ELGIN, IL – A developer of software solutions designed to help hospitals manage their revenue cycle operations is turning its attention to the consumer with the release of a self-service kiosk.

HealthWare Systems last week unveiled the ActiveKIOSK, which features a touch-screen interface designed to allow patients to check in for medical appointments and speed information to receptionists and registrars.

“ActiveKIOSK lets patients use a touch-screen interface to check in, provides methods for managing an electronic wait list with advanced queuing and routing options and offers instructions and wayfinding maps to the patient, all from the same system,” said Steve Gruner, president of the Elgin, Ill.-based company. “It can even be linked to our ActiveTRACK module, giving hospitals the ability to measure patient wait and registration times and manage them more effectively to improve patient satisfaction.”

Founded in 1998, HealthWare has made it's mark in the healthcare field with front-end software solutions designed to help providers automate their revenue cycle management functions. The company’s ActiveWARE platform includes support for document management, electronic forms, workflow analysis and storage, while ActiveTRACK, launched in late 2008, enables provider to track patients and measure benchmarks such as registration area wait times. The company’s technology partners include Boston Software, Cardon Healthcare, the FHS Corporation and Fujitsu.

In launching a kiosk, HealthWare joins a growing number of technology vendors who – drawing upon the success of kiosks in the airline and retail industries – are offering patient-facing products designed to improve the registration process. They include GE Healthcare, Siemens, McKesson and Allscripts, to name just a few.