Raising the bar on patient data privacy in athenaOne®

Patient data privacy in the age of AI

In healthcare, privacy isn’t optional. It’s a promise. Every diagnosis, test result, and treatment plan can contain deeply personal information. Protecting that information is essential—not just for regulatory compliance but for building and sustaining patient trust.

At athenahealth, we take our commitment to safeguarding patient data seriously. This goes beyond defending against external threats; it includes empowering patients with control over who accesses their medical history. We also understand that, with AI adoption rising in healthcare, AI tools that handle this sensitive data must do so with care and within the confines of patient privacy. Every layer of athenaOne, including its native AI capabilities – has privacy and security built in to help manage data responsibly, intelligently and in compliance with evolving standards.

Find out how athenaOne is helping elevate the standards for patient privacy.

A more complete shield for sensitive information

In many electronic health record (EHR) systems, confidentiality controls are limited to specific exam note sections, making it difficult for physicians to customize visibility for patients and their family members, or colleagues.

Enhanced confidentiality controls in athenaOne now cover:

• Diagnoses and diagnosis notes
• Orders
• Problems
• Results and result documents
• Medications

These build upon confidentiality features introduced in 2024, which included free text note fields at the top of the Assessment & Plan, HPI, ROS, and PE sections.

Once marked, confidential information is excluded from Patient Care Summaries, CCDAs surfaced to the patient, Health Summaries, and letters to patients. Crucially, it is also omitted from personal health record apps that use FHIR R4 endpoints. This comprehensive exclusion avoids sensitive details appearing where they shouldn’t, thereby upholding strong patient privacy protections aligned with TEFCA guidelines.

Patient privacy also means expanding access to their own data so they can consult with clinicians about what information they might choose to keep confidential. Patients can get just that when their provider is on athenaOne, which supports Individual Access Services (IAS). Every eligible practice in the athenaOne network is automatically connected to IAS with no extra integrations or IT work. That provides patients with the opportunity to control their health information in the athenaPatient® app, where they can manage privacy preferences, review information and securely communicate with their care teams.

Every layer of athenaOne, including its native AI capabilities – has privacy and security built in to help manage data responsibly, intelligently and in compliance with evolving standards.

athenaOne puts confidentiality control at the point of care, directly in workflows

While some competitors may offer similar controls, athenaOne is unique in enabling clinicians to lock confidential details directly within the encounter workflow — without leaving the chart or interrupting documentation. This real-time capability means sensitive data can be protected instantly upon entry, eliminating the need for after-the-fact chart reviews or administrative overhead. As native AI tools structure and embed incoming patient data into the patient chart, clinicians can integrate and protect details during their review.

Designed for real-world scenarios

The enhanced privacy controls in athenaOne address a wide range of patient privacy needs:

• Adolescent confidentiality – Teens receiving treatment can keep certain diagnoses or lab results private from parents or guardians who have portal access in a manner consistent with applicable law.
   
• Behavioral health notes – Providers can document sensitive observations without sharing them with patients or family members if clinically appropriate.
   
• Domestic safety concerns – Information that could place a patient at risk if revealed can be securely locked to prevent unintended disclosure.

Providers can select from preset reasons for locking records (where appropriate to do so consistent with their respective organization’s internal policies and procedures) —such as “Risk of harm” or “Patient request”—and these reasons are stored with an audit trail for accountability and recordkeeping.

Built-in transparency and control

Locked records display clear visual indicators in the EHR. Hovering or clicking reveals who locked the information, when, and why. Any unlocking events are also logged, helping to provide a complete history for compliance purposes.

Confidentiality settings can be applied manually or triggered automatically. For instance, if a problem is locked on the patient’s chart, adding it as a diagnosis in an encounter will inherit that lock status, maintaining consistent privacy across linked data points.

Compliance-ready by design

These enhanced privacy features are designed not only to protect patients but also to meet evolving state and federal privacy laws and industry standards. Every lock or unlock action is recorded in the Confidential Clinical Patient Data report, ensuring a verifiable audit trail suitable for internal reviews and external audits.

The AI capabilities within athenaOne help maintain the integrity of structured patient data by continuously organizing and updating patient data within authorized workflows. This supports secure, compliant data exchange across connected networks and helps ensure that privacy safeguards remain consistent when data is shared.

Protecting patients, strengthening trust

Patients entrust clinicians with their most personal health information. By expanding confidentiality controls directly into athenaOne’s point-of-care workflows, athenahealth equips providers with the tools to honor that trust—without slowing down clinical care.

Continued data privacy enhancements and patient control of their data are important as data exchange and AI capabilities grow in healthcare software. athenahealth is committed to ensuring sensitive information stays private when it should, visible when necessary, and always managed in a way that supports both patient safety and compliance in a connected, interoperable healthcare environment.