In its fourth quarter and 2017 earnings report, athenahealth beat Wall Street predictions yesterday with strong revenue growth for both Q4 and the calendar year.

Athenahealth stock jumped more than 17 percent with the news.

In 2017, the cloud health technology vendor posted 14 percent revenue growth over Q4 2016, and 13 percent growth over the full year.

[Also: 7 quotes from Jonathan Bush on athenahealth's 'painful' quarter]

For the three months ending December 31, 2017, athenahealth's total revenue was $329.2 million, compared to $288.2 million for the same period in 2016. Wall Street analysts had expected revenue around $320 million.

Net income for the quarter was $31.6 million, compared to $9.8 million for the same period in 2016 – a year-over-year change of more than 222 percent.

Total revenue for 2017 was $1.22 billion, compared to $1.08 billion in 2016. Net income for the calendar year was $101. million, compared to $76 million the year before.

[Also: Athenahealth partners with NoteSwift on AI-powered EHR documentation]

It's all welcome news for athenahealth, which has had a challenging go of it recently – responding to the pressures of an activist investor, replacing its chief financial officer, laying off 9 percent of its workforce and reducing spending by $115 million.

Athenahealth CEO Jonathan Bush said in a statement he was "proud of all that we accomplished" in 2017.

"It was an extraordinary year of network growth. We surpassed the 100 million patient threshold and now serve more than 100,000 healthcare providers," said Bush. "We also took action to create a more focused and efficient company and enhance the depth of talent on our board and management team."

"As a result, athenahealth is better positioned to drive increased levels of profitable growth and enhance shareholder value,” he added. In 2018, I look forward to continued progress on our journey to transform the healthcare industry."

Twitter: @MikeMiliardHITN
Email the writer: mike.miliard@himssmedia.com