Athenahealth Launches Text Messaging for Providers and Care Teams
A new, secure text messaging service called athenaText® is fully integrated with athenahealth’s cloud-based electronic health record (EHR) platform and accessible through the standalone athenaText and Epocrates mobile apps.
AthenaText is available at no cost to more than one million healthcare professionals on the athenahealth network, including every athenaClincials® EHR and Epocrates user. Additionally, healthcare professionals in the U.S. can now join the athenahealth network by accessing athenaText for free via mobile.
“We designed athenaText so doctors and staff can communicate with each other wherever and whenever they need on a unified, easy-to-use platform,” said Abbe Don, vice president of strategic design at athenahealth.
Earlier this year, Annapolis Internal Medicine in Maryland started using athenaText to improve communication. “For years, we played phone tag,” said Dr. Kevin Groszkowski of Annapolis Internal Medicine. “Now our entire care team is communicating effectively and securely on one, fully-integrated system. For example, the front desk alerts medical assistants via text when patients arrive to pick up prescriptions, while the billing team keeps us docs on task with text reminders to fill out patient charges. But the biggest benefit is being able to respond immediately to clinical questions from our nurse practitioners—whether I’m in or out of the office. What I love is that the care isn’t slowed down because I missed a call or email, and patients aren’t kept waiting. AthenaText keeps the care cycle moving forward, saving us valuable time while improving patient care.”
Whether using athenaText via web-based athenaClinicals, a mobile phone, or Apple Watch™, providers can leverage the power of athenahealth’s new text messaging service. AthenaText is available in the Epocrates mobile app or from the Apple App Store(SM)or Google Play™ store.