The Hidden Costs of Fragmented Patient Engagement Solutions

By Blakely Roth | January 14, 2026 

How can specialty healthcare practices narrow down their technology stack to only the most critical tools? Practices must balance the need to cut unnecessary spending while providing a healthcare experience that accelerates acquisition and retention. Ideally, practices must keep patients happy and drive collections up without a multitude of disparate technology vendors creating a headache for administrative and clinical teams.  

See where hidden costs lie and what practices are doing to successfully reduce vendors. 

What Fragmented Patient Engagement Solutions Cost Your Practice

Too many tools lead to higher costs both from practice expenses but also administrative workloads. Recent reports highlight the challenges facing today’s healthcare providers and their practices: 

• 21% of practice leaders share that budgets are a top obstacle to patient acquisition 

• 29% predict technology investments to become a main financial constraint 

The costs go beyond budgets. With multiple tools on hand practices face: 

• Increased administrative staff workloads: With multiple tools and dashboards to navigate between staff have a lot to learn originally and may be overwhelmed on a day-to-day basis navigating patient needs, multiple sign-ins and different tools for each different task. 

• Higher potential for data errors and security challenges: Balancing tasks between various systems, data could get missed or inputted incorrectly as staff work fast. Additionally, working between many systems increases the chances of sensitive patient information, like PHI, getting into the wrong system or hands. 

• Higher patient frustration: Staff aren’t the only ones likely interacting with multiple tools. Patients may have one tool contacting them with reminders and then need to use a different system to pre-register and another to check-in at their appointment. This scenario increases the likelihood of patients providing information multiple times and getting frustrated with providers and staff for any inconveniences. 

By switching to Clearwave for patient scheduling, eligibility, registration, payments and communications, practices have overcame these challenges across patient journeys. Seeing results like: 

• 25% Drop in FTE costs  

• 87% Reduction in staff workloads 

• $57K + Saved via registration-related labor cost  

• $29K Saved in scheduling-related labor costs 

• 86% Drop in call center agent training time 

• 67% Increase in their physician team w/no increase to FTEs 

How Are Practices Successfully Reducing Vendors?

Today’s most efficient practices are saving time and money with a total patient engagement platform that elevates their Practice Management System’s capabilities — without the staff headache.  

Let’s explore these real-world examples! See how two practices overcame the hidden costs of fragmented patient engagement solutions, by leveraging only one tool to engage patients throughout their healthcare journey.  

Overcoming a 33% drop in front desk staff without hindering patient care

Princeton Orthopaedic Associates experienced a dramatic staffing challenge—losing one-third of their front desk team, dropping from 45 to 33 employees across seven locations. With call queues regularly hitting double digits and front desk staff stretched thin, the practice needed a way to maintain care quality without overwhelming remaining staff. 

By consolidating multiple patient touchpoints into Clearwave, Princeton Orthopaedic replaced manual, labor-heavy workflows with a single platform that automates scheduling, registration and check-in. 

Key patient engagement outcomes: 

• 94% kiosk adoption across patient demographic 

• 1 minute 21 second average check-in times, keeping patient flow efficient 

• 10x increase in point-of-service collections with patient-friendly kiosk payments 

• Reduced call center volume and lower overtime due to online scheduling—32% of digital bookings now come from existing patients and 27% occur after hours 

By moving to one comprehensive solution, Princeton Orthopaedic eliminated multiple tools, reduced operational strain and ensured consistency across seven locations—even amid significant staffing shortages. 

Eye-Q Consolidates Vendors & Increases Acquisition

EYE-Q Vision Care Business Operations Manager, Celina Bazan, says, “We were using three or four different tools for scheduling, communications, check-in and other tasks. Now, we have everything we need under one umbrella, we’ve been able to build efficiencies by expanding the services we use with Clearwave.”  

With 10,000 monthly patients and persistent bottlenecks at the front desk, Eye-Q’s multi-vendor setup slowed operations and created disjointed experiences for staff and patients. After consolidating to Clearwave, EYE-Q transformed both efficiency and patient experience across locations. 

Key patient engagement outcomes: 

• 83% Kiosk adoption, demonstrating ease-of-use for all ages 

• 2 Minute 32 second check-in times, eliminating lines and reducing delays 

• 400–500 additional appointments booked per month, using smarter scheduling that adheres to provider ules 

• Over 200 hours saved annually by diverting scheduling calls to online booking 

• 18% of online appointments coming from new patients, supporting acquisition 

Simplified tech stack—EYE-Q replaced multiple scheduling, communication and registration tools with one unified platform 

By using a single system to manage scheduling, intake, communications and check-in, EYE-Q created an integrated patient experience while dramatically reducing administrative lift and vendor costs. 

Ready to Save Money & See Happier Patients?

Fragmented patient engagement solutions drain more than just budgets—they create operational friction, overwhelm staff and frustrate patients at every step of their healthcare journey. Specialty practices that consolidate vendors are uncovering immense value: smoother workflows, lower staff intervention, higher collections and happier patients. 

Whether navigating staffing shortages like Princeton Orthopaedic or combating long lines and overwhelming call volumes like EYE-Q, practices are proving that a unified patient engagement platform is the most effective path forward. By eliminating redundant vendors and centralizing key workflows under one system, you can scale growth, reduce hidden costs and deliver modern patient experiences—without increasing administrative burden. 

Ready to see how you can save money with Clearwave? Schedule a live demo.