Healthcare call centers remain in the front line of patient access. Every day, they handle thousands of patient calls for scheduling, cancellations, rescheduling, and routine requests that directly shape the patient experience. As call volumes rise and staff capacity is stretched thin, many organizations are rethinking what their call center should be.

To understand how leaders are responding, Relatient and Becker’s Healthcare surveyed 100 healthcare executives. The results show a clear trend: Organizations are upgrading call center infrastructure and embedding automation and AI to manage routine interactions, shorten wait times, and free staff for higher-value patient needs.

Traditional call centers are evolving into smart access hubs. The shift is designed to improve answer rates, reduce call duration, and strengthen both patient and staff experience.

For deeper data and full survey findings, access the complete report.

Why Healthcare Call Centers Are Evolving

Across the industry, healthcare leaders are prioritizing investments that improve both access and efficiency. According to the survey, 47% of respondents ranked call center infrastructure upgrades among their top three patient access technology priorities, with 15% naming it their number one investment area.

For many organizations, the call center has become the heartbeat of patient access. Yet legacy systems and manual processes often make it difficult to handle growing volumes of inbound calls. Patients face long hold times, and staff are forced to juggle repetitive tasks that take time away from more complex needs.

Relatient CEO Jeff Gartland explains that leading organizations no longer see patient access and staff efficiency as competing priorities. “Patient access isn’t a feature anymore. It is fundamental to how providers operate, run their business, and support their community,” Gartland said. “When you leverage tools and technology along with automation and AI, you free up your team from repetitive tasks so they can spend more time on empathy and high-value touches that drive the overall patient experience.”

This shift marks an important turning point. Modern call centers are moving beyond the goal of simply answering calls. They are becoming smarter, more connected access hubs that can anticipate patient needs, route calls intelligently, and create a more seamless experience from the first point of contact.

Smart Access Hubs: Moving Beyond Call Handling

The traditional call center can sometimes be reactive. Patients call, staff respond, and success is measured by how quickly someone can answer the phone and resolve the request. But healthcare leaders are now envisioning something broader: a model where the call center serves as a central hub for access, coordination, and connection.

Smart access hubs go beyond managing call queues. They apply automation, AI, intent-based routing, and intelligent workflows to anticipate patient needs before they escalate. Instead of waiting for a call to be transferred or placed on hold, the system can identify the purpose of a call, match it to the right resource, and even autonomously handle routine actions such as confirming or cancelling an appointment.

These enhancements don’t remove the human touch. They enhance it. By allowing technology to manage the routine, staff can devote their energy to conversations that require the most empathy, nuance, and problem-solving. And when the AI virtual agent hands a call to staff, it’s a warm hand-off. The staff already has the necessary context to pick up the conversation seamlessly. This creates continuity for the patient and eliminates the frustration of repeating information.

Ultimately, the move toward smart access hubs is about redefining what “access” means in healthcare. It’s not just about reaching someone on the phone. It’s about creating a system that connects every call, patient, and staff member in a way that feels responsive, consistent, and personal.

The Role of AI in Healthcare Call Centers

Automation and agentic AI are changing what’s possible inside the healthcare call center. Once limited to manual routing and scripted interactions, today’s systems can recognize intent, complete tasks, and adapt to organizational rules in real time. This evolution is allowing teams to handle high call volumes more efficiently while maintaining a personal, empathetic experience for patients.

The survey found that more than one in three healthcare organizations (36%) are already implementing AI technologies within their call centers. Among the top use cases are voice AI agents, intelligent routing, and sentiment analysis, tools that streamline operations and help staff respond with greater accuracy and consistency. Across organizations using the Dash® platform, voice AI capabilities now autonomously manages 66% of appointment cancellations and 50% of reschedule requests, freeing staff from repetitive tasks while maintaining a full adherence to provider-specific rules.

Recent research reinforces this trend, showing that AI-powered automation can reduce call resolution times by more than 20% while improving patient satisfaction. Together, these results highlight how automation is not replacing staff but amplifying their ability to deliver faster, personalized support.

For most organizations, AI represents more than automation. It’s a way to rebalance how work gets done. Routine calls are completed quickly and consistently, while staff focus their time on complex interactions that require empathy and clinical understanding. When both elements work together, call centers become more efficient and better equipped to deliver the kind of experience patients expect.

Turning Patient Access into a Growth Driver

Healthcare leaders are beginning to view the call center not as a cost to manage but as an opportunity to create value. Every answered call represents a chance to retain a patient, capture a visit, and strengthen loyalty. When automation improves call flow and reduces wait times, the effect extends beyond operational efficiency. It directly impacts revenue, reputation, and overall patient relationships.

According to the survey, 60% of respondents identified patient experience as the primary reason for investing in call center technology. However, many organizations are not layering analytics and AI-driven reporting to measure that impact. Call transcripts and aggregate reporting dashboards provide real-time insight into call trends, intent, and resolution rates, while post-call surveys capture patient satisfaction immediately after interactions. These tools also bring greater AI transparency, allowing organizations to see exactly how automation is performing, confirm that tasks are being completed accurately, and make data-informed adjustments when needed. Combined with metrics like time saved per call, reduction in average handle time, and first-call resolution rates, give leaders a clear picture of ROI and performance improvement.

As call centers evolve into smart access hubs, measurement becomes just as important as modernization. Tracking both patient sentiment and AI productivity helps organizations identify what’s working, where friction exists, and how automation is influencing access outcomes. The most forward-thinking teams are using these insights not only to optimize operations but to link patient access directly to organizational growth.

What This Means for Healthcare Leaders

For healthcare leaders, the message is clear. Patient access is no longer just a service function. It’s a strategic pillar that connects operational performance with patient experience and financial outcomes. Modern call centers have become the front line of that strategy, shaping how patients perceive the organization from their very first interaction.

The transition to smart access hubs requires intentional leadership. Technology alone doesn’t drive transformation. Success depends on aligning people, process, and performance goals around a shared definition of access. Leaders who set clear metrics, invest in staff training, and use AI insights to continuously refine workflows are seeing measurable gains in both patient satisfaction and staff morale.

As Gartland explains, “The winners aren’t the ones with the most or the best technology; they will be the ones that know how to use it really well. They will let machines do the work that they do well, while ensuring that humans are there to bring that human interaction.” That balance will define the next generation of healthcare access.

Redefining the Future of Patient Access

The healthcare contact center is evolving from a reactive service model into a strategic access hub that blends automation, AI, and human connection. This shift is reshaping how patients experience care before they enter the clinic. By using technology to remove routine burdens, organizations are creating the time and space for staff to focus on empathy, problem-solving, and meaningful engagement.

As the data shows, these changes are already delivering measurable results from reduced call times to higher satisfaction rates, including an average 8% decrease in call abandonment. The call centers that thrive in this new era will be those that treat access as a continuous cycle of improvement, powered by insights and grounded in human connection.

Explore the full survey and see how healthcare leaders are redefining patient access in the complete Becker’s Healthcare + Relatient Survey Report.

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.