Patients flooded the main line for appointments, refills, and billing - often choosing the wrong path and repeating information. ClearConverse rebuilt patient access with department IVR, queue metrics, digital fax for referrals, and after-hours AI intake that captures structured messages for staff review.
Background
Valley Family Medical Partners operates three clinics with shared administration. Front desks juggled walk-ins and phones simultaneously. Referral faxes piled up. After-hours callers left vague voicemails that staff spent mornings decoding.
Business challenges
- Single main number sent all callers to one queue - appointments, billing, and clinical mixed together.
- Average hold times exceeded patient satisfaction targets on Monday mornings.
- Referral fax machine jams delayed specialist consults.
- After-hours messages lacked structured data - callbacks required multiple attempts.
- No visibility into abandon rate by clinic or time of day.
Objectives
- Segment patient intent at IVR without feeling 'corporate and cold'.
- Reduce front-desk phone load during peak morning rush.
- Digitize fax with delivery tracking to referral coordinators.
- Capture after-hours requests with consistent fields for staff triage.
- Maintain human control for clinical advice and emergencies.
Our approach
ClearConverse designed a patient-friendly IVR with plain language ('appointments', 'billing', 'speak to someone'). Each clinic has overflow to sister sites during lunch. Healthcare AI Agent handles nights - appointment requests, hours, directions - and escalates emergencies per written protocol. eFax replaced analog machines with inbox routing by referral type.
Implementation
Patient access workshop
Staff and practice manager defined call types, acceptable hold times, and language for greetings. Legal review of after-hours escalation script.
IVR & queue deployment
Rolled per-clinic queues with shared overflow. Callback option when hold exceeds 4 minutes.
Digital fax migration
Ported fax lines; trained referral coordinators on searchable inbox. Retired clinic fax hardware.
After-hours AI intake
Healthcare AI Agent captures name, DOB, callback number, and request type. No clinical advice - messages queued for morning triage.
Reporting & tuning
Weekly abandon and ASA review with practice manager. Adjusted lunch overflow after first month data.
Solutions deployed
Technical highlights
- Clinic-specific queue reporting with corporate rollup.
- Callback preservation of queue position.
- Fax OCR notifications to referral coordinator role.
- AI hard-stop rules for clinical and emergency language → protocol message.
- SMS appointment reminders integrated with scheduling export.
Business impact
- Front desk handles walk-ins with fewer interrupted conversations.
- Referral coordinators stopped chasing paper jams.
- Morning callback lists are prioritized with complete caller context.
- Practice manager uses analytics in monthly operations review.
“I couldn't be happier with my phone service provider. Every time I call, they answer promptly and are incredibly helpful and knowledgeable. Whether a quick question or something complex, their team goes above and beyond.”
Practice Manager, Valley Family Medical Partners
Composite narrative representing healthcare administrative phone workflows. AI handles intake only - not clinical advice.