Healthcare organizations are increasingly investing in AI to improve efficiency and reduce operational strain. Agentic AI is playing a key role in this shift, especially in healthcare call centers, where it helps automate routine interactions such as appointment confirmations, cancellations, and rescheduling. By handling common requests, agentic AI solutions like Dash Voice AI reduce staff workload, improve patient access, and support scalable operations.
According to a 2024 MGMA Stat poll, 43% of medical groups have adopted or expanded their use of AI tools, nearly doubling the rate from 2023. The rise in adoption reflects a clear expectation for technology to deliver measurable value, not just innovation.
The real question isn’t if agentic AI delivers value. It’s how much. Imagine a large healthcare organization handling 360,000 calls a year. If even a portion of those were routine appointment changes that an agentic AI solution could automate, the labor costs of managing them could easily reach hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.
Automating a majority of those calls could free the equivalent of four or more full-time positions without adding headcount.
Why ROI Matters in Healthcare Call Centers
Agentic AI solutions automate live phone interactions by handling routine tasks like appointment management and basic requests without the need for staff to pick up the phone. In high-volume healthcare call centers, that can translate into meaningful time and cost savings.
Call centers play a vital role in patient access, but they’re also resource intensive. Long wait times, missed calls, and scheduling errors all carry a cost financially and operationally. And with staffing stretched thin, simply adding more agents isn’t always feasible.
While efficiency is critical, the investment also needs to demonstrate measurable value. Understanding where agentic AI delivers return through time saved, cost avoided, and smoother operations is key to building a strong business case. When applied strategically, it becomes more than a workflow enhancement. It’s a lever for long-term cost reduction and improved access to care.
Where Agentic AI Delivers Cost Savings
Dash Voice AI is a proven example of agentic AI solutions in action, delivering measurable value by automating high-volume, low-complexity calls that would otherwise burden call center staff. For instance, at Mississippi Sports Medicine & Orthopaedic Center (MSMOC), Dash Voice AI handles around 20% of their inbound call volume, primarily appointment confirmations, reschedules, and basic requests.
To illustrate the impact: In a healthcare call center that fields approximately 10,000 calls per month, automating 20% of those calls would remove 2,000 manual calls from staff workload.
In high-volume environments, the baseline cost of manually handling appointment changes can be substantial. For some organizations, the labor cost of these routine calls approaches $300,000 per year before any automation is introduced.
Here are four key areas that translates into meaningful cost savings:
Labor Efficiency: Offloading 2,000 calls per month, at an average handling time of 3 minutes per call, saves approximately 112 staff hours per month, more than 1,340 hours per year.
Scalability Without Added Headcount: As call volume grows due to patient demand, service expansion, or seasonal spikes, it absorbs the increase without the need for additional hires. The average annual base salary for a healthcare customer service representative is around $20.70 per hour, even a single full-time role can cost more than $43,000 annually.
Fewer Errors and Scheduling Mistakes: Automated workflows backed by an intelligent scheduling engine follow provider-specific rules and preferences, reducing errors that lead to no-shows, rework, or lost revenue.
Operational Continuity and Uptime: An agentic AI agent operates around the clock, helping maintain availability during staff shortages, call surges, or outages. That reliability ensures smoother patient access without additional staffing pressures or service delays.
Estimating ROI for Your Call Center
Agentic AI solutions can unlock measurable savings, and you don’t need a complex model to estimate the impact. Start with these three simple inputs:
- Annual Call Volume: Consider the number of inbound calls your team handles each year, such as appointment management requests, running late notifications, and location or business hours inquiries, then identify which could be automated.
- Time and Labor Savings: Multiply the automated calls by the average handle time to get total hours saved. Then multiply by your hourly staff costs.
- Operational Impact: Consider indirect benefits such as reduced hold times, fewer errors, and higher patient satisfaction.
High-Volume Example:
Imagine your organization receives 360,000 calls per year, and 30% of those (108,000 calls) are routine appointment changes averaging 8 minutes each. At an average staff cost of $20.70 an hour, that’s nearly $298,000 per year in labor just for this type of call handling.
If agentic AI agents automated 60% of them (about 64,800 calls annually) you would save roughly $178,848 in annual labor costs without reducing patient access or satisfaction.
Whether large or small, the formula stays the same but as call volume and automation rates rise, the ROI can grow dramatically.
Reclaiming Value Where It Counts
Agentic AI solutions like Dash Voice AI are no longer exploratory. It’s becoming a strategic investment that enables healthcare organizations to operate more efficiently without compromising patient access or experience. When implemented with the right foundation, it can deliver measurable cost savings, optimize staff capacity, and support long-term operational resilience.
The return goes beyond budget impact. It’s about building a more scalable, sustainable system for both your team and your patients.
Improve Access and Enhance Care with Relatient
Relatient is a healthcare technology leader dedicated to improving patient access through intelligent, mobile-first solutions. Our Best in KLAS platform Dash® integrates with leading EHRs and PM systems to streamline scheduling, personalized communication, online chat, mobile payments, and digital intake. Trusted by over 47,000 providers and managing approximately 150 million appointments annually, Relatient helps healthcare organizations optimize workflows, reduce no-shows, and enhance the patient experience with modern, consumer-driven solutions.