athenahealth setup guide
What your practice needs, the seven setup steps, and what 2care reads, writes and never touches in athenahealth during a booking call.
4 min read
How it connects
2care is authorised through athenahealth Marketplace and scoped to the practices you nominate. Availability is read live from each provider's template on every call, and the booking is written into athenahealth while the caller is still on the line.
Bookings respect each provider's own appointment types and slot rules. Nothing is installed on your computers and nobody on your team changes how they work in athenahealth.
- Provider template. The pattern of slots each provider offers, including any held back for same day.
- Appointment type. The kind of visit, such as new patient or established review, which sets its length.
- Department. The athenahealth department a caller needs, worked out from how they describe the problem.
- BAA. The Business Associate Agreement your practice signs with 2care before any patient data moves.
Before you start
| Item | Who provides it |
|---|---|
| A signed BAA with 2care | Signed before any patient data moves |
| Authorisation of 2care through athenahealth Marketplace | Your practice administrator |
| The practices and departments you want covered | Your practice administrator |
| Your provider list and the locations each one works at | Your practice manager |
| Your booking rules, including same-day slot policy | Your practice manager |
Setup
- Sign the BAA. No patient data is read until it is in place.
- Authorise 2care. Approve it through athenahealth Marketplace for the practices you nominate, with your onboarding specialist alongside.
- Confirm departments and providers. Each department, provider and location is matched to what athenahealth already holds.
- Review appointment types. Your appointment classes are mapped so new and established patients are never confused. See visit types and provider templates.
- Agree booking rules and escalation contacts. Same-day policy, new patient rules and who receives urgent calls.
- Run a test round trip. A test appointment is booked, opened in athenahealth, then cancelled, with your team watching.
- Switch the line over. Your number forwards to 2care at the hours you choose. See forwarding your number.
On a booking call
| Step in the call | What the caller hears | What happens in athenahealth |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | A check of their name and date of birth | The caller is matched to an existing patient record, or a new one is prepared |
| Availability | The open times for the provider they asked for | Open slots read live from that provider's template, department and appointment type |
| Choice | The time they chose, read back | The slot is held and your booking rules are applied |
| Booking | Confirmation of the appointment | The appointment is written against the right provider and appointment class |
| Confirmation | A text with the date, time and location | Contact details, coverage and reason for visit saved as structured fields |
The appointment is confirmed to the caller only once athenahealth has accepted it. If the slot was taken in the meantime, athenahealth refuses the write and the agent offers the next open time instead.
What 2care reads
- Departments, to work out which one a caller needs
- Each provider's template, including slots held back for same day
- Appointment types, so new and established patients are booked correctly
- Patient records, to recognise a returning caller rather than enter them again
- Insurance already on file, so nobody is asked to repeat it
What 2care writes
- New, moved and cancelled appointments against the right provider and class
- Contact details captured on the call, confirmed aloud before saving
- Payer and member identifier into their fields, ready for eligibility checks
- The reason for the visit, so the slot length is chosen deliberately
- A record of the call, attached to the patient
What 2care never touches
- Clinical notes: never read and never written
- Results: never retrieved, read out or summarised. Those calls go to your team
- Medication: a request is taken down and passed on, never granted or changed
- Anything beyond the permissions you granted
New sites
New locations and providers are picked up from athenahealth rather than configured again. That suits a group adding sites faster than it adds front desk staff.
After hours, new patient calls are answered and booked rather than sent to voicemail. See after-hours and lunch cover.
Questions
Will it create duplicate patient records?
No. Callers are matched against what athenahealth already holds before anything new is created. See returning and new patients.
How long does setup take?
Most practices are live in about 5 business days once the Marketplace authorisation is in place.
Is every call kept?
Yes. Every call is transcribed and each write records the call that caused it. See call recordings and transcripts.
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