Brand voice

Acronyms Avoid them unless they’re widely used, and even then, spell them out on first reference (e.g., use “general availability,” not “GA”). Do not use an apostrophe to make an acronym plural.

Add-ons (add-on services or add-on capabilities) Optional enhancements, capabilities, or features that customers may choose to purchase to extend the power and value of athenaOne. Add-on services are designed to provide supplementary functionalities or specialized features that cater to specific needs or requirements of the customer. They expand the scope of athenaOne, allowing customers to tailor the solution to their unique preferences and workflows. 

Ampersand symbol (&) Spell out the word “and” unless space constraints are an issue.

athenahealth All lower case. Use the name in full when referring to the company in public-facing communication. Use “athena” in internal communication only.

athenahealth, Inc. Only when referring to us as the company, e.g., in legal documents. athenahealth remains lower case.

athenaOne Our flagship solution, providing an integrated suite of electronic health record (EHR), practice and revenue cycle management, and patient engagement products. Use with the ® symbol on first reference (athenaOne®). Never use athenaNet.

athenaNet Never use this retired term. See athenaOne.

athenista An athenahealth employee. Mostly reserved for internal communications. May use for recruiting. Probably don’t use for marketing. All lower case.

Boilerplate company description athenahealth strives to cure complexity and simplify the practice of healthcare. Our innovative technology includes electronic health records, revenue cycle management, and patient engagement solutions that help healthcare providers, administrators, and practices eliminate friction for patients while getting paid efficiently. athenahealth partners with practices with purpose-built software backed by expertise to produce the insights needed to drive better clinical and financial outcomes. We’re inspired by our vision to create a thriving ecosystem that delivers accessible, high-quality, and sustainable healthcare for all. Learn more at www.athenahealth.com.

Bulleted lists Keep items short; use a period after full sentences; use consistent syntax for all in a list; start each bullet with a capital letter.

Busywork One word. Generally stay away from using busywork to avoid implying it is unnecessary. Instead, use administrative work, office work.

Capability A collection of related features that work together, and the combined functionality and performance of a set of features within a system or solution. Capabilities describe the purpose that the collection of features serves, highlighting the overall value and functionality that they deliver. These features work in concert to provide a cohesive and comprehensive solution 

Caregiver A lay person involved in patient care, such as a family member. Do not use for professional clinicians.

Clients No longer the preferred term; use “customers” instead. See below for customers.

Clinician A medical professional such as a physician, nurse practitioner, physician assistant.

Cloud Use “cloud-based” when describing the nature of the athenahealth network and our products and services that are hosted in the cloud.

Comma Use the Oxford/serial comma: that is, a comma before “and” in a list of three or more items. “Clinicians, payers, and patients have to work together.”

Cost We do not reference the cost of our services directly, as a customer’s cost is based on a percent of collections and therefore unique. When referring to the cost of athenahealth services, do not use the word price. Do underscore that we seek to understand an organization’s specific needs to let us reduce customers’ healthcare costs and offer a customized quote.

Customers Our preferred term when referring to the entities that buy from athenahealth. Use this sparingly to refer to the organizations using our services or our end users. Whenever possible, refer instead to “you” or the specific roles of the users, such as “clinicians.”

Dashes We use em dashes (“—"), not en dashes (“–“). Use a space on both sides of the dash.

Dates Always capitalize months. Spell out the month unless it is used with a date. When used with a date, abbreviate only the following months: Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec. Do not use st, nd, rd, or th with dates. Include the day of the week for upcoming events; do not include the year for upcoming events unless the event will take place in a subsequent year. Do not include the day, but do include the year for past milestones and events.

Examples: The webinar will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 25. The anniversary party will be held on Friday, Oct. 21, 2022. The first moon landing took place on July 20, 1969. athenahealth and Virence joined forces in February 2019.

Degrees, honorifics We use periods for M.D., O.D., Ph.D., etc. On first reference, use honorific at end of name (Nele Jessel, M.D.). On second reference, use just last name unless necessary for clarity (Not: Dr. Jessel).

Ecosystem In the context of healthcare, this refers to the interconnected network of healthcare providers, organizations, systems, and resources that collaborate and interact to deliver comprehensive and coordinated care to patients. It encompasses the various stakeholders involved in the healthcare industry, including hospitals, clinics, physicians, nurses, specialists, laboratories, pharmacies, insurance providers, and patients. 

The healthcare ecosystem is characterized by the interdependence and collaboration among these stakeholders, as they work together to provide a continuum of care and support the wellbeing of patients. It involves the exchange of information, resources, and services among different entities to ensure the delivery of high-quality, patient-centered care.

Our network interacts with other entities in the healthcare ecosystem such as care delivery organizations, technology providers, public sector entities, etc. that exist outside of our network. 

EHR This is our preferred term vs. EMR. An electronic health record comprises more than just an electronic medical record.

EMR We prefer to use EHR. We only use EMR for SEO purposes.

Enhancement A value-added improvement made to our solution that expands, modifies, or modernizes an existing capability or feature. It involves implementing changes or updates that enhance the functionality, performance, or user experience of a specific aspect of our solution. Enhancements may involve adding new features, refining existing capabilities, or incorporating technological advancements to keep our solution up to date and aligned with evolving customer needs.

Enterprise A healthcare organization consisting of 300+ physicians. 

Exclamation points Avoid using. Try rewriting your copy so that the language conveys the excitement, importance, or urgency of your message without needing an exclamation point. 

Experiential interoperability Do not use. Instead, use phrasing such as, “Interoperability at athenahealth,” “athenahealth’s approach to interoperability,” or simply “Interoperability.”

Feature A specific element or component of software designed to perform distinct tasks or functions. Features are the building blocks that collectively contribute to the creation of capabilities within a software system. 

Function/Functionality The preferred modifier for our product. “Our product functionality includes xyz…”

Government organizations and programs Some agencies are widely recognized by their initials and can be referred to using their abbreviations (e.g. FBI); when in doubt, spell out the first instance. With government programs, like MIPS or MACRA, spell out the first instance with the acronym in parenthesis. Also, see acronyms.

Headlines Use sentence case: capitalize the first letter of the first word. No periods. Yes question marks, if appropriate. (See also “sub-heads.”)

Healthcare One word.

Healthcare organization We use the term “healthcare organization” only when referring to large practices and enterprises (300+ providers) See practice, see enterprise

Hyphenated words No hyphen is needed to link a two-word phrase that includes the adverb very and all adverbs ending in “ly” (e.g., hyphenate “high-performing,” “value-based care,” and “work-life balance,” but not “an easily remembered rule”).

High-quality Write as one hyphenated word when used as an adjective. We support the provision of healthcare services that increase the likelihood of desired outcomes. athenahealth’s goal is not to provide high-quality care; it is to facilitate others in our ecosystem to provide that care. We’re here to take down the barriers and smooth the pathways to high-quality care delivery.

Inclusive language We follow AP Style guidelines on race and ethnicity, gender, disability, and more. When in doubt, defer to AP Style and be specific about what you’re describing whenever possible (e.g., describe a patient population as low-wealth instead of underserved). Here are a few AP entries for reference:

• Race and ethnicity: For the latest guidance, see AP’s entry on race-related coverage.
  • People of color: The term is acceptable when necessary in broad references to multiple races other than white. Be specific whenever possible.
• Gender:
  • In general, use terms that can apply to any gender. Such language aims to treat people equally and is inclusive of people whose gender identity is not strictly male or female.
  • Do not presume maleness in constructing a sentence by defaulting to “he/his/him.” Usually it is possible, and always preferable, to reword the sentence to avoid gender.
• Disability:
  • Avoid writing that implies ableism: the belief that abilities of people who aren’t disabled are superior. Avoid using disability-related words lightly or in unrelated situations.
  • When possible, ask people how they want to be described. In describing groups of people, or when individual preferences can’t be determined, use person-first language such as “a woman with autism.”

Internet Lower case.

KLAS copyright When citing a KLAS article or annual award, use the following format: “Name of the Article or Report.” Month 202X. ©202X KLAS Enterprises, LLC. All rights reserved. www.KLASResearch.com

M.D. and other professional degrees See Degrees, honorifics.

Medical billing Medical billing is one part of practice and revenue cycle management: the process of submitting medical claims to insurance companies for reimbursement of services rendered to patients. Therefore, this term should only be used specifically in relation to the billing process. It should not be used to represent the entirety of athenahealth’s product. When writing communications about our product, we should promote our full practice and revenue cycle management product as part of the athenaOne solution. One component of our product supports healthcare practices with medical billing. For large and/or complex healthcare organizations, see Revenue Cycle Management.

Medical specialties and sites of care Only capitalize specialties and sites of care when referring to a department name, or when the specialty appears as a proper noun, such as in the name of an organization or one of our products.

Network athenahealth's collective group of users (providers, payers, partners) and connections to data sources such as labs, pharmacies, third-party vendors, HIEs, states, etc. The network within athenaOne plays a critical role in facilitating the seamless and secure exchange of data, enabling healthcare providers to access patient information, submit claims, communicate with other providers, and utilize the various features and functionalities of the athenaOne solution. 

Numbers and rounding When a number is being used for impact (creating awareness or grabbing attention,) use the number.

When a number is written in prose, spell out whole numbers up to and including nine, except in cases of number ranges (example: “There are 8-12 clinicians in each practice.”) Also spell out numbers in idioms or well-known expressions, like “the face that launched a thousand ships.”

Metrics should be rounded to the two highest places in a number (e.g., 140,000, 2.4, 120). Round down, instead of up, and use a plus sign if you would have otherwise rounded the number up (e.g., 156,321 becomes 150,000+).

Rounding for all other numbers:

• Numbers less than 10 should be rounded to the nearest tenth (one decimal place) if that level of detail is available (e.g., 2.1 days, 9.7%).
• Numbers between 10 and 10,000 should be rounded to the nearest whole number.
• When rounding numbers between 10,000 and 1B, keep only the first two digits of the number. (e.g., 87,000 clinicians, 310,000 interfaces, 99 million patients, 970 million claims).
• Numbers greater than 1B should be rounded to the nearest 100M (e.g., 2.3 billion transactions, $30.8 billion in collections).
• Use K for thousand, M (not MM) for million, B for billion.

Ob-Gyn We capitalize the “O” and “G” and hyphenate the term, except when creating assets for a particular organization or event. If that organization uses different capitalization or punctuation, match the way they spell it.

Orthopedics vs. orthopaedics We spell it without the “a” in the middle, except when creating assets for a particular organization or event. If that organization spells it with “ae,” so will we.

Passive voice Rewrite to make active unless you’re emphasizing the action over the actor, e.g., ““The clinical services were paid for by Medicare.” 

Patient Engagement Products and capabilities which actively involve and engage patients in their healthcare. This includes features like patient outreach messaging, patient portals, appointment scheduling, secure messaging with healthcare providers, and access to medical records. The goal is to empower patients by providing them with the tools they need to manage their health effectively. Internal examples: athenaCommunicator, athenaPatient, athenaTelehealth.  

Patient Experience This term encompasses how patients feel when using our products and capabilities. This includes their overall interactions and perceptions throughout their healthcare journey, from the ease of scheduling appointments to the effectiveness of communication with healthcare providers, the usability of the patient portal and patient app, and the efficiency of receiving care. The focus is on ensuring a seamless, positive, and satisfactory experience for patients at every touchpoint. 

Payer vs. Payor We spell it with an “e,” except when creating assets for a particular organization. If that organization spells it with an “o,” so will we.

Percent symbol (%) Use the symbol, not the word.

Physician Use only when writing about physicians specifically, otherwise use “clinician.” For example: “athenahealth can help MSOs like yours grow your affiliated physician network.”

Platform In the context of athenaOne, this refers to the underlying technology infrastructure and framework that support the delivery and operation of the athenaOne solution. It serves as the foundation upon which athenaOne is built and provides the necessary infrastructure, tools, and services to enable the functionality and capabilities of the solution. The platform encompasses hardware, software, databases, networking components, and other resources. Not to be confused with Platform Services.

Platform Services A suite of technical products and services that enable organizations to exchange data with athenaOne. Some are included with athenaOne (examples: certified APIs and built-in interfaces), while others are sold as add-on solutions for athenaOne customers and standalone solutions for partners (examples: API Solutions and Data View). “Platform Services” should not be used interchangeably with the term “Platform,” which refers to athenaOne’s underlying technology. See Platform.

Practice A healthcare practice refers to a medical facility where healthcare professionals provide medical services to patients. This is our preferred term when referring to the types of customers we serve, unless we are communicating with a large organization, see “healthcare organization.” 

Practice Management The administrative and operational aspects of running a medical practice. This includes managing patient appointments, billing, coding, insurance claims, compliance with healthcare regulations, and overall office workflow. The goal is to streamline operations to improve efficiency and patient care. Internally, part of athenaCollector. 

Practice and Revenue Cycle Management This term combines the administrative functions of practice management with financial processes to ensure that the healthcare practice operates smoothly and profitably. This includes not only patient scheduling and billing but also managing the entire revenue cycle — from patient registration and insurance verification to claim processing, payment collection, and financial reporting. The focus is on maximizing revenue through efficient billing practices and minimizing claim denials and delays. Internal name: athenaCollector.  

Product The fundamental software and technology components that form the core of our solution. It means the individual software applications, tools, or modules that are developed and offered as standalone entities within our solution. athenaOne example: electronic health records, practice and revenue cycle management, patient engagement.  

Professional degrees See “degrees.”

Provider See clinician.

Releases When referring to athenahealth release internally, use the following convention: “25.3 release,”  not “Release 25.3”. When referring to athenahealth releases in public-facing communication, use the following convention: “Spring 2025 Release.” Use the “25.3” convention in internal communication only. 

Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) The process of creating, submitting, and getting paid for treatment provided to patients. The goal of RCM is to optimize the financial performance of healthcare providers by ensuring timely and accurate billing, reducing claim denials, and improving cash flow. This process includes patient registration, insurance verification, charge capture, coding, claims submission, payment posting, and handling of denied claims. 

SaaS (software as a service) One of our unique differentiators is our SaaS platform. This term is jargon, so we should only use it when communicating with technical audiences who will understand what it means. Otherwise, we should refer to our platform in accordance with the athenaOne messaging framework to ensure we are using relatable language that our audience will understand. 

Service Services may involve activities such as customer support, technical assistance, training, consulting, or any other form of assistance that helps customers achieve their desired outcomes. Services can be delivered through various means, including software applications, online platforms, or direct human interaction. Services may be provided remotely or onsite, and are designed to enhance the overall customer experience and ensure the successful utilization of our solution. 

Software The specific applications developed and built on top of our platform to perform distinct tasks or functions. Software is the interface which allows users to access and use the features, capabilities, and data provided by our platform to achieve their objectives.

Solution A cohesive, integrated package of products and services that collectively offer a wide range of capabilities to meet the needs and requirements of our customers. Examples include athenaOne, athenaIDX, and athenaPractice.

State abbreviations Use the postal code, e.g., MA, CA, ND. Two capital letters, no other punctuation.

Sub-heads Use sentence case: capitalize the first letter of the first word. (See also “headlines.”)

Tailored Our preferred, benefit-driven alternative for “on-premises” or “customizable”. We use this when referencing the unique needs that our athenaFlex portfolio can fulfill for complex organizations. We also use this when referencing the relationship with our Marketplace partners that integrate with athenahealth to improve performance for practices and healthcare organizations.

Telephone numbers We write them with periods. 617.402.0000

Times We follow AP Style, abbreviating as “a.m.” and “p.m.” When citing a U.S. time zone, keep it simple: ET versus EST/EDT (standard/daylight).

Titles All titles, like “chief executive officer,” should be written in lower case when spelled out. Capitalize titles when using common abbreviations, like CEO.

Trademarks and service marks The Legal team is the keeper of the list of trademarked terms and the correct symbol to use with each. If you’re not sure which to use, contact legalnewrequests@athenahealth.com

Updates (network) Do not use “continually updated based on regulatory and payer changes.” Use “regularly updated” (with no reference to regulatory and payer changes) instead.

Wi-Fi Capitalized and hyphenated.

Whitepaper One word.

See the athenahealth Technical Writers’ Style Guide for additional information.