Introduction to Digital Health Data Exchange
athenahealth and b.well Connected Health have unveiled a groundbreaking point-of-care workflow that fundamentally transforms how patients share their health information. This innovative solution eliminates traditional paper forms, fax machines, and the frustration of multiple portal logins, replacing them with a streamlined digital process that puts patients firmly in control of their medical data.
The collaboration between these two healthcare technology leaders addresses a critical pain point in modern healthcare delivery. For years, patients have struggled with fragmented health information scattered across different providers, systems, and platforms. This new approach consolidates that information and makes it instantly accessible when and where it matters most—at the point of care.
The companies anticipate a comprehensive rollout of this capability throughout 2026, promising to revolutionize patient intake processes across healthcare facilities nationwide.
How the New Workflow Functions
The innovative system operates through a simple yet powerful process built on the athenaOne® platform, athenahealth’s AI-native, cloud-based solution that seamlessly integrates electronic health records, revenue cycle management, and patient engagement tools.
Step 1: Patient Data Aggregation Patients utilize applications powered by b.well technology to digitally gather their complete medical records from multiple sources. This creates a unified, patient-controlled repository of their entire health history, eliminating the need to remember which doctor has which records.
Step 2: Selective Information Sharing Patients maintain complete autonomy over their health information. They choose precisely what data to share with their healthcare providers and present it through a simple QR code interface. This empowers patients to share only relevant information for each specific appointment.
Step 3: Seamless Provider Integration Practice staff members scan the patient-generated QR code to securely retrieve the authorized information. They can immediately review it and incorporate it directly into the patient’s chart within athenaOne, dramatically reducing administrative burden and improving data accuracy.
Step 4: Continuous Information Flow Following each appointment, the visit summary automatically flows back to patients, appearing in both their athena patient portal and b.well-powered applications. This creates a continuous loop of information exchange that keeps patients informed and engaged.
Patient Benefits and Control Features
“Your health data should follow you, not the other way around,” explained Sam Lambson, vice president of data and ecosystem platform for athenahealth. “This collaboration shows what’s possible when healthcare technology puts patients in control of their data and removes friction for providers.”
The system offers unprecedented flexibility by connecting with consumer health applications and wearable devices. Patients can choose to share device-generated information, such as fitness tracking data, sleep patterns, or heart rate measurements, alongside their traditional clinical records whenever they believe such information is relevant to their care.
This approach recognizes that modern healthcare extends beyond the doctor’s office. Patients generate valuable health data through their daily activities, and this platform enables them to contribute that information to their comprehensive health picture when appropriate.
CMS Health Tech Ecosystem Initiative
The new workflow directly advances the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Health Tech Ecosystem Initiative, specifically supporting the goal to eliminate manual intake processes and fragmented data exchange through patient-directed tools—an effort known as Kill the Clipboard.
athenahealth joined this CMS initiative in July 2025, pledging to advance easy and secure data exchange. b.well simultaneously joined the initiative, committing to serve as a CMS Aligned Network and Patient Facing Application for both Kill the Clipboard and Conversational AI initiatives.
“Patients shouldn’t have to work around healthcare technology systems to bring their data into care,” stated Kristen Valdes, CEO and Founder of b.well. “With this approach, they can share exactly what they want, when they want, without losing control of their information.”
Future of Healthcare Interoperability
This collaboration represents a practical implementation of interoperability principles in real-world clinical workflows. athenahealth’s single-instance platform architecture enables immediate and secure deployment of these updates across its entire network, ensuring rapid adoption and consistent functionality.
b.well’s platform specializes in helping patients aggregate, manage, and securely share their health information across diverse care settings, creating bridges between previously isolated data silos.
Both organizations emphasize that truly patient-centered interoperability requires widespread adoption throughout the healthcare ecosystem. Open approaches to data sharing deliver benefits to patients, providers, and technology developers regardless of which electronic health record system they use.
The success of this initiative could establish a new standard for patient engagement and data exchange, demonstrating that healthcare technology can be both sophisticated and user-friendly while maintaining the highest security standards.
