accelerator Program is one of many initiatives from athenahealth that combines cloud-based software with the work and support of service teams to help close the gap on revenue-impacting industry changes.

athenahealth supports and streamlines providers' pathway to NCQA PCMH Recognition in the following ways:

  • Automatic Credits – Users of both athenaClinicals and athenaCommunicator receive 35.25 pre-validated auto-credits from NCQA.
     
  • Integrated Workflows and Reporting Tools – NCQA-approved practice support workflows totaling 45.5 points are integrated directly into athenaNet ®, easing the administrative burden and reporting requirements for practices applying for recognition. Workflows are informed by evidence-based clinical guidelines and quality management monitoring, as well as configuration, documentation, and reporting tools.
     
  • Reduced Practice Responsibility – NCQA- approved workflows and auto-credits now total an outstanding 80.75 points, requiring only 4.25 points of practice responsibility to achieve Level 3 Recognition--the highest possible achievement.

"athenahealth's auto-credits gave our practice a head start in the PCMH Recognition process and made the rest of the work straightforward with pre-validated workflows and reporting tools," said Dr. Craig Summers, a pediatrician and founder of the Children's Medical Group in Hamden, Connecticut. "We selected athenahealth not just for its software, but as a complete service to position our practice to succeed in an evolving landscape. The NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home Recognition is an official seal for something our practice already takes great pride in: providing patients with on-going, personal relationships with physicians, and coordinated, integrated care in their community. PCMH has allowed us to improve on the value we provide patients, and ultimately get paid by for the value we create."

"The Patient-Centered Medical Home is an important evolution for health care delivery, with acknowledged potential to increase quality, lower costs, and empower patients. It is also a critical steppingstone to value-based reimbursement, and one that wisely embraces the essential role of primary care providers in health care transformation," said Todd Rothenhaus, MD, Chief Medical Officer, athenahealth. "Providing the coordinated, accessible, and comprehensive care of a Patient-Centered Medical Home is a noble goal and one that many providers are already meeting in their practices every day. athenahealth is a committed partner to these providers and will continue to respond to their needs, both qualifying for key reimbursement programs and keeping their practices healthy through the vicissitudes of industry change." 

About athenahealth, Inc.

athenahealth is a leading provider of cloud-based services for electronic health records (EHR), revenue cycle management and  medical billing, patient engagement, care coordination, and population health management, as well as Epocrates ® and other point-of-care mobile apps. We connect care ® and drive meaningful, measurable results for more than 67,000 healthcare providers in medical practices and health systems nationwide. For more information, please visit www.athenahealth.com.

About NCQA

NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations. It also recognizes clinicians and practices in key areas of performance. NCQA's Web site (www.ncqa.org) contains information to help consumers, employers and others make more informed health care choices.

CONTACT: Holly Spring
         athenahealth, Inc. (Media)
         media@athenahealth.com
         617-402-1631
         
         Dana Quattrochi
         athenahealth, Inc. (Investors)
         investorrelations@athenahealth.com
         617-402-1329

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