AdvancedMD vs athenahealth at a glance
| AdvancedMD | athenahealth (athenaOne) | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Independent practices and billing companies that want published pricing and module choice | Ambulatory practices that want EHR, PM and billing services bundled in one platform |
| Practice size | Single-provider offices to large groups, MSOs and billing companies | Small medical practices to enterprises and health systems |
| Starting price | $429/provider/mo for medical specialties; $130/mo for the AdvancedMD Now mental health edition | Not published |
| Pricing model | Per provider per month or per claim; managed RCM at about 4% to 8% of collections | Percentage of collections; no long-term contracts |
| Core approach | Modular suite: EHR, PM and patient engagement sold separately or bundled | Single cloud platform with vendor-performed RCM work such as payment posting |
| EHR integrations | Built-in clearinghouse, Open API, ODBC read access, interoperability tools | 277K+ direct clinical integrations (labs, pharmacies and more), Marketplace of 500+ third-party tools |
| HIPAA / BAA | Documented HIPAA program, ISO 27001-aligned security, free MFA; request BAA | Not detailed on public pages; request BAA and security reports |
| Platforms | Cloud (AWS hosted), web, mobile access | Cloud, web and mobile workflows, patient portal and patient mobile app |
| Notable strength | Transparent price ranges, including per-claim pricing for low volume | Vendor-performed RCM tasks and a 98.4% clean claim submission rate, per athenahealth |
| Main drawback | Medical pricing starts at $429 and setup, migration and AI add-ons cost extra | No published rates, and collections-based fees grow with revenue |
Key differences
Pricing model
AdvancedMD publishes its ranges: $429 to $1,070 per provider per month for medical specialties; $130 to $399 for mental health, with $130 for small practices on the self-service AdvancedMD Now edition; and per-claim pricing of $0.87 to $1.74 for practice management or $1.08 to $2.17 with the EHR. Setup runs from free to $6,000 and data migration tiers cost $800 to $2,000. athenahealth says athenaOne's cost is a percentage of collections, with minimal upfront costs, no hidden fees and no long-term contracts. A practice with modest collections may pay less with athenaOne; a high-collecting practice should model both.
Billing and revenue cycle work
AdvancedMD sells billing software with a built-in clearinghouse, and a separate managed RCM service at about 4% to 8% of monthly collections with no long-term agreement. It says practices can move between its staff and in-house billing. athenaOne bundles billing into the platform, and athenahealth co-sources revenue cycle work such as automatic payment posting and clinical document filing. It reports a 98.4% clean claim submission rate, based on its own March 2024 data. With athenaOne, the vendor shares work by default; with AdvancedMD, you choose.
AI documentation
AdvancedMD's AI Clinical Assistant includes ambient listening, pre-visit summaries and suggested chart updates, with notes in five formats including SOAP and psychiatric evaluation. It is an add-on at $100 per provider per month or $0.99 per encounter. athenaOne includes athenaAmbient, which athenahealth describes as a free, native ambient scribe that drafts a structured note with suggested diagnoses and orders. It also offers Ambient Notes, a separate ambient scribe that athenahealth says offers different models and supports 80+ languages.
Specialties and practice fit
AdvancedMD lists specialty pricing for mental health, physical medicine, addiction medicine and MedSpa, and offers AdvancedMD Now, a self-service edition with a 30-day free trial for small mental health practices. It also serves 850 medical billing companies, by its count. athenahealth lists primary care, pediatrics, women's health, orthopedics, behavioral health, urgent care and concierge medicine among the specialties it serves, with separate offerings for small practices and health systems, and says 170,000+ clinicians are on its network.
Which should you choose?
Both are full cloud suites for independent practices. The decision is mainly about pricing structure and who does the billing work.
Choose AdvancedMD if:
- You want to see price ranges before a demo or pay per claim at low volume
- You run a mental health practice and want the lower specialty tier
- You are a billing company or want to switch billing between staff and vendor
Choose athenahealth if:
- You prefer fees that rise and fall with collections and no long-term contract
- You want the vendor to take on posting and other routine RCM tasks
- You want a free ambient scribe built into the EHR
If you want flat published pricing with an optional RCM service, compare eClinicalWorks, or Tebra if practice marketing tools matter.