{"id":18593,"date":"2025-06-09T12:36:59","date_gmt":"2025-06-09T17:36:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/blog\/article\/\/"},"modified":"2025-08-20T11:06:53","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T16:06:53","slug":"6-lessons-learned-from-early-adopters-of-ai-agents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/blog\/article\/6-lessons-learned-from-early-adopters-of-ai-agents\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Lessons Learned from Early Adopters of AI Agents"},"content":{"rendered":"

AI voice agents offer transformative potential to enhance patient care and streamline operations. At Zocdoc, we\u2019ve had the privilege of spending the last 2 years building an AI voice agent<\/a> with leading healthcare organizations. Here are key lessons we\u2019ve\u00a0 learned together along the way:<\/span><\/p>\n

1. The Hidden Cost of Patient Hold Times<\/b><\/strong><\/h2>\n

We\u2019ve observed that long patient hold times and dropped calls are common challenges. We\u2019ve 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.<\/span>[1] These basic requests also cause longer hold times for the people who have more complex needs.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Patients Expect Fast, Frictionless Service <\/strong><\/h2>\n

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.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

3. Gaining Shared Insights into Call Volume<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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.<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

4. Staff Appreciate the Support <\/b><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Through our collaborations, we\u2019ve seen how AI voice agents, like Zo, can handle repetitive tasks, freeing staff for higher-value work. We\u2019ve 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.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

5. AI Voice Technology is Evolving Rapidly<\/strong><\/h2>\n

We\u2019ve 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.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

6. Considering the Right Time to Get Started<\/strong><\/h2>\n

We\u2019ve 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<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How can Zo by Zocdoc help practices? <\/strong>
\nZo, Zocdoc\u2019s AI phone agent, was created with the goal of eliminating patient hold times and dropped calls to help get more appointments on the calendar.<\/span><\/p>\n

Learn about Zo<\/a><\/p>\n

[1] Zo by Zocdoc call volumes – March 2025; How AI is changing Doctor\u2019s Appointments<\/a>. Fast Company May 2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AI voice agents offer transformative potential to enhance patient care and streamline operations. At Zocdoc, we\u2019ve had the privilege of spending the last 2 years building an AI voice agent with leading healthcare organizations. Here are key lessons we\u2019ve\u00a0 learned together along the way: 1. The Hidden Cost of Patient Hold Times We\u2019ve observed that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":18598,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[110],"tags":[130,132],"class_list":["post-18593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-insights","tag-ai","tag-ai-voice"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n6 Lessons Learned from Early Adopters of AI Agents - Practice Resources<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/blog\/article\/6-lessons-learned-from-early-adopters-of-ai-agents\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"6 Lessons Learned from Early Adopters of AI Agents - Practice Resources\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"AI voice agents offer transformative potential to enhance patient care and streamline operations. 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