WATERTOWN, Mass., July 21, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- athenahealth, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATHN), a leading provider of cloud-based services and mobile applications for medical groups and health systems, today announced athenaText^®, a secure text messaging service that is fully integrated with athenahealth's cloud-based EHR (electronic health record) platform, and accessible through the standalone athenaText and Epocrates mobile apps. No matter the setting, athenaText enables care teams to deliver high-quality, well-coordinated patient care.

athenaText is now available, at no cost, to all 1,000,000+ health care professionals (HCPs) on the athenahealth network, including every athenaClincials® EHR and Epocrates user. What's more, all health care professionals in the U.S. can now join the growing athenahealth network by accessing athenaText for free via mobile.

As patient cases become more complex, physicians need to coordinate care with an increasing number of providers and staff members. Some HCPs take the risk of sending non-HIPAA compliant text messages, while others call, email, or use a combination of all three in a time-consuming effort to stay connected and informed.

"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. "We're excited to offer health care professionals one of the first end-to-end experiences that bridges communication gaps and keeps critical health information flowing between providers—through the EHR and mobile."

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^TM, providers can leverage the power of athenahealth's new text messaging service in the following ways:

Communicate with confidence – athenaText is ideal for teams working in dynamic care environments as it enables them to respond quickly to in-the-moment changes. Users can send and receive real-time messages to track a patient's progress or share photos of a condition — either at the point-of-care through the athenahealth EHR or on-the-go via mobile, all in a manner that enables HIPAA compliance.

Create care networks – athenaText comes with a convenient, pre-populated directory of providers and support staff. In addition, with over one million profiles, the athenahealth Provider Directory easily connects providers with one another for curbside consults or patient referrals.

Access clinical intelligence – athenaText hyperlinks any drug mentioned within a message to the corresponding drug information in Epocrates, the #1 clinical intelligence app for U.S. physicians.

Elevate care coordination – Later this year, physicians will be able to exchange patient charts securely across care settings via athenaText, helping to decrease the possibility of oversights as patients move from provider to provider.

Providers can access athenaText within the Epocrates mobile app or download it for free from the Apple App Store^SM or Google Play^TM store.

App Store and Apple Watch are trademarks of Apple Inc.

About Epocrates

Epocrates, an athenahealth service, is recognized for developing the #1 medical application among U.S. physicians for clinical intelligence, 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, please 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 64,000 healthcare providers in medical practices and health systems nationwide. For more information, please visit www.athenahealth.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding the athenaText app's anticipated capabilities, release dates, and ability to improve care connectedness, communication, and accessibility of clinical information. The forward-looking statements in this release do not constitute guarantees of future performance. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in these forward-looking statements. In particular, the risks and uncertainties include, among other things: risks associated with the development of new technologies and the integration of companies and technology to achieve expected synergies and anticipated benefits; risks associated with our expectations for market acceptance of our technology; the highly competitive industry in which we operate and the relative immaturity of the market for our service offerings; and the evolving and complex governmental and regulatory compliance environment in which we and our clients operate. Forward-looking statements may often be identified with words such as "we expect," "we anticipate," "upcoming," "aim," "will," or similar indications of future expectations. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in these forward-looking statements. Existing and prospective investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. We undertake no obligation to update or revise the information contained in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or circumstances, or otherwise. For additional disclosure regarding these and other risks faced by us, please see the disclosures contained in our public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, available on the Investors section of our website at www.athenahealth.com and on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.