athenahealth lets patients choose which records to connect to Claude
athenahealth introduced a connection between patient health records and Anthropic’s Claude on November 2. Patients must authorize sharing, can choose information and may revoke access. The connection gives conversations personal health context. The company says its agreement bars training on the shared information, and cautions that the service cannot replace advice from a healthcare professional.
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Patients authorize the Claude connection
athenahealth, a provider of electronic health-record services, introduced a connection to Claude, Anthropic’s AI assistant, on November 2.[1], [2]
The connection requires the patient’s affirmative authorization. It gives conversations access to selected health information rather than automatically sending everything held by the provider. The service is available to Claude Pro and Max users. An athenaPatient server using Model Context Protocol, a method for connecting AI tools to external data, supplies the link.[1]
Sharing can be selected and revoked
Patients can choose the information they share and revoke access later. Available categories include laboratory results, vital signs, medication, conditions, immunizations, diagnostic reports, allergies, procedures and care plans. These categories supply context for a conversation about a person’s circumstances. The choice of categories and the ability to withdraw access are the patient controls described for the connection.[1]
The company sets limits on use and training
Product executive Sam Lambson said the service does not provide medical advice or replace a healthcare professional. athenahealth tells users to consult a clinician before changing care or treatment. The company also says its agreement with Anthropic prohibits using shared information for model training or product improvement. This describes the company’s contractual conditions for the connection; no comparative clinical study of patient outcomes was presented with the announcement.[1]
