athenahealth Clinicians Outperform National MIPS Benchmarks Across All Three Reporting Methods, Delivering Stronger Quality Performance
athenahealth has announced that physicians and other healthcare professionals using its AI-native athenaOne® platform continue to achieve stronger results than national averages under the Medicare Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). The company’s latest performance data show that more than 95% of eligible athenaOne clinicians received positive Medicare payment adjustments for the 2024 performance year, compared with fewer than 86% of eligible clinicians nationwide.
In addition to the higher percentage of clinicians receiving positive payment adjustments, athenaOne users recorded an average MIPS payment adjustment of +0.49%. This was nearly twice the national average of +0.25%, highlighting the platform’s role in helping healthcare practices manage quality reporting requirements and participate more effectively in value-based care programs.
The results reflect athenahealth’s continued focus on supporting healthcare providers through technology, automated reporting capabilities, quality improvement resources, and specialized guidance. As healthcare reimbursement models increasingly emphasize quality and patient outcomes rather than the volume of services delivered, practices need reliable systems to monitor performance, meet reporting requirements, and identify opportunities to improve care.
The MIPS program was established to help move Medicare physician payments away from traditional volume-based reimbursement toward value-based care. Under this approach, eligible clinicians are evaluated on different performance measures related to healthcare quality, efficiency, and patient-centered services. The program provides financial incentives and adjustments based on performance, encouraging providers to improve care delivery while maintaining accountability for results.
athenahealth’s latest figures indicate that clinicians using athenaOne performed above national benchmarks across all three MIPS reporting methods: MIPS Value Pathways (MVPs), Traditional MIPS, and the Alternative Payment Model Performance Pathway (APP).
athenaOne Clinicians Outperform National MIPS Results
The latest performance results demonstrate that athenaOne-supported practices achieved higher positive payment adjustment rates than national averages under every reporting method.
For the 2024 performance year, the results were:
| MIPS reporting method | athenaOne clinicians | National average |
|---|---|---|
| MIPS Value Pathways (MVPs) | 98.1% | 87.7% |
| Traditional MIPS | 94.77% | 91.4% |
| Alternative Payment Model Performance Pathway (APP) | 100% | 96.6% |
These figures demonstrate the performance of athenaOne clinicians across different reporting approaches within the Medicare quality payment program.
Under the MIPS Value Pathways framework, 98.1% of eligible athenaOne clinicians earned positive payment adjustments, compared with 87.7% nationally. This represents a difference of 10.4 percentage points.
For Traditional MIPS, 94.77% of eligible athenaOne clinicians achieved positive adjustments, compared with 91.4% nationally.
The results were also strong under the Alternative Payment Model Performance Pathway, where all eligible athenaOne clinicians included in the reported results earned positive payment adjustments. The national figure was 96.6%.
The company’s overall results show that its customers achieved positive payment adjustments at a higher rate than the national average, regardless of the reporting method used.
These outcomes are particularly relevant for independent medical practices and larger healthcare organizations that must balance quality reporting responsibilities with their everyday clinical and administrative operations.
MIPS Value Pathways Become Increasingly Important for Healthcare Practices
One of the most significant aspects of athenahealth’s announcement is the performance achieved under MIPS Value Pathways.
The MVP framework represents an evolving approach to Medicare quality reporting. It is designed to organize performance measures around specific clinical specialties, conditions, and areas of care, giving participating clinicians a more focused reporting structure.
The transition toward MVPs is important as healthcare organizations prepare for potential changes in federal quality reporting requirements.
The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) established the broader framework for the Quality Payment Program, including MIPS. As the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) continues to evolve the program, healthcare practices must remain prepared to adapt to changing reporting methods and performance expectations.
CMS has proposed ending Traditional MIPS after the 2028 performance year, making MVPs increasingly important for practices preparing for the future of Medicare quality reporting.
athenahealth’s reported MVP performance suggests that its customers are already achieving results above the current national benchmark.
With 98.1% of eligible athenaOne clinicians earning positive payment adjustments under MVPs, compared with 87.7% nationally, the company reported a 10.4-percentage-point advantage.
For practices preparing to navigate future reporting requirements, familiarity with the MVP framework and the ability to collect and submit accurate quality data will remain important.
athenahealth aims to support this transition by combining technology capabilities with reporting expertise and guidance for participating practices.
Technology Designed to Simplify Quality Reporting
Quality reporting can create significant administrative responsibilities for medical practices.
Clinicians and their administrative teams must understand program requirements, monitor performance measures, collect relevant patient information, maintain documentation, and submit data within required timelines.
These activities can be particularly demanding for smaller practices that have limited administrative resources. Even larger medical groups may face challenges when managing reporting across multiple specialties, locations, and provider teams.
athenahealth’s approach focuses on reducing these responsibilities through its connected technology platform and quality reporting services.
The company provides tools and support to help practices understand changing program requirements, identify areas where performance can improve, and complete required submissions to CMS.
For the 2025 performance year alone, athenahealth completed more than 19,000 MIPS and Medicare Shared Savings Program Accountable Care Organization (ACO) submissions on behalf of its practices.
According to the company, this work saved an estimated 58,000 hours of administrative effort.
The submissions cover different reporting responsibilities associated with MIPS and the Medicare Shared Savings Program. By helping practices manage these activities, athenahealth aims to reduce the time healthcare teams spend on administrative reporting.
The company believes that simplifying quality reporting can allow clinicians and their staff to dedicate more attention to patient care and other important responsibilities.
Leadership Highlights the Importance of Better Reporting and Clinical Performance
Chris Kondrat, chief customer officer at athenahealth, said the company’s MIPS support is focused on two important objectives: helping healthcare practices improve performance and making quality reporting easier to manage.
“The best MIPS support should do two things: help practices perform better and make quality reporting easier,” Kondrat said.
He explained that athenahealth combines its connected network, intelligent technology, and MIPS expertise to help practices improve quality performance and simplify reporting processes.
According to Kondrat, these capabilities are intended to reduce administrative demands while allowing healthcare professionals to spend more time focusing on their patients.
The company’s strategy brings together several components, including technology infrastructure, quality measurement capabilities, reporting automation, and customer support.
Rather than treating MIPS as an isolated administrative requirement, athenahealth positions its services as part of a broader effort to help practices participate in value-based care arrangements.
More Than a Decade of MIPS Reporting Experience
athenahealth has more than a decade of experience supporting healthcare practices with quality reporting and has maintained Qualified Registry status for 12 consecutive years.
A Qualified Registry is an entity approved by CMS to collect and submit quality measure data on behalf of eligible clinicians participating in the relevant reporting programs.
This experience gives athenahealth an established role in helping practices understand program requirements and manage the technical and administrative aspects of quality reporting.
The company’s services include providing guidance on evolving program requirements, helping identify opportunities to improve performance, and submitting quality data directly to CMS.
This support is intended to make the reporting process more manageable for healthcare providers.
The company also offers a free Quality Coaching service to customers. According to athenahealth, practices that used this service in 2025 achieved MIPS scores that were 8% higher on average than those that did not use it.
The company presents these results as evidence of the potential value of combining technology with dedicated guidance.
Quality reporting requirements can change over time, making it important for healthcare practices to understand how new measures, submission processes, and performance expectations may affect their operations.
Through its reporting experience and coaching services, athenahealth aims to help practices prepare for these changes and identify ways to strengthen their results.
Connected Technology Supports Clinical Quality Improvement
Beyond helping practices complete MIPS submissions, athenahealth also emphasizes the role of connected healthcare technology in supporting clinical quality performance.
Healthcare providers need timely access to relevant patient information to support care coordination, monitor quality measures, and make informed decisions.
When patient information is distributed across disconnected systems, clinicians may face additional challenges when reviewing medical histories, identifying gaps in care, and coordinating services.
athenaOne is designed to provide a connected technology environment that helps clinicians access patient information and actionable insights within their everyday workflows.
The platform’s connected network supports information access and clinical coordination, with the objective of helping practices improve quality performance.
athenahealth reported that clinicians using athenaOne outperformed national averages across key electronic Clinical Quality Measures (eCQMs) and Clinical Quality Measures (CQMs) during 2025.
These measures are used to assess different aspects of healthcare delivery and help determine whether providers are meeting established quality standards.
The results highlight the company’s focus on integrating quality measurement capabilities into the systems clinicians use to manage patient care.
athenaOne Supports MIPS Measures Across Multiple Specialties
Another important element of the platform is its coverage of quality reporting measures across different medical specialties.
According to athenahealth, athenaOne supports 100% of the eCQM and CQM measures available for MIPS reporting.
This includes measures relevant to primary care, women’s health, behavioral health, cardiology, orthopedics, and other specialties.
Supporting a broad range of measures is important because healthcare practices have different clinical responsibilities and patient populations.
A primary care practice may focus on preventive screenings and chronic disease management, while a women’s health provider may monitor cancer screening measures. Behavioral health practices may report measures related to substance use disorder treatment and other aspects of patient care.
By supporting the available measures across specialties, athenaOne aims to help providers manage quality reporting requirements within a unified technology environment.
The company’s reported specialty-level results provide additional examples of the clinical performance achieved by its customers.
Primary Care Practices Record Higher Osteoporosis Screening Rates
Primary care customers using athenaOne achieved a 99.36% osteoporosis screening rate, compared with the national rate of 54.79%.
Osteoporosis screening is an important preventive healthcare activity, particularly for individuals who may be at increased risk of bone loss and related fractures.
Screening can help identify patients who may benefit from further evaluation and appropriate clinical management.
The reported difference between athenaOne customers and the national benchmark highlights the performance recorded by participating primary care practices on this particular measure.
Women’s Health Practices Improve Cervical Cancer Screening Performance
Women’s health customers using athenaOne achieved an 85.14% cervical cancer screening rate, more than twice the national rate of 40.26%.
Cervical cancer screening plays an important role in preventive healthcare by helping identify potential abnormalities that may require further evaluation.
Regular screening can support early detection and appropriate follow-up care.
The reported results demonstrate the performance of athenaOne customers on this measure and illustrate how digital healthcare platforms can support providers in tracking preventive care activities.
Behavioral Health Clinicians Report Higher Substance Use Disorder Treatment Engagement
Behavioral health clinicians using athenaOne achieved a 17.89% rate for initiation and engagement of substance use disorder treatment, compared with the national rate of 7.20%.
Initiation and engagement measures are designed to assess whether patients begin treatment and continue participating in appropriate care.
Supporting patients through these stages can be important in addressing substance use disorders and maintaining continuity of treatment.
The reported results provide another example of how athenahealth customers performed against national quality benchmarks across different clinical specialties.
Combining Reporting Automation, Quality Insights, and Clinical Support
The results announced by athenahealth reflect a broader approach to supporting healthcare practices under value-based care arrangements.
Successful participation in MIPS requires more than submitting information to CMS. Practices must understand the measures relevant to their specialties, collect accurate data, monitor performance, and identify opportunities to improve care.
athenahealth combines several capabilities to address these requirements.
Its connected network helps clinicians access patient information and insights. Its quality reporting tools support the collection and submission of required data. Its coaching services provide additional guidance to practices seeking to improve their performance.
The company’s experience as a Qualified Registry also supports its role in helping practices navigate the administrative requirements associated with federal quality programs.
Together, these capabilities are intended to make quality reporting more manageable while supporting improvements in clinical performance.
For medical practices, reducing the time spent on reporting and administrative processes can create additional opportunities to focus on patient care, preventive services, and care coordination.
Supporting the Future of Value-Based Healthcare
The healthcare industry continues to move toward reimbursement models that place greater emphasis on quality, efficiency, and patient outcomes.
Programs such as MIPS are part of this transition, encouraging clinicians to demonstrate performance across established quality measures and other reporting categories.
As CMS continues to develop its quality payment framework, practices will need to adapt to new reporting structures and expectations.
athenahealth’s latest performance results demonstrate how its technology platform, reporting services, and customer support are being used to help healthcare organizations navigate these requirements.
For the 2024 performance year, more than 95% of eligible athenaOne clinicians received positive MIPS payment adjustments, compared with fewer than 86% nationally. The average adjustment among these clinicians was +0.49%, nearly double the national average of +0.25%.
The company’s results across MVPs, Traditional MIPS, and APP further demonstrate its reported performance against national benchmarks.
Meanwhile, its 2025 reporting activity, which included more than 19,000 MIPS and ACO submissions and an estimated 58,000 administrative hours saved, highlights the scale of its reporting support.
With continued emphasis on AI-native technology, connected clinical information, automated reporting, and quality coaching, athenahealth aims to help practices respond to changing healthcare requirements while maintaining their focus on patient care.
The company views these capabilities as an important part of helping providers participate in value-based care and manage the growing demands of modern healthcare delivery.
Source and methodology: The 2024 national MIPS comparisons are based on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ 2024 Quality Payment Program Experience Report. Eligible athenaOne clinicians are defined as clinicians who used athenaOne to support measurement across all available MIPS performance categories for the 2024 reporting year and were determined eligible for MIPS through the CMS eligibility API.
The clinical quality measure results are based on athenahealth data collected from January through December 2025. National comparisons are drawn from CMS quality benchmarks published through the Quality Payment Program.
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