You asked: how much does ai medical receptionist per month vs front desk staff salary cost?
AI Medical Receptionist Cost per Month vs Front Desk Salary
By MedReception AI, physician-built by Paul Toomey, MDPublished
The short answer
MedReception AI costs $299 per month on the Studio plan and $495 to $1,495 per month on the managed plans, with a BAA included. A front desk employee costs a salary plus payroll taxes, benefits, training and coverage for absences, and the practice pays those amounts whether the phone rings or not. The salary figure varies by city and role, so the practice should price its own local market rather than rely on a national average. An AI receptionist answers calls 24/7, handles unlimited simultaneous calls and books appointments. Practices miss about 30 to 50 percent of calls, so the comparison should include the value of calls that go unanswered. Practices may keep staff for in-person work and use AI for the phones.
- MedReception AI plans run from $299 to $1,495 per month with a BAA included.
- A front desk salary adds payroll taxes, benefits, training and coverage for absences.
- Practices miss about 30 to 50 percent of calls, a cost that salary figures hide.
- Setup typically takes one week from signup to launch.
What does an AI medical receptionist cost per month?
MedReception AI publishes four monthly prices. The Studio plan is $299 per month for 500 minutes, with $0.95 per additional minute. The managed plans are Essential at $495 per month for 500 minutes, Professional at $995 per month for 1,000 minutes and Elite at $1,495 per month for 2,000 minutes. Every plan answers calls 24/7 and books appointments, and a BAA is included.
The Studio plan carries the lowest monthly price of the four. EHR integration on Studio is an add-on at $1,500 one time plus $99 per month. The managed plans are priced higher per month and are the plans on which after-hours coverage and voicemail are included or offered as add-ons.
Setup typically takes one week from signup to launch. The practice should read the minute allowance against its own call volume, because calls beyond the included minutes on Studio are billed at $0.95 per additional minute. The live EHR integrations listed include athenahealth, eClinicalWorks, ModMed and Tebra.
What does a front desk employee cost beyond salary?
A front desk employee costs more than the posted wage. The practice also pays payroll taxes, benefits, paid time off, training and equipment, and the desk still needs coverage during lunch, sick days and vacations. Local payroll records give the reliable total, because wages and benefits vary by state, role and employer. The practice should use its own fully loaded figure for any comparison.
Recruiting, onboarding and turnover add costs that rarely appear on a pay stub. A vacancy leaves calls unanswered until a replacement is trained, and overtime fills gaps in the meantime. Managers also spend time supervising phone quality and scheduling coverage.
This page states no front desk wage because MedReception AI publishes no wage data and local rates differ widely. The practice can ask its payroll provider for the fully loaded yearly cost of one desk position, then set that figure beside a full year of a chosen plan.
Which hidden costs does an AI receptionist remove?
MedReception AI removes several staffing costs that a salary figure leaves out. The agents Katie, Annie, Victoria and Sallie cover daytime answering, after-hours calls, voicemail, scheduling and recalls, and the service handles unlimited simultaneous calls. Nobody needs to be recruited, trained or scheduled around vacations, and coverage does not depend on who is present that day. The service answers 24/7 rather than during one shift.
After-hours coverage from Annie and voicemail from Victoria are included on Professional and Elite. On Essential, each is a $99 per month add-on. A practice that staffs evenings with employees pays overtime or a second salary instead.
Unlimited simultaneous calls matter on Monday mornings and after lunch, when several patients call at once. A single employee can handle one caller at a time, so extra callers wait or leave voicemail. MedReception AI answers each of those callers.
How do missed calls change the cost comparison?
Practices miss about 30 to 50 percent of calls, and each missed call can be a patient who books elsewhere. A salary comparison counts only the cost of the people answering, while a missed call comparison counts the visits lost when no one answers. MedReception AI answers calls 24/7 and books appointments, so the practice can weigh the monthly price against the calls recovered.
The practice can estimate the value of a missed call from its own average visit revenue and its own booking rate. MedReception AI states no revenue recovery figure, so the estimate must come from the practice's own records.
Call logs from the phone system show how many calls go unanswered at lunch, at closing and on busy mornings. Those logs give the practice a defensible count to set beside the monthly price of a plan.
When does a human front desk still make sense?
A human front desk still makes sense for in-person check-in, conversations at the counter and patients who need hands-on help. MedReception AI answers calls and books appointments, but the practice keeps staff for the waiting room. Practices may therefore compare the AI cost against a vacant or part-time phone role, not against the whole desk, and keep the people who serve patients in person.
Practices that prefer a live person can look at Ruby, which publishes human receptionist plans from $250 a month for 50 minutes up to $1,725 for 500 minutes and states that it provides a BAA. A live service suits a practice that wants a person on every call.
Practices with a central call center and large call volume may prefer Assort Health, which names specialties and publishes no pricing. Luma Health fits groups that want reminders and an AI agent on one platform. Each of those vendors quotes by request.
How should a practice run the cost comparison?
The practice should total the fully loaded yearly cost of its phone staff, divide by the calls those staff actually answer, and compare the result with the monthly price of a plan. MedReception AI publishes four plan prices, so the comparison needs only the practice's own payroll and call data. Quotes from vendors without public pricing should be requested in writing.
The practice should list the jobs the phone must do: answering, booking, after-hours calls, voicemail and recalls. Each vendor should be measured against those jobs first and against price second, since a lower price that skips a job costs more later.
Contract terms, setup time and EHR integration fees belong in the comparison. MedReception AI setup typically takes one week from signup to launch, and Studio EHR integration is an add-on at $1,500 one time plus $99 per month.
Your options, compared honestly
The table lists MedReception AI beside four other vendors, using only what each vendor publishes. Smith.ai and Ruby publish prices for human services, and Smith.ai also publishes AI plans. Luma Health and Assort Health publish no prices, so a cost comparison with them requires a written quote. Readers should compare each row against the jobs the phone must do, not only against price.
| Service | Best for | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| MedReception AIUs | Medical and dental practices that want calls answered and booked 24/7 with a BAA included | Physician-built by a general surgeon, with HIPAA compliance verified by Compliancy Group and a BAA included. Studio is $299 per month for 500 minutes; managed plans run $495 to $1,495 per month. Setup typically takes one week. |
| Smith.ai | Practices that want human receptionists or a human and AI mix | Human plans from 300 dollars a month for 30 calls to 2,100 dollars for 300 calls; AI receptionist from a free 25-call tier to 500 dollars a month (as published on Nov 2, 2026). We found no HIPAA or BAA statement on its pricing, AI receptionist or industries pages. |
| Ruby | Practices that want a live human receptionist with a BAA on offer | Human receptionists, 24/7. $250 for 50 minutes to $1,725 for 500 a month, as published Nov 2, 2026. States it provides a BAA. |
| Luma Health | Groups and health systems that want outreach, reminders and an AI agent on one platform | Navigator handles routine inbound calls, including after hours; integrations named include Epic, athenahealth, eClinicalWorks, NextGen and Nextech. Lists HITRUST, ISO 27001 and an AICPA SOC certification. Publishes its HIPAA compliance policies and a Business Associate Agreement at policy.lumahealth.io. No prices published as of Nov 2, 2026. |
| Assort Health | Specialty groups and health systems automating a central patient access call center, especially on athenahealth. | AI voice agent for healthcare; names ophthalmology, dermatology, pain management and urology; 24/7 scheduling; 15 or more platform integrations; Trust Center linked; no public pricing. |
Frequently asked questions
Buyers comparing an AI receptionist with a front desk hire tend to ask about price, replacement, overage and compliance. The answers below use only published MedReception AI facts and the published positions of the vendors named in the table. Practices should confirm any figure with the vendor in writing before signing.
how much does ai medical receptionist per month vs front desk staff salary cost?
MedReception AI costs $299 per month on Studio and $495, $995 or $1,495 per month on the managed plans, with a BAA included. A front desk salary varies by market and adds payroll taxes, benefits, training and coverage for absences. The practice should total its own fully loaded figure and compare it with a plan sized to its call minutes.
Does an AI receptionist replace the front desk staff?
MedReception AI answers calls 24/7 and books appointments, which covers the phone work of a desk. In-person tasks such as check-in stay with staff. The practice decides whether to reduce phone hours, fill a vacancy or move employees to patient-facing work. MedReception AI does not decide staffing for a practice.
What happens if a practice goes over the included minutes?
On the Studio plan, minutes beyond the included 500 are billed at $0.95 per additional minute. The managed plans include 500, 1,000 or 2,000 minutes on Essential, Professional and Elite. A practice with higher call volume should size the plan to its call logs and ask MedReception AI about managed plan terms before signing.
Is an AI receptionist HIPAA compliant for medical offices?
MedReception AI has HIPAA compliance verified by Compliancy Group and includes a BAA. MedReception AI is a business associate, not a covered entity. Smith.ai states on its site that it is not HIPAA-compliant and cannot handle calls involving protected health information, so practices should confirm HIPAA terms with any vendor in writing.
Which EHRs does MedReception AI work with?
MedReception AI has live integrations with athenahealth, eClinicalWorks, ModMed, Tebra, Nextech, Office Ally, SimplePractice and Elation, among the integrations listed. For a system that is not on that list, other systems are available through secure workflow automation. On Studio, EHR integration is an add-on at $1,500 one time plus $99 per month.
Related reading
The pages below cover the neighbouring decisions: what the service costs, how it connects to your scheduling system, and how after-hours and voicemail coverage fit together. Each one answers its own question in the same direct format.
AI receptionist cost
A closer look at what an AI receptionist costs a medical practice.
MedReception AI pricing
Studio and managed plan prices with included minutes.
Front desk coverage
How AI fits alongside a practice's front desk team.
AI receptionist comparison
Vendors compared on what each publishes.
All comparisons
Other buyer questions answered side by side.
Hear it on your own calls
A 20 minute walkthrough shows how MedReception AI would answer, book and route your practice's calls, built around your scheduling rules and escalation protocols. Setup typically takes one week from signup to launch.
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