According to a report by the American Medical Association (AMA), doctors in the United States work about 59 hours per week. Almost 8 of those hours are spent on administrative tasks. These tasks include appointment scheduling, patient communication, billing, insurance checks, and follow-up calls. Spending so much time on these non-medical duties causes staff to feel tired, lowers the quality of care, and leads to longer wait times for patients.
Also, the number of patient calls and scheduling needs keeps growing. For example, First Choice Neurology, the largest neurology practice in Florida, had about 24,000 patient calls each month in 2023. They expect this to rise to 35,000 in 2024. Handling so many calls with old phone systems and manual work puts a lot of pressure on staff. This can increase patient wait times and cause scheduling mistakes.
AI-driven appointment scheduling helps solve these problems by automating simple tasks. It gives faster replies and makes booking more accurate. This means fewer follow-up calls caused by double bookings, missed visits, or confusion about schedules.
AI scheduling tools usually use natural language processing (NLP), machine learning, and voice recognition. They talk with patients through phone calls, chatbots, text messages, or online patient portals. These systems work all day and night. Patients can book, change, or cancel appointments without waiting for office hours or staff help.
For example, Microsoft and Mercy worked together to use Microsoft Azure’s AI to help with appointment scheduling during patient calls. Mercy’s AI system can answer requests, set or change visits, and suggest follow-ups in one call. This lowers the need for many calls back and forth.
Also, Florida’s First Choice Neurology uses the AI-powered healow Genie system to manage over 35,000 calls every month without waiting. Patients can talk or chat with this AI to make appointments, refill medicine, or pay bills. The healow Genie also works in several languages, helping patients from different backgrounds in Florida.
All these benefits lead to happier patients, fewer missed appointments, and better communication between doctors and patients.
Medical staff and administrators face high pressure because of many administrative tasks. By automating appointment scheduling, clinics can reduce repetitive calls and paperwork. This lowers overtime and helps with staff shortages.
Jose Rocha from First Choice Neurology said AI tools like healow Genie work like “a 24/7 attendant.” They make work easier for administrative staff and speed up scheduling. This lets staff spend more time supporting clinical care instead of doing just admin work.
AI also cuts down on human mistakes in scheduling, which can cause double bookings or missed visits. These mistakes waste resources and upset patients.
AI-driven appointment scheduling is part of wider healthcare workflow automation. These technologies help make many clinic tasks easier. For example, AI can handle patient questions, send appointment reminders, verify insurance, and help with billing and coding.
One company, Notable, uses its AI Agent platform to lower staff workload by automating patient questions, scheduling, and follow-ups. Its Flow Builder tool lets healthcare workers create automation without coding. This helps both tech and non-tech users. These systems handle millions of patient interactions daily at over 12,000 healthcare sites.
By automating tasks, clinics save money, make fewer errors, and improve patient engagement. Smart appointment slot management matches available times with patient outreach. This lowers no-show rates and makes booking smoother.
AI also helps clinical teams by giving dashboards and data reports. Mercy uses AI apps to forecast patient demand and plan staff schedules better.
AI scheduling not only improves efficiency and patient experience but also helps financially. It lowers costs from missed appointments and scheduling problems. These issues can cause empty provider times and lost revenue.
Clearstep, an AI healthcare provider, says their AI system optimizes doctor use by adjusting appointments based on urgency and patient history. This fills gaps and saves money. AI also helps with billing and insurance checks, reducing claim denials and speeding up payments.
Staff productivity improves because AI reduces admin chores. This helps avoid burnout, which is a big issue since U.S. doctors spend a lot of time on paperwork instead of patient care.
Programs at places like the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) train medical assistants in AI tools. This helps clinics adopt AI smoothly.
AI tools help patients in other ways too, beyond appointments. Chatbots send medication reminders, answer frequent questions, and allow patients to do self-service tasks like insurance checks and bill payments online.
For example, Mercy’s AI chatbot helps staff find internal policies quickly. It also helps patients understand lab results by explaining them in easier words. This improves patient communication, supports treatment plans, and cuts administrative delays.
The healthcare AI market in the U.S. is growing fast. It is expected to rise from $11 billion in 2021 to $187 billion by 2030. This shows more healthcare providers are using AI to improve care, cut costs, and handle admin work better.
Many health systems are testing AI for scheduling, triage, and managing revenue cycles. Mercy plans to use over 40 AI tools by mid-2024 for patient communication, clinical work, and admin tasks.
The future of AI scheduling includes closer links to wearable devices, remote patient monitoring, and real-time clinical decisions. This will lead to more complete patient care.
If you manage or own a medical practice, or are in IT, here are some things to think about when choosing an AI scheduling tool:
AI tools used by First Choice Neurology and Mercy show that careful setup for each practice can improve operations without making things more complex.
AI-driven appointment scheduling is a useful way for healthcare practices in the United States to improve patient experience and ease administrative work. As clinics try to make better use of staff time, financial resources, and patient care, AI scheduling tools with workflow automation will stay important. With the right training and planning, medical practices can meet growing patient needs and keep up with changes in healthcare.
Microsoft and Mercy are collaborating to use generative AI and digital technologies to improve patient care and clinician efficiency, aiming to transform healthcare delivery.
Generative AI will assist patients in comprehending their lab results and facilitate informed discussions with providers by providing information in simple, conversational language.
AI will assist in handling patient calls for scheduling appointments and provide follow-up recommendations, minimizing the need for additional calls later.
A chatbot will help Mercy employees quickly find important information about policies and procedures, enabling them to focus more on patient care.
Mercy plans to explore over four dozen AI use cases and implement multiple new AI solutions by mid-next year to enhance patient care.
The Microsoft Azure Cloud helps centralize and securely organizes data, allowing Mercy to deliver insights that improve clinical decision-making and patient care.
AI will provide smart dashboards and better visibility into patient needs, helping reduce unnecessary hospital days and enhance operational efficiency.
The hackathon brought together teams from both organizations to co-develop and innovate generative AI use cases aimed at enhancing clinical experiences.
Mercy is recognized as one of the largest U.S. health systems, known for its excellent patient experience and integrated care across multiple states.
Microsoft aims to empower every organization by enabling digital transformation through intelligent cloud and edge technologies, including applications in healthcare.
Simbo is using AI agents to automate all phone related workflows. Connect now to know more.
Schedule AI Agents Demo Now© Since 2019, Simbo AI.
