By Staff

Citi analyst Garen Sarafian thinks Athenahealth (NASDAQ: ATHN) can be of a benefit to Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) efforts to break into healthcare. Sarafian says such a possible deal "would accelerate efforts for interoperability", would offer instant access to roughly one-half of US physicians, would be culturally possible and would aid in the centralization of medical data. The discussion comes after activist investor Elliott Management disclosed a 9.2% stake in Athenahealth in May.

Speaking to accelerated interoperability: "Apple offers 1+ billion iPhone users, but currently has limited access to clinical systems that capture data in hospitals & physician offices. Athena predominantly operates in the physician space where it would have an instant feed into <10% of the market, access to ~83mn patient records, and partly through being the vendor of hospital-affiliated physicians for major hospital systems as Adventist, Dignity, & Trinity, offer a proven track record of integrating w/major inpatient (hospital) clinical systems from Cerner & Epic (private)."

Speaking to access to US physicians: "Athena acquired Epocrates, a mobile health company known for its point-of-care medical apps for physicians, in early 2013. This app includes drug & disease info, allergy lists, and clinical guidelines, some of which the news article suggests Apple is directly interested in. Its network consists of over one million healthcare professionals, but more importantly includes over 300,000 engaged physicians (~50% of all US docs) that find enough value to log into its mobile app each day. We’d think Apple would value such a capability that could be an ideal conduit between the iPhone and healthcare."

Speaking to potential of a cultural match: "We view Athena as a ‘disruptor’, where Apple’s support would likely accelerate its own current efforts. CEO & co-founder Jonathan Bush is passionate about making a difference in healthcare including bringing it tech’ly into the 21st century, where we think Apple would be one of few homes for the firm he’d consider. It may also bring back highly regarded Ed Park that helped develop AthenaNet through 2016 and now a Board Member, with ties to the public sector through ATHN co-founder Todd Park now the White House Technology Advisor."

And one more thing: "Centralizing medical data is critical, but only the beginning. It’s the effective analysis of data that’s the true holy grail in HC tech: how to identify those most at risk, bits of data to extract, what precisely to analyze, and how best to appropriately intervene is the true challenge. This is where megacap tech names’ such as Apple’s broad capabilities in artificial intelligence, with the specialized healthcare expertise either built or acquired via ATHN or otherwise, should shine LT."