athenaOne Reviews

Pros

Athena was user-friendly and easy to learn. This was especially important for me because I started at this office without any prior medical experience.

Cons

It could use some updates, especially in making it easier to find basic files like a patient's social history.

Pros

The back-end maintenance isn't bad at all. It's pretty simple to change things or build new stuff for our providers. That said, customizing it can be tricky in some places.

Cons

People using the software kept complaining that it didn't work. Things would crash when you clicked on them like the ePrescribe feature. We also had several problems where test results just wouldn't show up.

Pros

The search feature was useful that one time I used it, especially compared to our old system. The training team was nice and seemed to know their stuff. I do appreciate the e-prescribing for controlled substances... when it actually works and the prescription actually arrives after you get the alert that it sent!

Cons

I am pretty good with computers and I'm usually a very easy-going person. But the word "Athena" makes me see red. The patient portal doesn't work. I can't start my notes until the patient is checked in which is terrible for new patients in my specialty. When you highlight text to type over it, it doesn't work, you have to press delete first. Finding a document is a total scavenger hunt. It takes five or six clicks just to start seeing a patient. Looking at labs or the medication list is torture. Scanned documents get sent to random places. You just have to hope and pray a prescription actually went through. We've reported a ton of safety issues, but we've gotten tired of it. Customer support is a nightmare. The portal DOES NOT work. You can't clear things off your task list without a huge, time-consuming effort. When they "fix" something, they won't tell you what was wrong or how they fixed it and half the time it STILL doesn't work. Finding lab comments from a doctor is like an archaeological dig. The appointment reminder texts can't be adjusted, so patients get mad when they show up 15 minutes early. The billing has weird quirks. Communicating with other clinics is awful because no one else was dumb enough to buy this system. Problem lists get imported from our old system and turn "anger issues" into weird diagnoses like "rage and unsocialized behavior in an adult," which has left some patients in tears. Sometimes documents are sent to us but we never get them. It's so hard to explain to a patient why there's an error and it makes me look like I don't know what I'm doing. I've had to say, "If they said they sent it, they probably did but I don't see it. Just have them mail it to me, because if they fax it the system might lose it."

Pros

Our old system, Docutap had a more user-friendly interface. But its reports were a mess and you could run the same report twice and get different numbers. With Athena, we can run reports for one site or all 17 and it's consistent. The interface just takes a little practice to get used to.

Cons

Athena's products are expensive and if you need help, you have to put in a ticket which is a pain. Getting anything customized takes way too much time and effort.

Pros

Athena is very detail-oriented which makes processing information really effective. Everything is stored by patient, so keeping records is easy. We like using iPads in the office to conduct appointments and record everything directly into Athena.

Cons

I hate how many screens I have to click through just to put in patient information. Even if I have no prescriptions to give, I still have to click 'okay' and go through all the screens. It's so time-consuming and tedious.

Pros

The clinical documentation is easy to use. The templates are user-friendly and help me get my charting done quickly right at the point of care.

Cons

What's the point of having good charts if they can't process claims properly? They keep losing us money on so many claims. They don't even fill out certain claim forms correctly. Their customer service is poor and they never help us fix the problem even though our billing office has tried so many times. I get the feeling AthenaHealth knows they're so big they don't have to care about a single client. It's an arrogant way of thinking.

Pros

I find it really helpful that I can graph and chart different data like labs and vitals and see them visually right in the chart. The dot phrase shortcuts and the pre-selected boxes in the templates also make me much more efficient. The notes it produces are readable and logical, not like some overly-templated, messy notes I've seen.

Cons

The system can feel a little "bulky." There are so many possible customizations and it requires a lot of button-clicks until you get used to it. The auto-default for pharmacies and labs is great when it works but it can cause mistakes if a patient uses more than one pharmacy. Managing the medication list isn't as easy as it should be and it doesn't automatically add diagnoses to the problem list.

Pros

The clinical side is okay to use. The doctors say it's easy to chart with. Handling the meaningful use requirements is pretty manageable.

Cons

The billing is horrible. You're a third party to your own money. Half the time, our biller is double-checking Athena's work.

Pros

I love how user-friendly it is. It's easy to use and most of the information I needed was right on the screen, so I didn't have to click back and forth a lot.

Cons

Revenue cycle management is bad. Athena outsources it to another country and they make tons of mistakes. The errors in posting payments are horrible and their notes often contradict themselves.

Pros

It integrated well with labs and pharmacies. The meaningful user information was helpful and it worked smoothly with my dragon dictation software.

Cons

It's not very user-friendly. The scheduling part is horrible, although I heard they were trying to improve it.

Pros

First off this product is very easy to use. Anytime I have a question, I can get an answer from one of the reps really quickly.

Cons

There are a few features we'd love to have like a reminder system for ourselves or special alerts for certain patients.

Pros

Its user friendly and reliable online. I can easily categorize my clinical documents, file them away and find them again later without any issue.

Cons

You have to be really careful when adding documents from the scan-in box. It works well if you re-click the patient's name but if you click the magnifying glass, it will pull up the last patient in the queue instead.

Pros

It is somewhat simple to use for basic tasks like patient intake and putting in codes. But for billing, it is NOT up to standard. Do NOT trust your business with Athena health for that.

Cons

They offer no real help with claims or billing. They lie! We have multiple claims on hold because of computer problems that they NEVER fix. You won't get paid unless you have someone constantly watching the claim buckets and even if you are credentialed, they'll make you redo it and won't let the claim process.

Pros

The EHR software looked really good on the demo and seemed user-friendly. The cost was a little high but I thought it would be worth it at first.

Cons

This company was dishonest with our practice about what we were buying. Their whole business model is unethical.

Pros

Athena is extremely easy to use. I train all the new providers in our practice and even the ones who are terrible with computers seem to "get it" quickly. It's loaded with great tools and I can finish my notes right after seeing patients. There are also lots of ways to customize it for our practice.

Cons

There are so many small things Athena could fix to make the system better. They have a suggestion page, but they seem more focused on building new things than fixing the small issues that already exist.

Pros

I can't tell if it's meant to be an all-in-one practice management system but it doesn't really feel like it. The customization is limited and it gets expensive when you start adding all the features you actually need.

Cons

You're not in control of your own billing. You still need to hire a biller and coder on your staff and on top of that, you still have to pay Athena 7%. There was no trial period where we could back out and get our money back either.

Pros

It makes my small office run so much more smoothly. I can automate alot of tasks and it really helps me stay on top of all the new changes happening in healthcare.

Cons

There's a lot in this EMR that I just don't use. It definitely took me a few weeks to get the hang of it.

Pros

I find the new tabs at the top really helpful for getting around. I also like that I can customize my own templates and being able to use it on my cell phone is a major plus.

Cons

There is still way too much scrolling and clicking. I wish I could make quick keys for text I use all the time.

Pros

I really like the drop-down menus and how easy it is to document things. The page layout works well and toggling between items is simple... when the site is working properly, that is.

Cons

It's slow to load and it crashes all the time. They never have any answers for me and just say it's a "workflow problem." I've even figured out the glitch myself a couple of times and they still don't think anything is wrong.

Pros

Athena is a user-friendly program. The scheduling system is easy to use and I've found most other areas of the system are fairly simple too.

Cons

I think it could be better in a few areas. It sounds like some updates are coming soon, so I'm hoping that will make billing claims better.