athenaOne Reviews

“Good records, too many clicks”

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.

“easy documentation, broken billing and support”

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.

“Helpful but feels bulky”

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.

“Okay for doctors, terrible for billing”

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.

“very user friendly”

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.

“inefficient scheduling feature”

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.

“Easy and helpful system”

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.

“Friendly and reliable software”

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.

“They're a SCAM”

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.

“Looked good but I'm disappointed”

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.

“very innovative tool”

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.

“High cost, low control and limited features”

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.

“great fit for small practice automation”

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.

“helpful but too much clicking”

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.

“Easy menus but always crashes”

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.

“Friendly and easy to use”

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.

“Great for paperless signing, clunky for charting”

Pros

My favorite thing is that I can write directly on the computer, sign documents and send them off without ever needing to print anything out.

Cons

I find it really difficult for getting through a chart. There are just too many clicks and I have to write things down just to verify and compliment the chart.

“smooth templates but bad workflow”

Pros

The templates make it easy to describe the history of present illness. They're good for that but sometimes they don't include every possible scenario I need.

Cons

Some things just don't make sense. The BOXES! It creates tasks for you to do later, sends them to your staff, who then send them back to you and it's just a lot of back and forth. It's not efficient at all.

“Templates save time, billing wastes money”

Pros

It helps me create notes really efficiently with templates and macros. Refilling prescriptions is easy too, once you figure out which ones need to be refilled.

Cons

Their billing and practice management service is terrible! I'm paying them a fortune and they're doing nothing. All the work just gets sent back to my biller. The biggest problems with the EMR itself are that it's hard to see when a prescription was last refilled, you have to search all over for messages and there are way too many steps for simple tasks.

“Friendly and great for revenue”

Pros

This software is very user-friendly. We use it in our clinic, emergency department and inpatient areas with no problems. There's definitely a learning curve but once your staff gets it, there's no going back. Within 60 days of switching, our hospital revenue went up by 11%. Their customer service is amazingn& our account manager is here every month and calls us weekly. I never got that level of service from Epic, CPSI or Meditech!

Cons

I wish they had more people in their customer service center. This company is growing really fast and having a few extra hands to help answer questions would be a huge help.