athenahealth Unveils AI-Powered Interoperability Tools at HIMSS 2026

The company also introduced athenaConnect, a new interoperability layer designed to streamline data exchange across healthcare organizations.

athenahealth showcased a series of artificial intelligence-driven interoperability tools and data exchange capabilities at HIMSS 2026, highlighting how its athenaOne platform integrates real-time clinical data into healthcare workflows. The company also introduced athenaConnect, a new interoperability layer designed to streamline data exchange across healthcare organizations.

The announcement was made during the HIMSS conference in Las Vegas, where athenahealth demonstrated how its open architecture platform connects providers, health systems, diagnostic labs, pharmacies, and other partners. The company said the athenaConnect layer will provide a single access point for external organizations to coordinate care with approximately 170,000 providers using athenahealth technology, representing care delivery to around 20% of the U.S. population.

athenaConnect is designed to integrate external partners directly with the athenaOne platform, allowing clinical data to move across systems and reach providers within existing workflows. The platform aims to support care coordination across affiliated and independent ambulatory practices by delivering relevant clinical information at the point of care.

At the conference, athenahealth also highlighted its participation in several industry sessions focused on artificial intelligence, interoperability standards, and regulatory developments in health IT. In one session moderated by the American Hospital Association, industry leaders from athenahealth, Concord Technologies, Oceans Healthcare, and North Shore Community Health discussed the potential role of large language models in addressing longstanding interoperability challenges in healthcare.

Other sessions included discussions on AI-driven ambulatory operations with Allied Digestive Health, real-time data exchange initiatives with Aetna, and care coordination across practices alongside Sutter Health, Raleigh Neurology Associates, and Epic.

In addition to panel discussions, athenahealth demonstrated several technology features at its HIMSS booth. These included Patient Conversations, a communication tool enabling staff to initiate text chats with patients directly from the electronic health record system and transition to secure web chat when required.

The company also previewed a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server designed to allow patients to securely grant authorized AI tools access to their health data. The capability enables AI agents to generate personalized insights using patient health records while maintaining patient control over data permissions.

Additional demonstrations included digital patient intake workflows developed with b.well Connected Health and referral management capabilities based on 360x interoperability standards aimed at improving care coordination between electronic health record systems.

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