u/TebraOnReddit

Seeing more and more discussion around AI Voice Assistants in private practice, especially for front desk calls, scheduling, rescheduling, after-hours requests, and message routing. Not AI scribes, but the phone side of the house.

AI use in healthcare is moving fast overall. The AMA reported that 81% of physicians used AI professionally in 2026, up from 38% in 2023. But patient-facing chatbots and virtual assistants still seem much earlier in adoption. MGMA reported in 2025 that only about 19% of medical groups were using chatbots or virtual assistants for patient communication.

Where it seems useful:

• answering after-hours calls so fewer patients hit voicemail
• helping with appointment scheduling, cancellations, and rescheduling
• reducing hold times during busy call windows
• routing routine requests to the right person
• turning calls into cleaner tasks for staff instead of messy voicemails

Where it can get messy:

• if it does not integrate with the schedule or EHR, it can become another inbox
• bad escalation rules can frustrate patients and create cleanup work
• HIPAA, BAA, call recordings, and data retention all need real review
• some patients may not want to talk to AI, especially for sensitive issues

The bottom line is this is not a must-have for every practice yet. For a low-call-volume office with a strong front desk, it may be overkill. But for practices drowning in phone calls, missed calls, after-hours voicemails, or scheduling overwhelm, it could become one of the more practical AI use cases.

The real test is whether it actually completes useful parts of the workflow, not just “answers the phone.”

For transparency, I'm with Tebra, and we’re watching this space closely because a lot of independent practices are trying to figure out if Voice AI is ready for real use.

Is anyone here using an AI voice assistant yet? What’s the feedback from staff and patients?

For billers/RCM teams: if a tool could flag claims that may be at higher risk of denial before submission, what would it need to do to actually be useful?

Also curious if anyone is already using something like this and whether it has been worth it? 

Would you trust an AI tool to handle basic patient calls for a medical practice if it could help with things like scheduling, rescheduling, basic FAQs, and routing prescription refill requests to the right workflow?

Thanks in advance 😄

For anyone working in or managing a small practice, how are you handling the constant phone volume?

I’m particularly wondering about calls for scheduling, rescheduling, prescription refill requests, basic questions, follow-ups, patients standing at the desk while the phone keeps ringing, etc.

Are you relying on:

• Voicemail and callbacks
• Phone trees
• Answering services
• Extra front desk coverage
• Patient portal messages
• Some kind of automation

Thanks in advance 😄

We recently ran a multi-year survey across providers and patients to better understand what’s actually driving no-shows and cancellations. Sharing a few of the more relevant takeaways:

• No-shows are often misdiagnosed. While most providers assume forgetting is the main cause, patients more often cite structural conflicts like work (31%), weather (30%), and personal emergencies (27%)
• There’s a clear timing gap in reminders. Only ~17% of practices send morning-of reminders, yet 56% of patients say that timing would increase the likelihood of showing up or rescheduling
• Access plays a major role. 69% of patients want the ability to reschedule online without calling, but many practices still rely heavily on phone-based workflows
• Cancellation policies do influence behavior. 75% of patients who have been charged a fee say it changed their behavior, even though 59% believe fees are unfair. Consistency in enforcement appears to matter more than the policy itself
• Operational strain and no-shows are closely linked. Higher no-show rates correlate with significantly higher levels of provider burnout
• Patient expectations are shifting. 27% of patients say they would switch providers after a single provider cancellation

Overall, the data suggests that no-shows are less about patient intent and more about how well practice workflows align with real-life patient behavior. Timing, access, and clarity of next steps seem to have as much impact as policies themselves.

For transparency, I work at Tebra and this comes from our survey research. Would be interested to hear how closely this reflects what others are seeing in practice.