How Can Groups on athenaPractice Speed Up Patient Check-In?
By Blakely Roth | October 9, 2026
Healthcare groups on athenaPractice use Clearwave for pre-registration, clinical intake and kiosk check-in. They see average check-in times of around 90 seconds and a 10x boost in overall collections.
Specialty practices of all sizes use athenaPractice and Clearwave to speed up check-in by moving registration and clinical intake ahead of the visit and empowering patients to self-check-in via letting a kiosk, tablet or phone once they arrive. As a long-standing athenaConnect partner, Clearwave runs on a proven integration with athenaPractice, providing solutions that truly absorb staff workloads across the patient journey. Groups, like Princeton Orthopaedic Associates, continue to see average check-ins of about 90 seconds, with 94% of patients checking in at the kiosk — saving staff time to focus on other activities.
Healthcare organizations also integrate Clearwave and athenaPratice to power online scheduling, voice AI for scheduling and call handling, patient communications and more — all to drop no-shows and reduce staff workloads across the patient journey.
What does Clearwave add to athenaPractice at check-in?
Clearwave adds efficiency at check-in by taking the paperwork out of the waiting room, improving data accuracy and absorbing staff workloads. Clearwave includes a link in the appointment reminder, which opens pre-registration, where patients confirm demographics, agree to consents, upload ID and insurance cards and complete clinical intake from home. When they arrive, patients can check-in via kiosk mobile or table, make their payment and be ready to see their provider in under 90 seconds.
Everything updates in athenaPractice, and intake connects with athenaFlow, so providers see the patient’s answers in the chart instead of relying on staff to manually type information in. Eligibility runs multiple times before the visit too, which means coverage problems surface while there’s still time to fix them.
Why does pre-registration matter so much for athenaPractice groups?
Pre-registration is important because new patients can often slow down check-in, so pre-registraiton helps to streamline in-office work. At Nebraska Orthopaedic Center, pairing pre-registration with clinical intake cut new-patient check-in by a third and gave the team room on the schedule.
- 47% reduction in average check-in time
- 33% reduction in new patient check-in
- 59% pre-registration with clinical intake utilization
- 1m 44s express check-in time
- 81% of co-pays collected monthly
“With pre-registration and clinical intake taken care of at home, we can accommodate more patients every day and meet our providers’ desired patient volumes,” said Sydnie Murphy, Patient Access Assistant Manager.
What results do athenaPractice practices see with Clearwave kiosks?
Princeton Orthopaedic Associates shows the revenue side. Once patients could see what they owed on the kiosk and pay right there, collections followed.
- 94% patient adoption of kiosks
- ~90 seconds average check-in time
- 58% increase in co-pay collection rates
- 10x increase in overall collections
“Things are going really well with the kiosk. It is helping streamline the PT patient flow to allow us to focus more on clinical tasks,” said Barbara Curran, Front Desk Representative.
Community health centers see the same pattern. Greater Lawrence Family Health Center, also on athenaPractice, registers 1,000+ patients a day through Clearwave and cut average check-in time by 87%.
Will patients use a kiosk instead of the front desk?
Most will, when it’s quick and easy to use. Kiosk and self-registration adoption across Clearwave clients averages about 96%, and patients can check in in any of 13 languages on a large display with a privacy screen. Staff stay close by for anyone who wants help, and the Staff Control Center shows them exactly who that is.
- Dive deeper into patient perceptions on Clearwave check-in kiosks here.
- Consider the pros and cons of kiosks in this deep dive.
Where should an athenaPractice practice start?
Practices using athenaPractice should look for a check-in partner that truly reduces staff involvement in check-in and improves data accuracy. Start with the step your staff repeat most. Consider what gaps are you seeing in your patient registration process?
Long lines, hectic/busy environments, inconsistent collections, poor data accuracy and high claim rejection rates are a sign it’s time to look for a new check-in partner and many organizations look to Clearwave for a proven check-in process.
For practices looking to launch a new check-in approach, consider a solution with a high patient adoption rate and level of data accuracy flowing back into athena. This criteria is essential to seeing a return on your check-in investment.
See how Clearwave and athenaPractice work together.