AI voice agents offer transformative potential to enhance patient care and streamline operations. At Zocdoc, we’ve had the privilege of spending the last 2 years building an AI voice agent with leading healthcare organizations. Here are key lessons we’ve learned together along the way:
1. The Hidden Cost of Patient Hold Times
We’ve observed that long patient hold times and dropped calls are common challenges. We’ve found that over 50% of calls to practices are for basic scheduling requests, each missed call can cost your organization $200 to $300 in lost revenue.[1] These basic requests also cause longer hold times for the people who have more complex needs.
2. Patients Expect Fast, Frictionless Service
In our experience, patients today expect quick answers when they call. We’ve seen that lengthy option menus or hold music can lead some callers to simply give up. AI voice agents can help eliminate this friction by instantly answering every call, understanding conversational language, scheduling appointments right away, and efficiently transferring callers.
3. Gaining Shared Insights into Call Volume
We’ve often found that many healthcare organizations lack consistent visibility into call metrics across all locations. We’ve learned that centralized access to this data for Operations, IT, and practice administration teams can foster a shared understanding of both the patient experience and business opportunities.
4. Staff Appreciate the Support
Through our collaborations, we’ve seen how AI voice agents, like Zo, can handle repetitive tasks, freeing staff for higher-value work. We’ve noticed that once staff interacted with the AI agent, they often felt more confident in the patient experience and were excited to let go of the monotony of scheduling.
5. AI Voice Technology is Evolving Rapidly
We’ve learned that the technology powering AI voice agents is advancing at a rapid pace, with new models and constant updates. Maintaining this technology and rigorously testing it against the thousands of different ways patients may answer a question is, in our experience, a full-time endeavor.
6. Considering the Right Time to Get Started
We’ve observed that organizations are thoughtfully approaching the implementation of AI into their workflows. For those who may have been waiting on the sidelines, we believe now is an opportune time to consider getting started to align with evolving patient expectations and stay competitive. Starting to compare vendors? Check our evaluation guide.
How can Zo by Zocdoc help practices?
Zo, Zocdoc’s AI phone agent, was created with the goal of eliminating patient hold times and dropped calls to help get more appointments on the calendar.
[1] Zo by Zocdoc call volumes – March 2025; How AI is changing Doctor’s Appointments. Fast Company May 2025