ATHENAHEALTH·Ambulatory EHR + revenue-cycle management + patient engagement as one cloud suite; AI documentation embedded rather than soldPrivate

athenahealth

ConvictionContext

Network-model B2B SaaS-plus-services. Per Moody's (18 Jan 2022) athenahealth 'generates the majority of its revenue by charging a percentage of' provider collections — a take-rate, not a per-seat licence, which is why the scribe can be free: anything lifting documented E/M levels or throughput raises the collections base it already earns a percentage of. CEO Bob Segert, 4 Nov 2025: 'We think ambient is a feature, not a business.' Sold to independent practices and small-to-mid systems (strongest at 1-75 physicians), plus an Ambient Notes marketplace embedding third-party scribes (Abridge, Suki, iScribe, Nabla).

Revenue

Not disclosed since 2021. Last figure at a named source: ~$1.9B LTM through 30 Sep 2021Moody's, 18 Jan 2022). Last audited: $1.22B FY2017, the final full year as Nasdaq-listed ATHN (+13% on FY2016's $1.08B).

Rev growth

Derived: $1.22BFY2017) to ~$1.9B (LTM Sep-2021) = ~12-13% CAGR. Moody's then expected 'high single to low teens' organic growth; at that rate FY2026 would be materially higher — an ASSUMPTION, not asserted.

Gross margin

Not disclosed. Structurally below pure software — athenaOne bundles the licence with human revenue-cycle services delivered substantially through India-based operations. Nearer listed analogue is Waystar at 68-69% TTMnot Doximity's 89.1%.

Op margin

Not disclosed. Credit-file inference: Moody's ~10x pro forma debt/EBITDA~11x ex-unactioned savings) on ~$8.25B of debt implies an EBITDA base near the high-$800M area — derived, Jan-2022 inputs, unreported since. Listed anchor: Waystar 42.04% FY2025 adjusted EBITDA.

Capex intensity

Lowasset-light — multi-tenant cloud, no owned data-centre programme. Real intensity is capitalised software development (expensed in Moody's leverage math, stricter than a company-adjusted view) plus AI inference as opex, whose cost rises with encounters against a fee that does not.

Valuation

n/aprivate) — none exists. Last mark: ~$17B ENTERPRISE value, Bain Capital + Hellman & Friedman (co-investors incl. GIC, an ADIA subsidiary) from Veritas/Evergreen, agreed 22 Nov 2021, closed Feb 2022 — a negotiated sponsor-to-sponsor price at the 2021 multiple peak, not a clearing price, ~4.5 years stale. Enterprise, not equity: ~$8.25B of funded debt sits inside it, implying a sponsor cheque near $8-9B (derived). Prior mark $5.7B (2018).

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