Workflow

Drawing the line: the routine flow that completes on the call, and the exceptions that should always reach a person

Handing the phone over means deciding what the AI finishes and what it hands back. The calls that complete without a transfer, the ones escalated on purpose, and how an existing patient is told apart from a new one.

Completed without a transfer: routine bookings, routine callbacks, reschedules, and cancellations
Escalated in real time: urgent calls, to your on-call provider or triage nurse
Escalated by rule: complex rebooks, insurance questions, prior authorization holds, and VIP callers
Escalated by exception: a reason for visit that does not match any standard appointment type
Existing patients are matched against your EMR; new callers give name, date of birth and phone for staff to check before the record is finalized
Whichever path the call takes, chief complaint and intake detail come back as a structured summary

How it pays back

The routine flow genuinely ends on the call

A patient calling to book, move, or cancel a routine appointment gets it done without a handoff. The booking is written to your EMR with name, date of birth, phone and time, so nobody transcribes a call afterwards.

Urgency does not wait for the queue to clear

The AI listens for urgency and chief complaint while the caller is describing why they rang. Urgent callers go straight to your nurse or provider instead of being scheduled into the next routine slot.

Your front desk handles the exceptions

Complex rebooks, insurance questions, prior authorization holds, and the callers you want a person to take still reach your staff. What is removed is the routine volume underneath them, not the judgment calls.

A new record is not created on a guess

For a caller not already in the EMR, the AI collects name, date of birth and phone, and your staff confirm it is not a duplicate of an existing record before the appointment is finalized. Duplicate charts are harder to undo than to prevent.

Every call answered

No voicemail dead ends, no hold queue buildup

Appointment and demographics written to EMR

Patient record updates automatically with booking details

Urgent calls escalated

Real-time page or call to on-call provider based on triage rules

Structured intake captured

Chief complaint and reason for visit returned as pasteable summary for staff review

Frequently asked questions

Which calls should we deliberately keep for our own staff?

Typically complex rebooks, insurance questions, prior authorization holds, and any caller you want handled personally. Those are configured as escalations, so the boundary is a decision you make rather than something you discover.

How is an established patient told apart from someone new?

It checks against your EMR. If they are on file, their record is used. If not, it collects name, date of birth and phone as a new caller, and your staff verify against existing records before anything is finalized.

What happens when the reason for visit does not match any of our appointment types?

The call is flagged and escalated to your staff. You can also configure rules for known edge cases, for example scheduling a consultation first when a patient requests a procedure that requires one, and flagging the request for your clinical team.

Does the AI check whether a patient's insurance is active?

It integrates with your EMR to pull existing patient records and eligibility status. For new patients it captures the insurance details on the call and returns them as a structured summary for your staff to verify and file, rather than populating the chart itself.

What does the patient end up with after a call the AI handled alone?

A confirmed appointment and an SMS reminder, and your staff see the new booking in the calendar ready to triage. The call ends with something on both sides, not with a message waiting to be actioned.

Bring this to your practice

See how MedReception AI handles after-hours calls, scheduling, intake, and patient communication for medical practices like yours.

Book a Demo Contact Us

Want the numbers first? See plans and pricing