How to Get Exactly What You Need From the athenahealth Marketplace

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The athenahealth Marketplace offers healthcare organizations a wide range of integrated solutions to streamline operations, improve patient engagement, and extend their EHR capabilities. But with so many options available, finding the right partner can be challenging. This guide outlines five essential steps to choosing the right Marketplace solution: identifying your organization’s priorities, evaluating EHR integration capabilities, reviewing customer ratings and proven results, assessing customization options, and requesting a tailored demonstration. Learn why deep EHR integration, flexible workflows, and responsive customer support are critical when selecting a long-term technology partner. As a 2025 and 2026 Best in KLAS® awardee and athenahealth Marketplace partner since 2017, Simple Interact helps physician groups, hospitals, and FQHCs automate patient intake, appointment reminders, clinical screenings, payments, and other front-office workflows through a customizable platform integrated with Athena.

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The athenahealth Marketplace gives healthcare organizations access to integrated solutions that extend the capabilities of their existing EHR systems. From digital patient intake and appointment reminders to clinical screenings and payments, Marketplace partners can help practices operate more efficiently without replacing their EHR.

But with so many solutions available, how do you find the right fit?

The key is to focus on your organization’s priorities, evaluate integration capabilities, and look for a partner that can support your workflows as your needs evolve.

Here are five steps to help you make the most of the athenahealth Marketplace.

 

Step #1: Identify Your Highest Priorities

Before exploring the Marketplace, identify the operational challenges you want to solve.

Common priorities include:

• Reducing paperwork and manual data entry
• Improving appointment confirmations and reducing no-shows
• Automating clinical screenings and quality measure documentation
• Simplifying patient communications and payments
• Improving patient satisfaction and front-office efficiency

Rank your priorities and identify relevant search terms, such as “digital check-in,” “patient forms,” or “automated appointment reminders.”

Focus on solutions that address multiple challenges, rather than adding separate tools for every workflow.

 

Step #2: Evaluate Capabilities and EHR Integration

Not all Marketplace solutions offer the same level of functionality or integration.

Look for capabilities such as Digital Check-in, Patient Communications, Patient Screeners, Payment Solutions, and Patient Surveys.

More importantly, consider how each solution exchanges information with athenahealth.

A deeply integrated platform should support:

• Data Pull: Trigger automated workflows when appointments, patient information, or orders change
• Data Push: Automatically send completed forms, discrete clinical data, screening scores, images, and other information into the EHR.
• Embedded Access: Give staff convenient access to workflows through a secure dashboard or embedded application.

For example, Simple Interact’s Patient Forms can collect patient information before appointments and automatically push captured data into the EHR, reducing duplicate entry and administrative work.

 

Step #3: Prioritize Customer Reviews and Proven Results

Customer feedback offers valuable insight into how a Marketplace solution performs in real-world healthcare environments.

Look for reviews discussing implementation, EHR integration, customization, staff productivity, and customer support.

Case studies are equally valuable because they demonstrate measurable outcomes.

For example, Legacy Orthopedics and Sports Medicine achieved 91% digital new patient forms completion before arrival and an 81% appointment auto-confirmation rate using Simple Interact. More recent quarterly reporting also highlights the operational impact: through automated appointment confirmations and EHR-integrated digital forms, Legacy is saving the equivalent of 1 full-time employee (FTE) in staff time for every 2 providers.

Simple Interact also holds a 4.9 rating on the athenahealth Marketplace and has earned 2025 and 2026 Best in KLAS® recognition for Patient Intake Management.

 

Step #4: Look for Customization and Long-Term Flexibility

Every healthcare organization has unique requirements.

A multi-specialty physician group may need different forms by specialty or appointment type, while an FQHC may require specialized screenings, eligibility applications, and quality measure documentation.

Choose a solution that adapts to your workflows, rather than forcing your staff to adapt to the software.

Simple Interact supports customizable patient forms, reminders, and specialty-specific workflows that integrate with existing EHR processes.

Explore how our Patient Engagement and Patient Texting solutions help automate communications while keeping patients connected throughout their care journey.

 

Step #5: Request a Demo Focused on Your Needs

Once you’ve narrowed your options, request demonstrations from your top vendors.

Ask them to show how their platform handles your actual workflows, including:

• Digital patient intake and automated EHR data entry
• Appointment reminders and pre-visit checklists
• Specialty-specific forms and clinical screenings
• Two-way patient communication
• Implementation, training, and ongoing support

The right Marketplace partner should deliver more than software. Look for a team that understands your operational challenges and works with you to achieve measurable improvements.

 

Meet Simple Interact in the athenahealth Marketplace

Simple Interact has been an athenahealth Marketplace partner since 2017, helping physician groups, hospitals, FQHCs, and other healthcare organizations automate front-office workflows.

Our platform integrates with athenaOne®, athenaPractice™, and athenaIDX™, bringing together six core services: Patient Forms, Patient Engagement, Patient Texting, Patient Feedback, Patient Scheduling, and Patient Payments.

What sets us apart is our combination of deep EHR integration, extensive customization, intuitive user experience, and high-touch customer support.

Ready to see how Simple Interact can help your organization?

Explore Our Platform and Request a Demo