The blog post links to the company's two-page resignation letter to the EHRA.
“The EHRA was founded in 2004 by a group of EHR software vendors,” Haley blogged. “Today, a decade into the age of cloud technology, the EHRA is still dominated and governed by a group of EHR software vendors. That is not what we are. Athenahealth is neither an EHR company, nor a software vendor. We operate as a services company that offers a cloud-based EHR as just one enabling component of our extensive suite of health IT services. Our public-policy priorities are broader and more varied than those of the traditional software vendors that run the EHRA—and even where our priorities overlap, we're too often on opposite sides of crucially important debates.”
If that sounds a bit disgruntled, it's in the company's DNA. Its history traces back to cofounders Jonathan Bush and Todd Park, who first launched a California women's health and birthing practice in 1997, searched around for good software to help with the business, and finding none to their liking, decided to build their own, with help from Park's brother, Ed, a software developer.
They launched a billing and practice-management service for physicians in 2000 and didn't add an EHR until 2006. Todd Park has since left the company and is now chief technology officer in the Obama White House, but Bush is still president and CEO, and Ed Park is executive vice president and chief operating officer.
The company acquired mobile-application developer Epocrates last year for $293 million.
Meanwhile, the association, an affiliate of the Chicago-based Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, is not formally responding. But in an email, EHRA spokeswoman, Elisabeth Liddy West, countered several of Athenahealth's departing shots.
“Despite statements made in Athenahealth's press release and on their blog, the EHRA is, of course, made up of members providing a variety of products and services, delivered using a variety of technology platforms, including cloud services, that support or complement the EHR offerings that form the common ground for our Association,” West said. “Ultimately, the association is successful because we have the support and collaboration of companies that provide and express a range of viewpoints reflecting their innovative products and services, and those different perspectives add depth and validity to our positions and strategies.
West added, “We are always disappointed to lose a member company, but believe that inaccurate statements were included in Athenahealth's communications about their resignation (notably, the incorrect statement that the EHRA has taken a position opposing CMS release of data regarding meaningful-use transparency within the hardship-exemption process). Nonetheless, we appreciate their contributions to our good work in recent years.”
The most recent (December 2013) Modern Healthcare analysis of federal data for the incentive-payment program found Athenahealth ranked No. 8 in that niche, with 6,503 physicians and “other professionals” having met meaningful-use targets, or roughly 2.5% of that market, well behind leaders Epic Systems, 21.7%, Allscripts, 11%; and eClinicalWorks, 7.6%.
Practice Fusion, another provider of cloud-based EHRs for ambulatory physicians, (ranked No. 6, 2.7%) remains a member of the EHRA, and sounds happy with its affiliation, according to a prepared statement.
“As a cloud-based vendor we feel aligned with the objectives of this collaborative and diverse organization,” the Practice Fusion statement said. “We are grateful for the many benefits to being an EHRA member organization, which go beyond advocacy to include educational opportunities, general exposure to the health care industry, opportunities to engage with regulators and key provider organizations, and increased access to information on areas that impact our business.”
Follow Joseph Conn on Twitter: @MHJConn
