Electronic health records (EHRs) have become essential for improving patient outcomes, streamlining workflows, and enhancing practice efficiency. A study observed that the proportion of clinicians who agreed that EHRs improved the quality of care increased significantly from 63% at one month post-EHR implementation to 86% at twelve months, reinforcing their impact on healthcare delivery.
This detailed comparison dives into two prominent contenders—athenaOne and Allscripts (now acquired by Veradigm)—exploring their core features, advantages, potential limitations, pricing structures, and user experiences.
Whether you're a solo practitioner, a bustling medical practice, or a health organization, understanding how these platforms align with your needs is key to making an informed choice.
Head-On Comparison
athenaOne offers an all-in-one cloud-based platform that integrates electronic health records, revenue cycle management, and patient engagement tools. Its EHR system provides specialty-specific workflows, automatic patient record sharing, real-time patient insights, and a mobile app to reduce documentation time. Additionally, athenaOne's revenue cycle management services combine intelligent technology with expert support to maximize collections.
Alternatively, Allscripts EMR delivers a suite of healthcare IT solutions designed to improve clinical operations and interoperability. Its EHR system caters to a wide range of practice sizes, offering automated workflows, telehealth, and AI integrations for practice efficiency. Allscripts also focuses on data-driven insights to enhance clinical decision support and population health management.
athenaOne Vs Allscripts: At A Glance
Feature
athenaOne
Allscripts
Practice Management
✓
✓
Revenue Cycle Management
✓
✓
Ambient Notes
✓
✗
Interoperability
✓
✓
Telehealth
✓
✓
Marketing Tools
✓
✓
Predictive Scheduler
✗
✓
Integrated Clearinghouse
✓
✓
Comparing Strengths And Weaknesses
athenaOne
Allscripts
Pros
Improves quality of care
Allows customization of reports, templates, and letters
Simplifies charting
Sleek and visually appealing
Users appreciate its photo capture ability
Automates administrative tasks
Helps with referral management
Great at information sharing
Strong reporting and analytics
Users appreciate its e-prescribing
Cons
Trouble recognizing ICD-10 codes
Customer support can be improved
Cannot fax or email directly from it
Customization can be improved
Side By Side Feature Comparison
Billing And Revenue Cycle Management
athenaOne provides a solid revenue cycle management (RCM) solution that integrates fluidly with its practice management software. Key features include automated accounts receivable tasks, real-time revenue cycle dashboards, and a billing rules engine that identifies errors prior to claim submission. These tools aim to maximize collections while reducing administrative burden, offering complete visibility into financial performance.
Allscripts offers a suite of RCM services designed to improve financial health and operational efficiency. Their solutions include claims management, denial resolution, and medical coding services. Allscripts focuses on minimizing claim errors and denials, helping reduce accounts receivable days. Their Payerpath clearinghouse integrates with major practice management systems, ensuring efficient claims processing.
Winner: It's a tie as both athenaOne and Allscripts deliver comprehensive RCM solutions each with unique strengths.
Electronic Health Record
athenaOne's EHR system emphasizes intuitive workflows and customizable features to streamline documentation. It offers best-practice templates, macros, and accelerators to reduce documentation time, along with specialty-specific workflows tailored to various medical fields. The platform also supports mobile documentation through the athenaOne EHR Mobile app, enabling clinicians to document encounters on the go. Real-time patient insights are integrated into standard workflows, providing clinicians with up-to-date information during patient interactions.
Allscripts' EHR solutions are designed to handle the complexities of modern healthcare, offering a clean and intuitive interface for clinicians. Veradigm RxTruePrice offers customizable workflows to support various specialties and integrates features such as prescription price transparency, care plans and goals, and integrated telemedicine services. Additionally, Allscripts offers a mobile version that allows clinicians to manage schedules, review messages, and refill prescriptions while away from the office.
Winner: athenaOne takes the lead due to its strong emphasis on workflow automation, real-time patient insights, and specialty-specific templates that enhance efficiency.
AI Capabilities
athenaOne's ‘Ambient Notes’ is an AI-powered tool that utilizes ambient listening and generative AI to automate clinical note generation. This solution records patient visits, processes the audio to create comprehensive note summaries, and smoothly integrates them into the patient's EHR. Embedded within the ‘athenaOne Mobile’ platform, Ambient Notes supports existing clinical workflows and offers multiple AI models to match various specialties and provider preferences. This integration aims to reduce the documentation burden on clinicians, allowing them to focus more on patient care.
Allscripts offers an AI-driven tool, ‘Predictive Scheduler’, that leverages predictive analytics to optimize patient scheduling. By forecasting patient demand, this tool prioritizes appointments for patients with urgent needs, reduces wait times, and enhances operational efficiency. The Predictive Scheduler analyzes historical and real-time data to predict demand fluctuations, ensuring that healthcare providers can manage their schedules effectively and provide timely care to patients.
Winner: It's a tie here as both athenaOne and Allscripts have developed AI solutions that address different aspects of healthcare delivery.
Patient Engagement
athenaOne's patient engagement platform empowers patients with digital access to their health information and care team through an intuitive mobile app and award-winning ‘Patient Portal’. Features include secure communication channels, patient payment tools, and self-scheduling capabilities, allowing patients to manage appointments without calling during business hours. These tools aim to improve patient retention and organizational efficiency by reducing administrative tasks for staff.
Allscripts offers a patient engagement platform, ‘FollowMyHealth®’, which provides a mobile patient experience, telehealth services, and remote patient monitoring (RPM). The platform enables providers to send after-visit summaries, instructions, and patient education materials, as well as automated care plan follow-ups. Patients can set goals and capture health data via wireless and wearable devices, promoting active participation in their care.
Winner: Allscripts' FollowMyHealth® wins for its ability to keep patients engaged throughout their entire care journey—before, during, and after visits.
Interoperability
athenaOne's interoperability framework enables seamless data exchange by automatically integrating patient records into clinical workflows. The platform connects with over 150,000 providers on the athenaOne® network, ensuring that patient data is easily accessible across different care settings. Additionally, it provides access to over 200 million unique patient records, offering clinicians a comprehensive, real-time view of patient history, regardless of where care was received. This network-driven approach enhances care coordination, informed decision-making, and overall healthcare efficiency.
Allscripts is recognized for its commitment to open platforms and effective interoperability. Solutions such as ‘dbMotion™’ enable the sharing of data across different EHR systems, regardless of the vendor. This facilitates the creation of a community patient record, providing clinicians with accessible, clinically relevant information at the point of care. Allscripts processes over 14 million unique patient transactions each month, exchanging data with more than 1,000 hospitals to support seamless interoperability and real-time clinical data access.
Winner: athenaOne emerges as the winner with its vast provider network and access to over 200 million patient records, providing unmatched interoperability.
Pricing Plans For athenaOne And Allscripts
athenaOne and Allscripts offer distinct pricing models tailored to various healthcare practice needs. athenaOne employs a performance-based pricing model aligned with a practice's collections, ensuring that costs correspond to revenue fluctuations. This approach features minimal upfront expenses, transparent fees, and the flexibility of no long-term contracts, allowing practices to transition away without financial penalties.
Allscripts provides multiple pricing plans to accommodate different practice sizes and requirements. For instance, the Practice Fusion EHR plan starts at $149 per month, while the Veradigm ePrescribe plan starts at $59 per prescriber per month.
Disclaimer: Pricing is subject to change.
What Users Have To Say?
Users highlight different strengths and pain points for both athenaOne and Allscripts. athenaOne is frequently praised for its intuitive design and comprehensive feature set, making clinical workflows more efficient. Many find its EHR system user-friendly and well-integrated, especially for managing patient records and documentation. However, some users report challenges with the billing module, citing occasional complexity and slow responsiveness.
On the other hand, Allscripts is valued for its adaptable interface and ease of use, particularly for practices with proper training. Many users appreciate the system’s continuous updates and responsive support team. However, there are concerns about connectivity with some users noting occasional system downtimes and slow issue resolution.
athenaOne Or Allscripts: Which One Suits You Best?
Both athenaOne and Allscripts bring powerful capabilities to the table, catering to different priorities in healthcare management. athenaOne stands out for its automation, real-time data insights, and strong interoperability, making it a solid choice for practices looking for efficiency and seamless system integrations. Allscripts, on the other hand, offers extensive patient engagement features, AI-powered scheduling, and flexible workflows, making it well-suited for organizations that prioritize patient connectivity and proactive care management.
Ultimately, the best choice depends on a practice’s specific operational needs, budget, and long-term goals. Whether you prioritize advanced interoperability and streamlined workflows or a more patient-centric engagement model, selecting the right EHR is key to optimizing both clinical and administrative efficiency.
