Leading vendor of cloud-based services for physician practices
-
Athenahealth
(
ATHN
) recently revealed that 96% of its concerned providers were
successful in meeting the attestation requirements of 2012
Medicare Meaningful Use Stage 1, Year 1. The company's
performance in 2012 leverages on the 85% achieved with regard to
2011 Medicare Meaningful Use Stage 1, Year 1. It is also twice as
successful as the industry-wide mean in the low 40% range.
Following the passage of the HITECH Act, Athenahealth has
collaborated with its customers to make sure that they are in
accordance with the provisions of the Medicare and Medicaid
incentive programs. The company's Electronic Health Record (EHR)
in the clouds gives ATHN on-time knowledge about provider
performance. This allows the company to address problems and
bottlenecks faced by its customers. Athenahealth provides a
resource center for Meaningful Use, the sole federal incentive
guarantee for EHR and a set of experts who help clients derive
benefits from Meaningful Use.
Athenahealth'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 helps 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 (athenaClinicals) is a key
player in ambulatory settings.
We believe that sales of athenaClinicals are likely to remain
robust. In addition, the company will harness its newer products,
namely athenaCommunicator and athenaCoordinator.
Athenahealth should benefit from its extensive athenaCollector
client base, as only a minority of its subscriber base also
utilizes athenaClinicals. 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 and executed several enterprise-sized
deals, which provide it with a credible and referenceable client
base. In early Jan 2013, Athenahealth signed a definitive
agreement to take over Epocrates, a provider of point-of-care
digital solutions in the healthcare industry. The acquisition
will enable Athenahealth to increase its user network and improve
its brand awareness.
Though the federal stimulus is winding 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, which integrates
inpatient and ambulatory-care systems.
Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc.
(
MDRX
) is another competitor in a crowded field. Athenahealth carries
a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
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