What AI receptionists and front-office automation actually do, what they cost, and where they should stop — written for practice owners, not engineers.
Missed Calls & Front Desk
About 41% of patient calls arrive after hours, when the front desk is empty and voicemail loses the ones that mattered. Here is the coverage ladder, from a text-back to a 24/7 AI receptionist, priced honestly.
No-Shows & Follow-Up
Vendor pages promise to cut no-shows in half with no source behind the claim. Here is what the published evidence supports, the reminder cadence that moves the number, and the math to model what a miss costs you.
Missed Calls & Front Desk
Vendor blogs say a practice loses $500,000 a year to missed calls, and their sources disagree with each other by 2x. This worksheet computes your own number from your call log, with every assumption labeled.
AI Receptionists
Most comparisons of AI receptionists and answering services are written by vendors. This is the source-backed version: real costs, booking capability, HIPAA posture, and when the human service still wins.
Trust & Compliance
"HIPAA compliant" on a vendor homepage is a marketing claim, not a government stamp. Here is what actually protects patient phone data: a signed BAA, a no-PHI-by-default design, and 8 blunt vendor questions.
Pricing & ROI
A $99 plan, a $0.12 per minute rate, and a $700 answering service are different shapes of bill. Here are the 4 AI receptionist pricing models, real 2026 numbers, hidden fees, and the break-even math for your practice.
