Economics
A practice manager's method for the IVR vs AI decision: which call, staffing and contract inputs to pull, where to find them, and how to compare them.
Every input traces to a document you already have: the phone bill, the IVR contract, the answering-service invoice, the schedule. When a physician-owner asks where a figure came from, you can show it rather than cite a vendor estimate.
Per-call pricing flatters an IVR because it rarely completes a booking on its own. Dividing each system's full monthly cost by the appointments it actually put on the schedule compares what each one produces for the practice.
Time your front desk spends listening to voicemail, calling patients back, and keying details into the EMR is a cost of running an IVR, not general staffing. Logging it for one cycle puts it in the column where it belongs.
MedReception AI can take overflow or after-hours calls while your existing IVR stays in place, so the AI column fills with your own call and booking counts instead of projections. The IVR contract keeps running until you decide.
Answers alongside your existing phone system
Overflow or after-hours calls route to the AI while the IVR contract runs out; same carrier, same number
Books appointments into 13+ supported EMRs
Appointments, new patient records and demographics are written directly; bookings are countable for the analysis
Every call returns a structured summary
Reason for call and any insurance details are captured on the call and returned as an EMR-pasteable summary for staff to review and file
Provider, hours and routing changes are configuration
Not a billed IVR re-programming job, so the change-fee line disappears from the AI column
Four sources cover it: call detail records from your carrier or phone system (inbound volume, menu hang-ups, voicemail counts), your IVR license and maintenance invoices plus any answering-service bills, a front desk log of voicemail returns and data entry, and the count of new-patient appointments booked in the same window. Pull all of them for the same dates so the two columns line up.
Because the two systems produce different things from the same call. An IVR routes and records; a person still has to call back and book. An AI receptionist answers and books in the same call. Cost per call rewards whichever system does the least, while cost per completed booking compares the output your schedule actually receives.
Have the front desk log each voicemail return for one billing cycle: how many, and how long each took including any EMR entry. Multiply the total by the loaded hourly wage from your own payroll, not a benchmark. If a full cycle is not practical, sample several typical days and scale to the cycle, and note in the analysis that it was sampled.
Ask for after-hours and weekend coverage, appointment booking and new patient creation in your EMR, transfer to staff, script and hours changes, any setup fee, and whether pricing is per call or per month. Also ask what reaches the chart: MedReception AI writes appointments and patient demographics, and returns insurance and clinical details as a summary your staff review and file.
Early enough that a parallel trial finishes before the renewal notice deadline in your IVR contract. Read the auto-renew clause first, since many contracts require written notice well ahead of the term end. Running the AI on overflow or after-hours calls during that window gives you measured figures for the AI column before you have to commit either way.
Next step
IVR and phone tree replacement
What replaces an IVR menu when callers get a conversation instead.
Staffing
Front desk workload
Quantify staff time spent on voicemail, callbacks, and manual data entry—potential cost savings when automated.
Next step
How the options compare
How AI receptionists compare with answering services, IVR and each other.
See how MedReception AI handles after-hours calls, scheduling, intake, and patient communication for medical practices like yours.
Want the numbers first? See plans and pricing
