Publications
Publications
- June 2010 (Revised September 2010)
- HBS Case Collection
athenahealth: Innovating in Response to a Crisis in Healthcare
Abstract
When Jonathan Bush and his partner, Todd Park, realized that their revolutionary approach to delivering clinical care was being stymied by the inefficiencies in the healthcare system and insurance red tape, they turned their proprietary technology, athenaNet, to a new business, athenaHealth, that would help physicians manage their practice, billing and revenue cycles and maintain electronic patient records more efficiently and cost effectively using the service delivered via the Internet. Despite the success of his innovative venture, Bush faced several challenges: the company's brand awareness among physicians was still low; the company had launched a new product, athenaClinicals, while its core flagship product, athenaCollector, was still growing -- and was planning a pricing innovation, athenaCommunity, over and above that. The HITECH Act passed by the Obama administration was giving a boost to the entire industry, including athenaHealth's much larger competitors, which heightened Bush's strategic dilemma: should he focus on the core and capture greater share and enhance brand awareness or should he branch out into new innovative directions?
Keywords
Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Information Management; Innovation and Invention; Brands and Branding; Product Development; Health Industry; United States
Citation
Chakravorti, Bhaskar, Laura Winig, and Naeem Husain Arastu. "athenahealth: Innovating in Response to a Crisis in Healthcare." Harvard Business School Case 810-079, June 2010. (Revised September 2010.)