The right electronic health record (EHR) system is pivotal in enhancing clinical efficiency, patient care, and administrative workflows. Choosing the best solution is a critical decision for healthcare providers, practices, and organizations.
Among the leading solutions in the industry, athenaOne and eClinicalWorks stand out for their comprehensive features and practice management capabilities. While both platforms offer solid tools for patient record management, billing, and telehealth, their approaches and overall user experience differ significantly.
This comparison takes a deep dive into athenaOne vs. eClinicalWorks, examining their key features, benefits, limitations, pricing structures, and real-world user feedback. By the end, you’ll have a clearer picture of which solution best aligns with your practice’s operational needs and long-term goals.
Head-On Comparison
athenaOne offers an all-in-one solution that includes EHR, practice management, and patient engagement capabilities. Its intuitive platform aims to streamline clinical documentation and reduce manual tasks, allowing healthcare providers to focus more on patient care. The system also provides tools to strengthen patient engagement, such as easy access to health information and direct communication with care teams.
On the other hand, eClinicalWorks emphasizes innovation through AI-powered functionalities. Features like Sunoh.ai, an ambient listening technology, transcribe natural language conversations between providers and patients into clinical documentation, thereby accelerating the EHR documentation process. Additionally, eClinicalWorks offers a suite of patient engagement tools, including telehealth solutions, online booking, and patient portals, to improve patient access to healthcare and promote deeper involvement in their care.
athenaOne Vs eClinicalWorks: At A Glance
Feature
athenaOne
eClinicalWorks
Practice Management
✓
✓
AI-Powered Dictation
✓
✓
Population Health Management
✓
✓
Patient Engagement
✓
✓
Billing And RCM
✓
✓
Telehealth
✓
✓
Interoperability
✓
✓
Mobile App
✓
✓
Comparing Strengths And Weaknesses
PROS
PROS
Patient information update alerts
Extensive training information available
Effortless billing
Frequent updates for efficiency
Users appreciate its patient portal
Easy to fetch reports
Extensive feature set
Intuitive diagnosis capturing
Effortless scheduling
Users appreciate its e-prescription module
CONS
CONS
Unable to copy visit reasons between providers
Issues in chart saving
Users report that it may require numerous clicks
The layout might be a bit complex
Side-By-Side Feature Comparison
Patient Engagement
athenaOne provides a strong patient engagement suite that includes an intuitive Patient Portal and a dedicated mobile app. These tools empower patients to access their health information, communicate securely with their care teams, schedule appointments, and manage billing. The platform emphasizes reducing administrative tasks for staff by enabling patients to handle many aspects of their care independently.
eClinicalWorks offers an extensive array of patient engagement solutions through its Patient Portal and the healow® suite of apps. Patients can access personal health records, book appointments via healow Open Access®, receive automated reminders through eClinicalMessenger®, and utilize telemedicine services with healow TeleVisits™. The platform also provides tools like healow CHECK-IN™ for pre-appointment processing and healow Pay for convenient bill payments.
Winner: While both platforms offer comprehensive patient engagement tools, eClinicalWorks distinguishes itself with a broader range of features, positioning it as the winner.
AI Capabilities
athenaOne has introduced Ambient Notes, an AI-powered solution that utilizes ambient listening and generative AI to automate clinical note generation. This feature allows clinicians to focus more on patient interactions by reducing the time spent on documentation. Ambient Notes is embedded within the athenaOne Mobile app, supporting existing workflows and offering multiple models tailored to different specialties and documentation styles.
eClinicalWorks offers a suite of AI-powered tools designed to transform healthcare delivery. Their Sunoh.ai technology converts natural language conversations between providers and patients into clinical documentation, streamlining the note-taking process. Additionally, the integration of ChatGPT and Generative AI introduces a conversational interface, enhancing various aspects of workflow, including scheduling, documentation, and health record searches. The platform also employs AI for Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to automate repetitive tasks, further improving efficiency.
Winner: Both platforms use AI to improve clinical documentation, but eClinicalWorks takes the lead with a more extensive suite of AI-powered features, giving it a competitive edge.
Billing And Revenue Cycle Management
athenaOne provides an integrated RCM service that combines intelligent technology with expert support to streamline billing processes. The platform offers automated workflows to reduce administrative tasks, real-time insights into financial performance through dashboards, and proactive claims management to minimize denials. Additionally, athenaOne emphasizes scalability, accommodating the growth of healthcare organizations while maintaining efficient revenue cycles.
eClinicalWorks offers a flexible approach to RCM with two distinct models: a self-service Practice Management system and a comprehensive RCM Service where eClinicalWorks manages the entire billing process. Features include real-time patient insurance eligibility verification, automated claim scrubbing and submission, denials and appeals management, and detailed performance evaluation tools. The platform also provides customizable dashboards for monitoring key performance indicators and financial health.
Winner: It’s a tie as both athenaOne and eClinicalWorks offer strong RCM solutions with unique strengths.
Interoperability
athenaOne emphasizes a patient-centric approach to interoperability, connecting users to a vast network of over 277,000 integrated clinical partners, including labs, imaging centers, and pharmacies. This extensive connectivity ensures that healthcare providers have immediate access to comprehensive patient data, enhancing clinical decision-making. The platform's interoperability features are designed to automatically surface relevant patient records directly into the clinician's workflow, providing a longitudinal view of patient information.
eClinicalWorks offers a comprehensive interoperability platform that facilitates data exchange among diverse healthcare systems. The platform includes tools for managing interfaces at the community level, supporting seamless communication and data sharing across various care settings. eClinicalWorks also provides solutions for integrating with Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) and other external systems, enhancing the ability to access and share patient information.
Winner: While both platforms offer strong interoperability, athenaOne's vast network of clinical partners and automated data integration delivers a more seamless, comprehensive experience.
Population Health Management
athenaOne focuses on data-driven population health management by aggregating clinical, financial, and payer data to create a unified source of information. The platform delivers actionable insights through dashboards, helping healthcare organizations identify cost and utilization trends. Additionally, athenaOne offers care gap identification tools that use evidence-based content to ensure timely interventions. To promote patient engagement, the platform includes a mobile app that allows patients to access care plans, set reminders, and communicate with care teams.
eClinicalWorks takes a more structured approach with specialized modules tailored to population health needs. The platform provides comprehensive care planning tools that enable cross-functional teams to monitor patient progress and adjust care strategies accordingly. Dedicated chronic care and transition management features assist in handling patients with multiple conditions and ensuring smooth transitions between care settings.
The platform also includes risk adjustment and coding tools, such as HCC coding, to help identify gaps and update risk scores at the point of care. Furthermore, the Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) module focuses on continuous performance monitoring and quality improvement, placing patients at the core of care management.
Winner: It’s a tie, with athenaOne excelling in data-driven care coordination and eClinicalWorks offering specialized tools for chronic care and risk management.
Pricing Plans For athenaOne And eClinicalWorks
When evaluating the pricing structures of athenaOne and eClinicalWorks, it's essential to consider their distinct approaches to cost and value alignment.
athenaOne employs a performance-based pricing model that aligns with a practice's financial success. This model features minimal upfront costs, no long-term contracts, and fees corresponding to the organization's collections. This structure ensures that athenaOne's success is directly tied to the practice's financial performance, fostering a partnership approach.
In contrast, eClinicalWorks offers transparent, fixed monthly pricing plans without startup costs. The 'EHR Only' plan is priced at $449 per provider per month. The 'EHR with Practice Management' plan is available at $599 per provider per month. Additionally, eClinicalWorks provides a Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) service priced at 2.9% of practice collections, covering claim processing, denial management, and more.
What Users Have To Say?
athenaOne is widely appreciated for its reliability, intuitive design, and strong interoperability, making it an impeccable solution for healthcare providers. Users find its automated workflows and data-sharing capabilities particularly beneficial, reducing administrative burdens, while ensuring smooth practice operations. However, some users feel the layout could be improved and find its limited customization options restrictive for practices with highly specific needs.
eClinicalWorks stands out for its extensive feature set, positioning it as a comprehensive, all-in-one solution for medical practices. Its broad functionality includes solid clinical documentation, practice management, telehealth, and revenue cycle management tools. However, the platform’s complexity and excessive clicking can be challenging, especially for new users who need extensive training to navigate its full capabilities.
The Verdict: Which EHR Should You Choose?
Both athenaOne and eClinicalWorks offer powerful EHR solutions with distinct strengths. athenaOne excels in interoperability, reliability, and user-friendly workflows, making it a great fit for practices prioritizing smooth data exchange and automation. Meanwhile, eClinicalWorks stands out for its extensive feature set, AI-powered automation, and robust population health tools, making it ideal for organizations seeking an all-in-one platform with deep customization.
When choosing between the two, practices should consider their specific needs. By evaluating key features, pricing models, and user experiences, healthcare organizations can determine which EHR aligns best with their clinical and operational goals.
