3 Ways to Enhance Operational Efficiency With AI
Explore how AI can streamline practice workflows, freeing your team to build meaningful patient relationships that can’t be automated
In many bustling medical practices, staff are overwhelmed by phone calls, voicemails, and scattered messages, while patients spend too long on hold. Faxed referrals go unanswered, and billers struggle to appeal denied claims. It all starts to pile up.
However, as the industry increasingly integrates artificial intelligence (AI), valuable solutions are being developed to help you overcome these hurdles by automating message routing and other routine tasks, creating a clear, singular digital entry point for communication workflows.
Bonus? Patients are aligned with their adoption. One study found that over 50% of patients surveyed think using AI for administrative tasks is a “good or great idea” for healthcare providers.1
Find out how a new wave of AI solutions could help reduce administrative burden so your team can focus less on phone tag and more on connecting with patients to build relationships that last.
1. Smarter faxing with AI
Imagine a busy practice where the staff is constantly playing catch-up with faxed treatment plan authorizations. Their fax management process requires significant manual intervention and can involve up to 20 human touchpoints per fax.
The practice starts to notice a drop in referrals due to lagging authorization times for faxed treatment plans. Their solution? An AI-powered fax sorting tool. Now, they can more efficiently analyze incoming faxes, identify patient information, and suggest patients to link to incoming faxes.
With this solution, the number of human touchpoints per fax could drop to four or five, allowing for a more prompt response to treatment plans. The practice could see improved operational efficiency, stronger relationships with referring providers, and a significant increase in patient volume.
“After implementing Enhanced Faxing, we can process and share results promptly, which enhances patient care. This efficiency cuts down my processing time from one minute to just 10 seconds.”
James Bienvenu, MD
Knoxville, TN
2. AI-assisted claims denial assessment
Suppose a busy practice’s billing team spends countless hours processing rejected claims and resubmitting them to payers. For them, an AI-assisted claims denial assessment tool could be transformative. By analyzing historical data, this technology flags claims with a high likelihood of denial before they are ever submitted.
Did you know?
Research shows that 57% of healthcare providers have reported reduced administrative burdens by introducing AI and automation.1
Instead of chasing rejected claims, the billing team can quickly address the flagged issues to help reclaim more earned revenue from insurance companies. With the significant time savings freed up by AI-powered denial management, the billing team could, for example, engage patients struggling to meet their financial obligations. They might initiate conversations and negotiate personalized payment plans that would be mutually advantageous.
The affected patients are likely to feel valued because the practice supported them during challenging times. This approach could not only increase patient loyalty but could also lead to improved retention rates, as patients might opt to remain with a practice that demonstrates compassion and care in the exam room and in the billing office.
3. AI-assisted patient message routing
Consider a patient who is worried about recent test results and sends a detailed question through the online patient portal. An AI message routing tool could automatically route their query to a clinician on the team. A timely response could help reassure the patient, making them feel acknowledged and supported while showcasing how technology can work to strengthen patient-provider relationships.
Conversely, without an AI message routing solution, a pressing message or voicemail could easily get lost. And with it, your patient’s trust.
Consider a scenario where a patient calls or messages with urgent concerns about medication side effects. Without automated routing, that message can sit overlooked for hours while the front desk battles ringing phones and fragmented portals.
As the messages and calls pile up, their concern is put on hold. This is how disjointed systems can lead to missed care opportunities and dropped calls, while accelerating staff burnout.
With an AI message routing solution, web chat, texts, and transcribed voicemails come together in a single, unified patient thread, so your team can quickly review a patient’s message with full context. Built-in AI sorts incoming text messages to the right place, saving time for your front desk — time better spent connecting and nurturing relationships with patients that keep them coming back.
Having more time and energy for even the smallest gestures, like a friendly smile or good eye contact from the front desk, can make all the difference in a patient’s perceived experience and retention.
Did you know?
Recruiting a new customer can cost five times more than keeping an existing one.2
Conclusion
While AI significantly improves practice efficiency, its true purpose is to free your team to focus on the human empathy, creativity, and insight that technology can’t replicate. By leveraging the latest in AI, you can trade front-desk chaos for a human-centered culture of care where patients feel seen, heard, and supported.
Ready to build your AI-Powered Practice™?
This blog is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or medical advice. Please consult with your legal counsel and other qualified advisors to ensure compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and standards.
1 Google. -“Measuring the administrative burden on U.S. healthcare workers — and how generative AI can help.” Google Cloud. 2024.
2 Morgan, B. “Does It Still Cost 5x More to Create a New Customer Than Retain an Old One?” Forbes.com, April 2019.
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