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Healthcare · head to head

Athenahealth vs Fujifilm Synapse

Athenahealth logo

Athenahealth

Healthcare

Cloud-based medical practice management

From
$140/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Fujifilm Synapse logo

Fujifilm Synapse

Healthcare

Enterprise imaging platform covering PACS, VNA, cardiology and 3D from Fujifilm Healthcare

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Athenahealth high implementation costs ranging up to $50,000+ for enterprise deployments; Fujifilm Synapse pACS, VNA, Cardiovascular and 3D are separately licensed and separately versioned, so an enterprise deployment means four upgrade cycles and four support relationships under one brand rather than one platform upgrade.
  • They diverge on capability: Athenahealth covers Electronic Health Records, Fujifilm Synapse covers Synapse PACS.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Athenahealth and Fujifilm Synapse actually diverge.

Attributes where Athenahealth and Fujifilm Synapse differ
AttributeAthenahealthFujifilm Synapse
Starting price$140/monthOn request
Pricing modelUnknownquote
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb, Windows, iOS, Android
Founded1997Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Healthcare).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Athenahealth

  • Electronic Health Records
  • Medical Billing
  • Patient Engagement
  • Telehealth
  • Analytics
  • Labs
  • Pharmacies
  • Clearinghouses

Only in Fujifilm Synapse

  • Synapse PACS
  • Synapse VNA
  • Synapse Cardiovascular
  • Synapse 3D
  • Synapse Mobility
  • Deconstructed PACS support
  • Cloud services

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Athenahealth

  • Patient Carenot Fujifilm Synapse
  • Medical Recordsnot Fujifilm Synapse
  • Practice Managementnot Fujifilm Synapse
  • Telehealthnot Fujifilm Synapse

Fujifilm Synapse

  • A hospital replacing PACS that wants the archive decoupled from its scanner vendor so future modality purchases stay competitivenot Athenahealth
  • A health system consolidating radiology, cardiology, ophthalmology and wound images into one vendor neutral archive with a single retention policynot Athenahealth
  • An outpatient imaging chain that needs one worklist across multiple sites and radiologists reading remotelynot Athenahealth
  • A site pursuing a deconstructed PACS strategy that wants to replace the viewer later without touching the archivenot Athenahealth

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Athenahealth

  • High implementation costs ranging up to $50,000+ for enterprise deployments
  • Pricing tiers not transparently listed, requiring custom quotes

Fujifilm Synapse

  • PACS, VNA, Cardiovascular and 3D are separately licensed and separately versioned, so an enterprise deployment means four upgrade cycles and four support relationships under one brand rather than one platform upgrade.
  • Synapse 3D is licensed by concurrent user and sized from average concurrency, which leaves radiologists queued for advanced visualisation at the morning reading peak and forces an unplanned licence purchase.
  • As an independent informatics vendor Fujifilm has less privileged access to proprietary modality data than Philips or Siemens have on their own scanners, so some vendor specific post processing is not available.
  • The vendor neutral archive absorbs non DICOM object types only after per specialty configuration work, and departments such as ophthalmology and dermatology usually need bespoke ingestion projects that were not in the original scope.
  • Migrating a decade of priors from a legacy archive is a large professional services line that Fujifilm quotes separately, and these migrations regularly run past the contracted go live date.

Pricing, plan by plan

Athenahealth

$140/month

No published plan breakdown. See the Athenahealth review.

Fujifilm Synapse

On request
  • Synapse$undefined/year
    • Each module licensed separately: PACS, VNA, Cardiovascular, 3D
    • Priced by annual study volume and concurrent diagnostic users
    • Synapse 3D licensed by concurrent user, separate from PACS

Which should you pick?

Choose Athenahealth if

  • You need electronic health records.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want medical billing.
Athenahealth review

Choose Fujifilm Synapse if

  • You need synapse pacs.
  • You work on Web, Windows, iOS, Android.
  • You also want synapse vna.
Fujifilm Synapse review

Questions people ask

Is Athenahealth or Fujifilm Synapse better?
Neither clearly leads. Athenahealth starts at $140/month and Fujifilm Synapse at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Athenahealth or Fujifilm Synapse?
Athenahealth starts at $140/month and Fujifilm Synapse at On request.
Does Athenahealth or Fujifilm Synapse run on more platforms?
Athenahealth runs on Web, iOS, Android. Fujifilm Synapse runs on Web, Windows, iOS, Android.
What is Athenahealth best used for?
Athenahealth is most often used for patient care, medical records, practice management, telehealth. Of those, patient care and medical records are not what Fujifilm Synapse is typically brought in for.
What can Athenahealth do that Fujifilm Synapse cannot?
Athenahealth covers Electronic Health Records, Medical Billing, Patient Engagement, Telehealth. Fujifilm Synapse covers Synapse PACS, Synapse VNA, Synapse Cardiovascular, Synapse 3D.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Athenahealth: What platforms does Athenahealth serve?

Athenahealth's athenaOne serves small to medium-sized physician practices and hospitals with integrated clinical, financial, and operational workflows.

Source
Fujifilm Synapse: Is Synapse one product or several?

Several. Synapse PACS, Synapse VNA, Synapse Cardiovascular and Synapse 3D are separately licensed products under one brand. Price and scope each one individually.

Athenahealth: What is the pricing model for athenaOne?

Athenahealth uses customized pricing with percent-based or encounter-based models. Starting price reported at $140/month with implementation costs ranging from $5,000-$20,000 for small businesses.

Source
Fujifilm Synapse: Do I have to buy Fujifilm scanners?

No. Fujifilm sells Synapse independently of imaging hardware, which is a large part of why it wins competitive PACS replacements at mixed fleet sites.

Athenahealth: Does Athenahealth include revenue cycle management?

Yes, athenaOne includes network-driven claims scrubbing with 95%+ first-pass rates, denial management, and A/R optimization.

Source
Fujifilm Synapse: Does Synapse publish pricing?

No. Pricing is quoted by study volume, concurrent users, module mix and storage capacity.

Athenahealth: What patient engagement features does Athenahealth offer?

Athenahealth provides athenaCommunicator for patient portals, automated appointment reminders, online scheduling, telehealth integration, digital intake, and broadcast messaging.

Source
Fujifilm Synapse: Can Synapse VNA store non radiology images?

Yes, including visible light, ophthalmology and wound photography, but each specialty typically needs its own ingestion and metadata configuration project.

Athenahealth: How many pre-built integrations does Athenahealth have?

Athenahealth's marketplace includes over 250 pre-integrated third-party apps, allowing practices to extend functionality without custom development.

Source
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