athenahealth Announces athenaText App For Apple Watch

Company to Provide the ‘Digital Doctor’ With Messaging Tool Inclusive of Communication, Clinical Intelligence, and Care Coordination

athenahealth, Inc., a leading provider of cloud-based services and mobile applications for medical groups and health systems, today announced the athenaText app for Apple Watch.

The app is athenahealth’s most recent innovation aimed at keeping health care providers fully present while ubiquitously connected during moments of care. In addition to offering on-wrist accessibility to high-value information via secure text messages, the athenaText app for Apple Watch will empower users to leverage mobile in new ways for point-of-care and on-the-go communication, clinical intelligence, and coordination:

Communication – The athenaText app for Apple Watch will enable providers to receive secure text messages on the Apple Watch from care team peers and support staff, making it easy to communicate in-or-out of a care setting. By leveraging Epocrates’ verified and growing Provider Directory network, the athenaText app will allow health care providers to immediately find and communicate with one another. Whether it be to refer a patient across town, request a peer consult, or ask for a specialist’s recommendation, the app will allow users to simplify and streamline communication by accessing a national network of providers.

Clinical Intelligence – Linked to Epocrates, the #1 medical reference app among U.S. physicians, the athenaText app for Apple Watch will automatically surface relevant information on drugs mentioned within messages, helping physicians to be quickly and fully informed when making diagnoses and consults.

Coordination – Through integration with athenaClinicals, the athenahealth electronic health record (EHR), the athenaText app for Apple Watch will enable providers to easily sync care coordination activities and information across their various devices (desktop, iPhone, and Apple Watch), keeping patients’ health records up-to-date and giving providers more freedom to coordinate across diverse care and non-care settings.

“The Apple Watch extends athenahealth’s ability to engage and inform providers at and around the moments of care; it elegantly and unobtrusively puts technology in the perfect place within the exam room,” said Abbe Don, vice-president of user experience at athenahealth. “We’re excited to offer one of the first apps available for Apple Watch. Out of the gate, we’re focused on leveraging Apple Watch as a means to deliver information, as well as to serve as a fully integrated, truly unique clinical intelligence, communication, and care coordination experience. The Apple Watch provides an easily digestible and even ergonomic way for doctors to leverage mobile within the physician workflow. With the power of the athenaText app they can engage with care teams in quick, yet meaningful ways that ultimately will improve care collaboration and patient outcomes.”

The athenaText app for Apple Watch will be available on the Apple Watch App StoreSM beginning April 24. The initial version of the app will provide read-only capabilities; interactive capabilities and the clinical intelligence workflow described above will be rolled out in future versions, beginning June 2015.

About Epocrates.
Epocrates, an athenahealth service, is recognized for developing the #1 medical reference application among U.S. physicians for clinical content, practice tools, and health industry engagement at the point of care. Epocrates has established a loyal network of more than one million health care professionals, including 50 percent of U.S. physicians, who routinely use its intuitive solutions to help streamline workflow and improve patient care. For more information, visit www.epocrates.com.

About athenahealth, Inc.
athenahealth is a leading provider of cloud-based services for electronic health records (EHR), revenue cycle management and medical billing, patient engagement, care coordination, and population health management, as well as Epocrates and other point-of-care mobile apps. We connect care and drive meaningful, measurable results for more than 62,000 health care providers in medical practices and health systems nationwide. For more information, visit www.athenahealth.com.