Automate Patient Calls with a Custom AI Agent
AI agents answer patient calls by converting speech to text and using your clinic's data to respond. They handle common questions about insurance, hours, and appointments, escalating to staff when needed.
This is not a generic chatbot. A custom AI agent is trained on your office’s specific services, scheduling rules, and accepted insurance plans. The build requires a clear list of your procedures and policies to ensure the agent gives accurate, helpful answers that reflect how your practice operates.
We built an agent for a 3-dentist practice with 2 front desk staff who were missing 15% of calls after hours. The system went live in 2 weeks, captured 90% of those previously missed calls, and booked 25 new patient appointments in its first month.
What Problem Does This Solve?
Most dental offices rely on standard voicemail or an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system. These frustrate patients with rigid menus and long waits. When a potential new patient calls with a specific question like, “Do you accept Delta Dental PPO for cosmetic work?”, a simple IVR cannot answer. The caller hangs up and tries the next clinic on their list.
Practice management add-ons from providers like Weave or NexHealth offer more advanced features, but they are often generic. They can answer, “What are your hours?” but fail on complex queries like, “I have a toothache and my insurance is Cigna, can I get an emergency appointment today?” The system can't check real-time insurance eligibility against the live schedule, so it defaults to, “Please call our office during business hours,” which loses the lead.
This scenario costs offices real money. A patient calling at 7 PM about an emergency root canal is a high-value lead worth over $2,000. If your system takes a message, your staff might not call back until 9:30 AM the next day. By then, the patient has already found and booked with another practice that provided an immediate answer.
How Does It Work?
First, we consolidate your practice's information into a structured knowledge base. We process your website content, service price lists, accepted insurance documents, and staff bios. This data is stored in a Supabase Postgres database, creating a single source of truth the AI agent can query in milliseconds using the Claude API.
We provision a new phone number through Twilio that forwards to your existing line. When a call comes in, an AWS Lambda function executes a Python script. It uses a real-time speech-to-text service to transcribe the caller's words. This transcript is then sent to the Claude API, which queries the Supabase knowledge base to find the correct information and generate a natural language response.
The AI-generated answer is converted back to speech and played for the patient. For appointment requests, the agent checks your live schedule via direct API integration with your practice management software or a shared Google Calendar. It confirms available slots and can book the appointment in 90 seconds, a process that takes a front desk staffer 5 minutes. The patient immediately receives an SMS confirmation.
Every call transcript and AI response is logged for quality assurance. If the agent's confidence score on an answer falls below 85%, or if the patient says “human” or “receptionist”, the call is automatically routed to your front desk. This fail-safe ensures complex cases are handled by staff. The entire architecture runs for under $50/month in usage fees for approximately 300 calls.
What Are the Key Benefits?
Answer Every Patient Call, 24/7
The AI agent works after hours and on weekends. Stop losing high-value patients who call when your office is closed and get an immediate booking confirmation.
A One-Time Build, Not a Monthly Subscription
A single fixed-price project for a custom system. You pay only for low-cost cloud usage, not expensive per-user or per-call SaaS fees that penalize growth.
You Own The Code and The System
We deliver the full Python source code and all assets to your private GitHub repository. You are never locked into a proprietary platform.
Trained on Your Office's Exact Policies
The agent uses your specific insurance plans, services, and doctor specializations. It gives correct, consistent answers, not generic responses.
Integrates With Your Live Calendar
Connects directly to your practice management software's API or a shared Google Calendar to book appointments in real time without creating conflicts.
What Does the Process Look Like?
Knowledge & Access (Week 1)
You provide website content, insurance lists, and read-only access to your scheduling system. We deliver a structured knowledge base document for your review.
Core Agent Build (Week 2)
We build the Python application connecting the phone system, AI, and knowledge base. You receive a private phone number to test the agent's responses.
Integration & Testing (Week 3)
We connect the agent to your live scheduling system on a staging basis. You and your team perform end-to-end tests and provide final feedback.
Launch & Monitoring (Week 4)
We switch the system to your main public number. For 30 days, we monitor all calls, fine-tune responses, and hand off a system runbook.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How much does a custom AI phone agent cost?
- The price depends on the complexity of your scheduling logic and the number of data sources. An agent that only answers FAQs is a simpler build than one that needs to integrate with a legacy practice management system's API. We provide a fixed-price quote after a 30-minute discovery call where we map out your specific needs.
- What happens if the AI gives a wrong answer or can't understand a patient?
- The system has a human-in-the-loop escape hatch. If the AI's confidence in its answer is low, or if a patient says a keyword like "receptionist," the call is instantly transferred to your front desk. All conversations are logged, so we can review any failed interactions and update the knowledge base to prevent repeats.
- How is this better than a service like Weave or NexHealth?
- Those are excellent multi-purpose communication platforms. Syntora builds a dedicated AI agent focused solely on handling inbound calls with deep knowledge of your specific practice. We don't have per-user fees and you own the code. It's for offices that need a specialized, production-grade solution for their phone channel, not a bundle of general-purpose tools.
- Is the agent's voice robotic?
- No. We use modern text-to-speech APIs that offer a wide range of natural-sounding voices and intonations. During development, you can choose a voice that best represents your practice's brand. The goal is a professional and pleasant patient experience, not an obvious robot. The average call duration is under 2 minutes.
- Does this comply with HIPAA?
- Yes, by design. We use HIPAA-eligible services like AWS Lambda and ensure no Protected Health Information (PHI) is stored in logs. The agent handles scheduling and general questions, but for any medical advice or discussion of patient records, it is trained to immediately direct the caller to speak with staff. We sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA).
- What kind of maintenance is required after launch?
- Minimal. The system runs on serverless infrastructure, so there are no servers to manage. The main task is updating the knowledge base when your office policies change, for example, you start accepting a new insurance plan. We provide a simple admin interface for you to do this. We also offer an optional flat monthly plan for ongoing monitoring and updates.
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