athenahealth today announced the launch of athenaPatient MCP, a new server solution that gives patients a convenient and secure way to connect their official health data directly to Anthropic’s Claude.

Patients are increasingly using generative AI to interpret lab results, medication instructions, and other medical information. An August 2026 Pew Research Center survey found that 34% of U.S. adults have used AI assistants for health-related purposes, from looking up symptoms to understanding a diagnosis. This trend reflects a growing expectation for immediate, conversational health guidance, but also introduces new governance challenges.

To address consumer demand while keeping patients in control of their information, athenaPatient MCP uses the Model Context Protocol, which provides secure connection points that allow generative AI models to retrieve structured clinical data, such as electronic health records, directly from authorized systems. In this case, the athenaPatient MCP server connects Claude to athenahealth’s system, enabling Claude to retrieve a patient’s electronic health record information at the patient’s request through a secure connection that requires patients to sign in with their athenahealth credentials.

Starting today, Claude Pro and Max users in the U.S. can add the athenaPatient MCP connector within their Claude settings. Patients can then ask Claude questions about their health information using natural language. Claude can reference the user’s medical records, including lab results, vitals, medications, health conditions, immunizations, visit history, diagnostic reports, allergies, procedures and care plans, to generate personalized, easy-to-understand answers based on their clinical data, instead of generic or incomplete information.

athenaPatient MCP combines patient-directed access with security controls. Patients authenticate directly with their athenahealth credentials, choose which information to make available, and may revoke access at any time.

“The launch of athenaPatient MCP is an important milestone in responsibly integrating AI into the patient experience,” said Paul Brient, chief product and operations officer at athenahealth. “At its core, this is about helping patients get value from their own healthcare data. Anthropic has been a true innovator in advancing AI that is both powerful and responsible, and we are excited to work with them to leverage AI to meaningfully reduce complexity and help patients play a more active role in their care.”

“Patients often have questions about their health records between visits, from what a lab result means to what to ask at their next appointment,” said Syed Mohiuddin, head of healthcare at Anthropic. “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.”

Today’s launch with Claude is just the beginning. athenahealth is committed to responsible AI integration, and this marks the next step toward a future in which patients can use AI tools to better understand their records, prepare for care decisions, and engage more fully in their health.

About athenahealth

Since 1997, athenahealth has been curing complexity for ambulatory healthcare practices and the patients they serve, empowering them to deliver the best possible care and business outcomes through innovative clinical, financial, and patient engagement solutions. athenahealth connects practices, health systems, payers, partners and patients to create a thriving ecosystem that delivers accessible, high-quality, and sustainable healthcare for all. Learn more at athenahealth.com.

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