Patients expect quick and accurate answers when they call their providers, but long menus and frustrating hold times often cause many to hang up. Management Services Organizations (MSOs), Dental Service Organizations (DSOs), corporate groups, and health systems handling hundreds of calls daily can struggle to keep up. Every missed call and unfilled appointment slot is costly. That’s where AI appointment setters like Zo come in.
AI voice agents like Zo answer every call immediately, understand natural language, schedule appointments quickly, and efficiently route callers. They’re transforming how practices manage inbound calls, enhancing patient experience, freeing staff for strategic work, and maximizing revenue.
What is an AI Appointment Setter and How Does It Work?
An AI appointment setter (also called AI answering service, AI receptionist, or automated call handling) uses natural language processing to answer patient calls and book appointments directly into practices’ scheduling systems. Unlike traditional call centers or after-hours services, AI agents answer unlimited calls simultaneously, 24/7, eliminating long holds.
Leading AI appointment setters such as Zo integrate effortlessly with EHRs, offering immediate access to openings including last-minute cancellations. They capture patient info and book appointments without the need for manual entry and efficiently route complex or sensitive calls to staff.
Unlike basic answering services, AI appointment setters manage complex tasks with human-like conversational nuance. They use natural-sounding voices, recognize regional dialects, and many patients can’t tell they’re speaking with AI. Best-in-class AI answering services act as a true extension of your practice, boosting efficiency while maintaining personalized care.
Why use AI for appointment setting?
One in three patients give up on booking if they can’t reach the office quickly. Missed calls leave valuable slots unfilled, costing roughly $200–$300 each. AI answering services help fill empty slots and boost revenue.
Below are some benefits of AI-powered appointment setting tools for medical practices:
1. Answering Every Call Immediately
Practices face peak call volumes on Monday mornings and at lunchtime. Frustrating holds and legacy Interactive Voice Response menus often lead to dropped calls and missed bookings. Staff can also feel overwhelmed with returning messages.
AI appointment setters answer every call on the first ring, 24/7. This eliminates missed calls and reduces empty slots, improving efficiency and practice growth. Patients are happier, and staff can focus on higher-value tasks without the practice needing to expand call center resources.
2. Seamless Integration with EHRs
AI appointment setters sync with EHRs, accessing calendars in real time. They identify openings and cancellations across locations to reduce patient wait times and maximize provider schedules. Zo already integrates with AdvancedMD, AllScripts, Athena, Dentrix Ascend, Modernizing Medicine EMA (ModMed) and more.
3. Managing High Call Volumes
AI answering services handle hundreds of calls simultaneously with zero hold times. This prevents lost revenue from busy signals and abandoned calls.
How AI Appointment Setters Free Up Medical Office Staff Time
Handling high volumes of calls can be time-consuming and burnout-inducing. AI agents enable staff to focus on high-value work requiring human judgement, such as:
- In-person patient services
- Handling escalations and complex cases
- Prior authorizations and insurance follow-ups
- Practice growth and patient outreach efforts
Signs Your Practice Might Benefit from an AI Appointment Setter
Consider an AI answering service if your practice:
- Experiences high call volumes
- Sees long patient holds and frequent call abandonment
- Struggles to provide patients with a consistent experience
- Needs to scale rapidly while maintaining quality care
Meet Zo: The AI Appointment Setter Solution
Zocdoc’s AI appointment setter Zo is built specifically for healthcare. It understands medical terminology, adapts to providers’ scheduling rules, and converses naturally with patients regardless of dialect or speed.
Zo handles thousands of patient calls daily, resolving up to 70% of scheduling calls without human help, giving staff time to operate at the top of their pay band and driving growth. Patients love Zo, giving it an 83 CSAT score, and praising its fast and easy service even during peak times.
Why practices love Zo:
-
- Reduces call volumes to staff: Up to 70% of calls are resolved without human interaction
- Routes smartly: No more automated menus or waiting; patients are routed to the right place immediately.
- Built for healthcare privacy: Zo is HIPAA-compliant and adheres to strict privacy standards
- Seamlessly integrates with EHRs: Zo works with existing EHRs such as Athena, ModMed, DrChrono, and more
- Ranks #1 at converting calls to bookings: A recent study by Liine showed Zo significantly outperforms its peers
Fill empty time slots now
Frequently Asked Questions
Do AI appointment setters replace staff?
Zo is intended to support your team and reduce burnout. Handling routine scheduling and FAQs, it frees up staff to focus on more complex queries, helping them operate at the top of their pay band.
Can I connect the AI appointment setter to my EHR?
AI appointment setters sync with EHRs, accessing calendars in real time. Zo already integrates with AdvancedMD, AllScripts, Athena, Dentrix Ascend, Modernizing Medicine EMA (ModMed) and more.
Can Zo handle different types of patient requests?
Yes. Zo understands natural speech (including regional nuances and differences in tone) and handles a wide range of front desk tasks, including scheduling appointments, collecting insurance, routing calls to the right location, and more.
Is it safe to share personal health info with an AI appointment setter?
Yes, if they are built for healthcare and meet strict compliance standards. Zo is HIPAA-compliant, SOC 2 certified, and uses enterprise-grade encryption. It’s built with the same security standards that practices trust from their own systems, ensuring patient data stays protected.
What happens if the AI answering service doesn’t understand a caller or can’t help?
Zo understands different accents, dialects, and speech patterns, making conversations feel natural and effortless. If it can’t understand something, or an issue is too complex or sensitive to handle automatically, the call is seamlessly transferred to the appropriate staff member with a succinct call summary. Patients still get what they need faster and without the frustration of starting over.
What makes Zo different from other AI appointment setters?
Zo was built specifically for healthcare and ranks #1 in new patient call-to-appointment conversion rates. Since it’s part of the Zocdoc platform, practices can seamlessly control patient access across multiple channels.
How do I choose an AI appointment setter?
We’ve compiled this article on the 4 must-haves when evaluating AI appointment setting tools.