Join us as we work to create a thriving ecosystem that delivers accessible, high-quality, and sustainable healthcare for all.
Clinical Decision Support Rule Author
We are looking for a Clinical Content & Terminology Senior Associate to join our team within the Chief Medical Officer Organization division. Your job will include authoring new Clinical Decision Support (CDS) rules to expand and maintain a global CDS rule library that supports evidence-based, actionable guidance within athenahealth clinical workflows.
You are a curious, logical thinker who enjoys breaking down complex guidance and seeing problems through to resolution. You prefer deep expertise in your area of focus while understanding how your work fits into the broader clinical and product ecosystem. You are detail-oriented, yet efficient, comfortable working independently, and proactive about identifying ambiguity or inconsistencies. You collaborate effectively with clinicians, project leaders, and cross-functional partners to ensure CDS rules are clinically accurate, technically feasible, and valuable to customers.
The Team
Our Clinical Content & Terminology team optimizes the client experience by curating clinically relevant content that is supported by evidence-based medicine and industry standard code sets. The standardization, management, and continuous improvement of these content assets is critical to supporting a positive customer experience that leads to exceptional patient care and contributes to the success of athenahealth’s clinical workflows. The team engages in the product development process to support content for new workflows and features. We curate content for workflows including templates, orders/results, clinical providers, patient health information sections, screening questionnaires, and care management.
Job Responsibilities (Include but are not limited to)
Perform clinical research to translate evidence-based clinical recommendations and guidance into structured, executable CDS rule logic
Design logic diagrams to model rule behavior prior to implementation
Collaborate with clinicians to validate clinical intent, scope, accuracy, and relevance of CDS rules
Identify where required clinical information is documented within the patient chart and assess structured data availability
Develop and maintain value sets (e.g., diagnoses, medications, labs, procedures) that support CDS logic
Build, test, and refine CDS rules within the CDS platform or rules engine
Develop and execute test cases to validate expected behavior, including edge cases and exceptions
Troubleshoot rule behavior and data issues, identifying root causes and implementing improvements
Prepare CDS rules for release, including documentation of assumptions, limitations, and intended behavior
Respond to customer feedback and reported issues related to CDS content and rule behavior
Coordinate with project leaders and cross-functional teams to resolve clinical, data, or technical inconsistencies
Support continuous improvement of the CDS rule library through ongoing maintenance and enhancement
Education, Experience & Skills
Strong logical, analytical, and systems-thinking skills with the ability to translate narrative guidance into executable logic
Ability to interpret clinical guidelines and ask effective clarifying questions of clinical subject matter experts
Understanding how clinical data is documented in electronic health records (EHRs)
Experience with medical coding systems and clinical terminology
Comfort working with logic modeling tools, flowcharts, or rule authoring systems.
Strong written and verbal communication skills
Bachelor’s Degree preferred
Professional experience in healthcare, health IT, informatics, data analysis, or related field preferred
Behaviors & Abilities Required
Ability to work independently while collaborating effectively within a cross-functional team
Comfort operating in ambiguity and making reasoned decisions when guidance or data is incomplete
Strong attention to detail balanced with efficiency and the ability to manage multiple priorities
Proactive communicator who escalates risks, gaps, or inconsistencies early
Strong problem-solving and analytical skills
Adaptability and willingness to learn new clinical domains and technical systems
Passion for improving healthcare and the clinician experience, with empathy for end users
Excellent organizational, time-management, and prioritization skills in a fast-paced environment
Expected Compensation
$65,000 - $111,000The base salary range shown reflects the full range for this role from minimum to maximum. At athenahealth, base pay depends on multiple factors, including job-related experience, relevant knowledge and skills, how your qualifications compare to others in similar roles, and geographical market rates. Base pay is only one part of our competitive Total Rewards package - depending on role eligibility, we offer both short and long-term incentives by way of an annual discretionary bonus plan, variable compensation plan, and equity plans.
About athenahealth
Our vision: In an industry that becomes more complex by the day, we stand for simplicity. We offer IT solutions and expert services that eliminate the daily hurdles preventing healthcare providers from focusing entirely on their patients — powered by our vision to create a thriving ecosystem that delivers accessible, high-quality, and sustainable healthcare for all.
Our company culture: Our talented employees — or athenistas, as we call ourselves — spark the innovation and passion needed to accomplish our vision. We are a diverse group of dreamers and do-ers with unique knowledge, expertise, backgrounds, and perspectives. We unite as mission-driven problem-solvers with a deep desire to achieve our vision and make our time here count. Our award-winning culture is built around shared values of inclusiveness, accountability, and support.
Our DEI commitment: Our vision of accessible, high-quality, and sustainable healthcare for all requires addressing the inequities that stand in the way. That's one reason we prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion in every aspect of our business, from attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce to maintaining an inclusive environment for athenistas, our partners, customers and the communities where we work and serve.
What we can do for you:
Along with health and financial benefits, athenistas enjoy perks specific to each location, including commuter support, employee assistance programs, tuition assistance, employee resource groups, and collaborative workspaces — some offices even welcome dogs.
We also encourage a better work-life balance for athenistas with our flexibility. While we know in-office collaboration is critical to our vision, we recognize that not all work needs to be done within an office environment, full-time. With consistent communication and digital collaboration tools, athenahealth enables employees to find a balance that feels fulfilling and productive for each individual situation.
In addition to our traditional benefits and perks, we sponsor events throughout the year, including book clubs, external speakers, and hackathons. We provide athenistas with a company culture based on learning, the support of an engaged team, and an inclusive environment where all employees are valued.
Learn more about our culture and benefits here: athenahealth.com/careers