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Healthcare
Coastal Family Medicine
How a Family Practice Reduced Phone Wait Times by 80%
Coastal Family Medicine serves over 15,000 patients in the San Diego area. With a growing patient base and limited front desk staff, they were struggling to keep up with call volume, leading to long wait times and missed appointments.
Industry
Healthcare
Location
San Diego, CA
Team Size
25 staff
Website
coastalfamilymed.com
The Challenge
- !Average phone wait time exceeded 8 minutes during peak hours
- !Front desk staff spent 70% of their time answering phones
- !15% of calls went to voicemail and were never returned
- !Patient satisfaction scores were declining
- !Staff burnout was becoming a serious concern
- !After-hours calls were going unanswered
The Solution
- Implemented Akol with HIPAA-compliant configuration
- Configured AI to handle appointment scheduling and rescheduling
- Set up after-hours triage routing for emergencies
- Integrated with their EHR system for real-time availability
- Created custom responses for common patient questions
- Enabled call recording for quality assurance
Implementation
2 weeks from start to full deployment
1
Week 1: Initial setup, EHR integration, and staff training
2
Week 1: Pilot with 20% of incoming calls
3
Week 2: Expanded to 50% of calls with refinements
4
Week 2: Full deployment with all calls routed through Akol
5
Ongoing: Monthly optimization reviews
The Results
80%
Reduction in wait times
Average wait time dropped from 8 minutes to under 90 seconds
25hrs
Staff time saved weekly
Front desk can now focus on in-office patient care
97%
Patient satisfaction
Up from 78% before implementation
3 months
Full ROI achieved
Cost savings exceeded subscription within first quarter
0%
Missed calls
Every call is now answered, 24/7
45%
More appointments booked
Automated scheduling captures more bookings
What They Say
"Akol has transformed how we handle patient calls. Our staff can finally focus on the patients in front of them instead of being tied to the phone. The HIPAA compliance gave us peace of mind from day one."
Dr. Michael Torres
Medical Director
"I was skeptical at first about an AI answering our phones, but the voice quality is amazing and patients often don't realize they're talking to an AI. The scheduling integration with our EHR is seamless."
Sarah Chen
Practice Manager
What's Next for Coastal Family Medicine
- Exploring integration with patient portal for appointment reminders
- Considering expansion to their second location
- Testing prescription refill request handling