Humana, Athenahealth Collaborate to Reward Physicians for Better Clinical Performance

Louisville, Ky.-based Humana Inc. and athenahealth Inc. (Watertown, Mass.) announced an alliance that connects Humana’s Primary Care Rewards Program with athenahealth’s electronic health record (EHR) service. The alliance further demonstrates Humana’s commitment to primary care and physician engagement, as well as the company’s ability to align incentives that encourage and reward quality and better outcomes for its health-plan members, while advancing the overall efficiency of the health care delivery system.

The Humana-athenahealth Medical Home EHR Rewards Program marks the first time a national health plan is collaborating with a practice-management and EHR solution to jointly provide useful, actionable information to physicians in support of patient-centered care.

As part of the alliance, Humana will subsidize the implementation cost of athenahealth’s EHR service, athenaClinicals, for physicians who are interested in and eligible for participation. Humana and athenahealth will jointly promote the program to approximately 20,000 family and internal medicine physicians who are part of Humana’s national provider network, with Humana subsidizing the implementation cost for 100 physician practices projected to represent 1,000 physicians, ranging from small practices to large multi-specialty groups that include primary-care physicians.