Athenahealth, Claude team up to let patients query their EHR data

EHR vendor athenahealth has launched a new integration with Anthropic's Claude, allowing people to use the generative AI tool to get answers about their health from their own EHR data.

Generative AI platforms like ChatGPT have become popular health management tools since bursting onto the scene three years ago, with healthcare consumers increasingly using them to understand diagnoses, lab tests and medical bills. AI giants even launched healthcare-specific versions of the genAI platforms for consumers, including ChatGPT Health and Claude for Healthcare.

But EHR vendors are attempting to go one step further by connecting patients' medical records to these platforms to provide personalized care recommendations, help patients navigate the complexities of the healthcare system more effectively and foster greater patient engagement.

To that end, athenahealth has launched athenaPatient MCP, which uses the company's Model Context Protocol server to connect individuals' EHRs with Claude. The MCP server provides connections and integration capabilities that enable AI models to retrieve clinical data directly from authorized systems, like EHRs.

Claude Pro and Max users in America can add the athenaPatient MCP connector in their Claude settings, allowing Claude to access EHR data. According to athenahealth, when users ask Claude questions about their health, the tool can use the person's EHR data, including lab results, vitals, health conditions, medications, immunizations, visit history and procedures, to provide personalized answers.

"At its core, this is about helping patients get value from their own healthcare data," said Paul Brient, chief product and operations officer at athenahealth, in the press release.

Healthcare consumers who decide to connect their athenahealth EHR with Claude must use their athenahealth credentials to enable the connection and choose what health information to make available. They may withdraw access at any time, the press release noted.

The latest tech company-EHR vendor integration comes as consumers increasingly turn to AI to close gaps in healthcare access and satisfaction. In a survey that polled 1,500 adults, 61% said they use AI-powered search engines to learn more about their health.

Long appointment wait times often hold patients back from traditional healthcare services, the survey showed. But AI could help overcome these barriers, with 41% of survey respondents saying they'd be willing to use AI for personalized health reminders or alerts. Nearly 40% also said they would be interested in using scheduling chatbots.

By integrating EHRs with AI platforms they already use, healthcare consumers could receive personalized advice rather than generic answers. It could also help patients be more engaged in their healthcare, Syed Mohiuddin, head of healthcare at Anthropic, said in the press release.

"athenahealth is giving patients a way to bring their own records into Claude when they choose to, so they can explore those questions and feel more confident and prepared in conversations with their care team," he said.

Athenahealth is not the first EHR company to integrate AI companies' technology to enhance patient experience. In September 2025, Oracle unveiled an AI-powered patient portal built on OpenAI's frontier models that allowed users to query their EHR and receive information about their diagnoses, medications and lab tests.

Epic is also leveraging technology from prominent AI companies. The company recently announced that it is partnering with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT within the EHR. Healthcare providers can use ChatGPT to search the EHR, review patients' medical histories and prepare for appointments.  

Anuja Vaidya has covered the healthcare industry since 2012. She currently covers healthcare IT and innovation, including artificial intelligence, digital healthcare, EHRs and interoperability.