by
Gus Iversen, Editor in Chief | January 25, 2016
Athenahealth has announced a significant expansion of its partnership with the University of Toledo Medical Center (UTMC). The institutions will now work together to adapt the cloud-based electronic health record (EHR) system AthenaClinicals for the hospital setting — marking a departure from the doctor's offices where the system is typically deployed.
Jonathan Bush, Athenahealth CEO, described the new arrangement as extending its service relationship with UTMC "into the realm of development" and working together to create health IT solutions designed to support today's hospital systems.
"Athenahealth and the University of Toledo both believe that health care delivery must transform to improve value for patients while providing a first-class provider experience," said Bush, in a statement.
Up to this point, AthenaClinicals was being used at hospitals with 50 beds or fewer, whereas UTMC has 250 beds,
according to the Wall Street Journal.
The company extended its acute care services in early 2015 when it acquired RazorInsights and webOMR, which afforded it access to technology that could enable comprehensive, cloud-based service within AthenaNet for hospitals of all sizes and complexities.
Together, the two organizations will identify areas for operational improvement and then design and build service capabilities to support those workflows.
According to the Journal, UTMC and Athenahealth established a deal whereby the two will share the cash flow generated over time. "Working with Athenahealth to develop AthenaClinicals for Hospitals & Health Systems is an excellent opportunity to position our providers already using AthenaNet to impact transitions of care across UTMC's ecosystem," said David Morlock, UTMC CEO.
The two institutions have been working together since 2014, when UTMC's non-hospital units started using Athenahealth technology. Athenahealth reports that its systems are currently utilized by over 27,000 health care providers in medical practices and health systems across the U.S.
