Call type insight
New Patient Calls
New patient calls are the most valuable — and the most fragile — calls a practice receives. They often come during peak hours, compete with in-office care, and are the most likely to be missed or abandoned.
What these calls usually involve
- •Appointment availability questions
- •Insurance acceptance
- •Referral coordination
- •“Do you treat my condition?”
- •Timeline and next steps
These calls require clarity and speed.
Why they strain front desks
- •They arrive in bursts
- •They take longer than routine calls
- •Staff are already multitasking
- •Hold times cause hang-ups
Even short delays can mean the patient never calls back.
What breaks in traditional workflows
- •Calls roll to voicemail
- •Incomplete information is captured
- •Follow-up is delayed
- •Patients book elsewhere
The loss is rarely tracked — but it’s real.
How AI reception absorbs new patient calls
- •Answers immediately
- •Captures structured intake information
- •Routes appropriately (scheduler, referral, callback)
- •Logs every call for follow-up
Humans handle scheduling and clinical judgment — not phone triage.
Where humans stay involved
- •Complex eligibility questions
- •Scheduling decisions
- •Clinical appropriateness
- •Relationship-building
AI protects these moments instead of replacing them.
Bottom line
Missed new patient calls don’t just reduce volume — they reduce growth.
Phone problem guides
Map each call type to the phone problem it causes.
Explore the Phone Problems hub to see how missed calls, long holds, voicemail overflow, and staffing gaps show up in daily call patterns.