Leading vendor of cloud-based services for physician
practices,
Athenahealth, Inc.
(
ATHN
) recently announced that Mid Dakota Clinic will utilize the
company's services to enhance administrative competency and
improve patient connectivity. With the inclusion of Mid Dakota
Clinic, Athenahealth's services are now used by clinicians across
all 48 states in the U.S.
Mid Dakota Clinic is a multi-specialty health care service
provider catering to the rural population living in central and
western North Dakota. With only 60 healthcare experts under its
wings, the clinic was finding it difficult to address the fast
growing population in and around the Bismarck-Mardan region, as
they were overloaded with administrative work.
Athenahealth's smart technology solution will reduce Mid Dakota's
administration-related problems on clinicians, thereby enabling
better patient care. Mid Dakota will utilize Athenahealth's
various technologies such as KLAS EHR service, athenaClinicals;
its streamlined medical billing and practice management service,
athenaCollector; and its patient communications service,
athenaCommunicator to increase clinical efficiency and tackle
regulatory changes in the health care sector.
Our Take
We have a long-term Neutral recommendation on Athenahealth. The
company's web-based deployment provides a low-cost scalable
service while its flexible rules engine leads to higher
efficiency in claims settlement. The Software-as-a-Service
(SaaS)-based approach allows for a more flexible delivery
mechanism that is expected to help Athenahealth win deals. The
company has traditionally enjoyed high customer satisfaction
rates, which facilitates a larger number of referrals.
Athenahealth's unique business model makes it a strong provider
of RCM services (athenaCollector) designed for small physician
practices. Its EHR product (athenaClinical) is a key player in
ambulatory settings.
We believe that sales of athenaClinical are likely to remain
robust. In addition, the company will harness its newer products,
namely athenaCommunicator and athenaCoordinator.
The company should benefit from its extensive athenaCollector
client base, as only a minority of its subscriber base also
utilizes athenaClinical. Cross selling represents a real growth
opportunity in the near term. In this regard, Athenahealth has
made rapid strides in capturing the EHR business of physician
practices. However, this segment is shrinking, as hospitals
increasingly absorb physician's medical practices.
Athenahealth is geared to enter the enterprise segment through
its strategic alliance with Microsoft (MSFT) and the acquisition
of Proxsys, both completed in 2011. The company has recently
signed on, and executed several enterprise-sized deals, which
provide it with a credible and referenceable client base.
Though the federal stimulus will gradually wind down, the
replacement market has been growing. Competition is fierce and
larger competitors may benefit from the incumbency factor.
Industry stalwarts such as
Cerner Corporation
(
CERN
) offer long-standing seamless products integrating inpatient and
ambulatory-care systems.
Quality Systems Inc.
(
QSII
) and
Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc.
(
MDRX
) are two other well-known competitors in a crowded field.
ATHENAHEALTH IN (ATHN): Free Stock Analysis
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CERNER CORP (CERN): Free Stock Analysis
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ALLSCRIPTS HLTH (MDRX): Free Stock Analysis
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QUALITY SYS (QSII): Free Stock Analysis
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