athenaOne Reviews

“User-friendly with quick referrals”

Pros

Navigating the program is not a problem and I rely on it to review past billing records and earlier appointments. We also get referrals from other offices much more quickly now. Through this tool, patients can contact us via their portal which speeds up response times making communication and referral handling feel faster and more efficient overall.

Cons

There is very little about this software that bothers me. As I mentioned, I find it quite user-friendly and simple to teach myself. It also provides helpful video tutorials for self-guided assistance so I rarely need to look elsewhere when I want to learn or troubleshoot something.

“Not great at all”

Pros

Compared to many other EMRs it is not expensive.

Cons

athenahealth is not user-friendly at all, and it keeps crashing a few times each day.

“easy satellite connections”

Pros

Compared to other EMRs I find this system much more digitally oriented. It allows me to fax and sign documents automatically from within the platform. The help desk is consistently easy to reach and I appreciate being able to connect from satellite locations.

Cons

Renewing medications involves far too many clicks and steps for my liking which slows down my workflow.

“athena handles denial work”

Pros

What I find most useful about AthenaCollector is that an internal Athena team handles the bulk of denial work. They go through denials first and only pass along cases that actually require my involvement.

Cons

I am frustrated that they've shifted much of their customer support overseas because that often leads me to receive incorrect or confusing guidance and forces me to wait ages while issues are being resolved.

“Difficult to navigate”

Pros

The software has a modern design with large fonts and detailed data entry options.

Cons

Navigating the system is very challenging and it asks for an excessive amount of information.

“Not the best for Naturopathic Doctors”

Pros

The internal chat feature which allows connections with other providers in the practice was well-liked.

Cons

The software doesn't cater well to Naturopathic medicine making it difficult to use efficiently due to incompatible templates and formatting.

“Small to medium business EHR Solutions”

Pros

We utilize AthenaHealth on a daily basis and it offers an easy-to-use portal for small to medium-sized businesses. It serves as a great alternative to larger options like Epic or Allscripts. The implementation process is simple requiring users to configure a browser and log in. Their help desk is reliable and the overall experience is smooth. Athena supports proprietary devices such as payment processing and card and check scanning devices making tasks like purchasing insurance scans patient registration and charting convenient. The software frequently provides updates but they are well-communicated and streamlined with minimal impact on patient care unless it's a significant update. Additionally Athena offers a backup domain and stack updates for troubleshooting which proves to be incredibly helpful.

Cons

Most changes are prioritized based on votes from other agencies trying to implement their own changes which means that billing and patient care don't integrate seamlessly. Our billing team constantly needs to adjust their processes to align with the way Athena works with patient care. Troubleshooting with medical assistants can sometimes be complex and the help desk may redirect you to several different individuals to resolve an issue. The recent changes to the help desk and ticketing system have made it more challenging to navigate.

“Creates and monitors orders perfectly”

Pros

I really appreciate how Athena creates an order and monitors it all the way through completion. It's fantastic. It helps our practice ensure patients stay on track and actually complete their tests, follow up on visits and so on.

Cons

One problem I have is that appointment reminders don't convey clear instructions for what patients need to do before arriving. I frequently hear patients say they missed the suggested early arrival because they only noticed the final text with the time and it didn't mention a separate check-in time. Also, I find the patient portal lacks a simple, memorable web address to share which makes it harder for patients to log in or reference the portal.

“auto-fills medications, lacks pediatrics”

Pros

It automatically fills in medications for most new patients which is incredibly helpful. Athenahealth has also partnered with the VA's PMP so I can search scheduled meds for patients more easily and with better access than before.

Cons

My experience is that the pediatric templates lack appropriate fields for the physical exam so I often cannot document relevant exam details for child patients.

“Great and easy to use”

Pros

this product is great and easy to use.

Cons

For me there's nothing I dislike about this product.

“efficient referrals feature”

Pros

I am impressed by how easily it connects providers with referring offices,and I also like how easy it is to import data into patient charts.

Cons

Sometimes it frustrates me when Athena insists that certain items be checked before I can submit which can slow my workflow.

“Bundles all tools with handy dashboard”

Pros

Athena bundles all the tools required to operate a medical practice. The Athena Collector dashboard is really handy for spotting pending items quickly and what needs attention right away.

Cons

Since growing I have found their customer service is overseas which I find frustrating now.

“athenahealth”

Pros

This software is one of a kind. It is sleek and it is beautiful. It is easy to use, not only for me but also for my patients as well. It gives a lot of relevant information regarding the patient and their condition. My patients like this software as well, they say that it helps them stay in the loop. Everyone isn’t health literate, so the technology that we use is very important and it also needs to be easier for everyone to use and understand.

Cons

I am currently a new user, so I don’t have much to say about this software yet. Currently, I’d say that it is expensive and can be quite slow at times.

“Some good features but bad layout”

Pros

The templates and text shortcuts are the standout features of this software. The ability to add drop-down menus and text boxes to text shortcuts greatly facilitates template creation. Sharing these shortcuts is also highly beneficial for consistent templates across multiple users. The integration of Epocrates for prescription purposes is also commendable particularly for checking drug interactions.

Cons

The software's layout is extremely confusing and it requires excessive clicking to access different parts of a patient's chart. Switching between sections of the chart also involves waiting for new pages to load. It would be much better if Athena used a more standard SOAP format on a single page.

“Make sure to double check the posting!!”

Pros

The scheduling feature works efficiently and the EHR surpasses other systems we have used.

Cons

The billing and posting by Athena are absolutely terrible. Payments are sometimes posted without receiving the actual payment and numerous payments/adjustments are posted incorrectly. Claims are not handled as expected and if payment doesn't come automatically or can't be resolved with one phone call the claim is put on hold for the office to work on. The posting is outsourced and it appears that the employees are not adequately trained. Our billing team has discovered thousands of dollars' worth of mistakes which raises concerns about how many errors we may have missed.

“Athena Health PT software”

Pros

The program is highly user-friendly and easy to learn. The ability to create templates and customize the program is particularly valuable.

Cons

The character limits sometimes restrict the ability to add comments and information.

“Proactive and hands-on healthcare partner”

Pros

What I really like about athenahealth is how proactive they are in keeping up with changes in the healthcare landscape so our practice stays current with things like ICD-10. I am also grateful that they're so hands-on and genuinely committed to helping medical practices organize office workflows to handle these updates head-on, without the worry of being left stranded when it comes to timely payments. I even value the strong support network they provide as the CSC team is always available to take my calls or read my questions and dig up the answers for me. To be honest I rarely have the time to comb through the knowledge base and training videos myself although those resources are great for anyone who has the bandwidth so having a reliable support team behind me is a huge relief. Another thing I like is that it makes it simple to share patients medical information, with their consent, to other practices and hospitals because continuity of care is the most important part of this service ecosystem. Finally I appreciate how mindful this tool is about striking the right balance between helping a practice thrive and not overstepping their role or stepping on anyone's toes.

Cons

Lately when I use the portal to post non-urgent questions, I have noticed the response times can stretch to more than two weeks. It used to be that turnaround was about seven days or less so waiting this long means I often forget the exact details of my original question and have to go back and reread my notes to pick up the thread again. I have also read several other posts about long wait times and being put on hold for extended periods. When we first started with athenahealth, I didn't run into this and I was calling in frequentlyassometimes ten times a dayasfor a while. Nowadays I call much less often and thankfully I haven't been kept on hold for more than five minutes recently. Still, I do appreciate knowing I can call when something is urgent and get immediate help when it really matters.

“Easy”

Pros

The system isn’t overwhelming at all. The layouts are really great and pleasant to look at. It is easy to use and navigate through. The chart navigation is easy as well.

Cons

There are times when my charting doesn’t save due to “no clicking” on another portion of the chart. But this is something that rarely happens.

“easy to use with regular updates”

Pros

This is easy for me to use. The regular updates let me be more productive. Tutorials are helpful and there's a large library of articles I check for answers.

Cons

I occasionally experience delays before glitches or problems are fixed which can be frustrating when I need immediate help.

“a fix for almost any practice challenge”

Pros

Athena provides a fix for almost any challenge a practice faces. Whether it's handling claims, billing and collections or maintaining electronic health records, Athena touches every part of practice management. After I set it up in several practices I worked with, those offices experienced a significant boost in revenue and overall profitability.

Cons

In my experience the cost is pretty steep. It can be tough to justify the investment for smaller or brand-new practices that are still finding their feet. You pretty much need to be an established practice thinking about switching over because starting out on this system before you know your income can be a risky move.