Case Study
Ophthalmology Associates Answers Every Call and Gets Back 320 Staff Hours a Month
- of inbound calls answered
- 65% to 100%
- voicemails waiting for a callback
- 0
- fewer abandoned calls
- 81%
- staff hours saved per month
- 320+
- inbound calls a year
- 180,000
“FlowHealth has given our team the chance to finally breathe. They took the time to learn the intricacies of our practice, and it feels like Emma is sitting in the room with us.”
About the practice
Ophthalmology Associates is a 13-doctor ophthalmology practice in Fort Worth, Texas. The practice runs on Nextech and receives about 180,000 inbound calls a year.
The challenge
The practice was answering 65% of its incoming calls. The best case for everyone else was a voicemail. The worst case was a patient who never called back.
-
Calls going unanswered. More than a third of callers did not reach a person.
-
Phone tag. Staff spent their days returning voicemails, often with another voicemail.
-
Hiring that never caught up. The practice kept adding schedulers and training them, and the team still felt behind.
“Our team was constantly playing phone tag with patients, returning voicemails with voicemails.”
Why FlowHealth
Built around how the practice actually runs.
The FlowHealth team spent time learning the practice's scheduling rules and the details that differ by doctor and visit type. Emma follows the practice's rules, not a generic script.
Works inside Nextech.
Emma books, reschedules and confirms appointments directly in the practice's Nextech schedule.
Humans in the loop.
FlowHealth's team reviews every call and is constantly improving Emma with daily updates.
How they use Emma today
-
Inbound calls. Emma answers every call and schedules new and existing patients.
-
No-show follow-up. Emma calls patients who missed an appointment and gets them rescheduled. Technicians used to make these calls.
-
Appointment confirmations. Emma makes the confirmation calls.
-
After-hours calls. Patients reach Emma when the office is closed.
-
Triage to the right department. When a call needs a person, Emma routes it to the right team.
“Now Emma is able to resolve the patient calls and has been great at triaging calls to the right department when needed.”
Results
Every call is now answered, and the team is no longer working through a backlog.
-
Every call answered, up from 65%. No caller is sent to voicemail.
-
Voicemail log at zero. There is nothing left to call back.
-
Abandoned calls down 81%. Patients stay on the line because someone picks up.
-
More than 320 staff hours saved each month. Most of it comes from outbound calls, especially no-show follow-up that technicians used to handle.
The scheduling team has room to be proactive, and the practice no longer has to hire and train just to keep up with the phones.