Streamlining revenue cycle to support rapid growth with ABW Medical

Expanding access while facing financial pressure

Upperline Health is a fast-growing multi-specialty provider group committed to expanding patient access and improving outcomes. As the practice grew, increasing patient volume and billing complexity created natural pressures on the revenue cycle. With athenahealth workflows in place, Upperline sought additional expertise to even further reduce days in accounts receivable, address claims in Hold statuses, and ease administrative demands on billing staff — ensuring continued operational agility and strong financial health.

Their leadership knew that sustaining growth meant partnering with a team that could seamlessly integrate with athenaOne and deliver measurable financial improvements without disrupting clinical workflows or adding burden to staff.

A revenue cycle partner that feels like part of the team

To meet these goals, Upperline chose ABW Medical, an athenahealth Marketplace partner with a proven record of driving financial performance while preserving workflow continuity.

ABW’s team of athenahealth experts became an extension of Upperline’s billing staff, embedding directly into their existing processes without requiring retraining or workflow changes.

This was possible thanks to direct API connections with athenahealth, allowing ABW’s specialists to work behind the scenes, monitoring claims proactively, targeting denials, scrubbing claims, and focusing on reducing backlogged Hold claims and lowering aged accounts receivable.

Upperline gained expert revenue cycle support that worked well with their existing system, freeing up leadership and staff to focus on scaling their practice and caring for patients.

“We didn’t have the bandwidth to manage our hold buckets. ABW came in from day one, as experts on athenahealth, to manage that process efficiently.”

Michelle Vaughn

VP of Revenue Cycle, Upperline Health

Measurable results that keep the practice moving

The partnership produced powerful results that went beyond incremental changes to create real business impact: 

• 29% decrease in claims stuck in Hold and Manager Hold categories, speeding up claim resolution and reducing administrative rework.
   
• 13% drop in total Days in Accounts Receivable (DAR), all while charges increased by 5%, demonstrating faster claims processing despite growth in volume.
   
• Hold DAR dropped 38% and Manager Hold DAR dropped 32%, proving that claims were being resolved faster despite growing patient volume. 
   
• 19% increase in payments, boosting cash flow stability and supporting reinvestment in growth initiatives.

Additionally, the partnership eased administrative burdens and maximized the value of Upperline’s athenahealth investment. Providers remained focused on delivering care, confident in their optimized revenue cycle.

Today, Upperline Health continues its growth journey with ABW Medical and athenaOne — proving that strong partnerships built on seamless integration and expert collaboration drive long-term success.

Grow confidently with athenahealth

Ready to streamline revenue cycles and grow your practice? Explore the athenahealth Marketplace and join other providers gaining value from solutions like ABW Medical that integrate with athenaOne’s suite of EHR, RCM, and patient engagement tools.

Get in touch to learn more.