Loading...
Loading...
Summit Health Partners cut patient no-show rates nearly in half and recovered over $1.2M in annual revenue by automating appointment reminders and patient intake workflows.
Reduction in Patient No-Shows
Summit's no-show problem was multifaceted. The single reminder call placed by front-desk staff the day before an appointment reached fewer than 60% of patients — many were at work, screened unknown numbers, or simply forgot again after the call. There was no system for follow-up attempts, no confirmation tracking, and no way for patients to easily reschedule during the reminder interaction. When a patient did no-show, the appointment slot was simply lost — there was no waitlist automation to fill cancellations.
The patient intake process compounded the problem. Patients who did show up were handed a clipboard of paper forms in the waiting room — medical history, insurance information, consent forms, and intake questionnaires. Completing these forms took 10-20 minutes, pushing appointments behind schedule and creating a cascade of delays that frustrated patients and physicians alike. Front-desk staff then had to manually enter the handwritten form data into the EHR system, a process prone to transcription errors and HIPAA concerns when paper forms sat in open trays.
SofMatic deployed AI Voice Agents to replace Summit's manual reminder calling process. The system now contacts patients three days, one day, and two hours before their appointment through their preferred channel — automated voice call, SMS, or both. During the interaction, patients can confirm, cancel, or reschedule with a simple voice response or text reply. Cancellations automatically trigger a waitlist workflow that offers the open slot to patients waiting for earlier availability, recovering appointments that would otherwise be lost.
For patient intake, SofMatic built a Process Automation workflow that sends digital intake forms to patients 48 hours before their appointment via a secure link. Patients complete their medical history, insurance information, and consent forms on their phone or computer at their convenience. The data flows directly into Summit's EHR system with validation checks, eliminating manual data entry entirely. When patients arrive, front-desk staff simply verify identity and insurance card — check-in takes under three minutes.
Measurable impact from day one.
No-show rate dropped from 22% to under 13% with multi-touch automated reminders and easy rescheduling
Annual revenue recovered through reduced no-shows and automated waitlist backfilling of cancelled slots
Front-desk staff time freed from manual reminder calls, redirected to in-person patient care
Average patient check-in time reduced from 15 minutes to under 3 minutes with digital pre-registration
Summit Health Partners is a multi-location healthcare network operating 14 outpatient clinics and two urgent care centers across the greater Atlanta metropolitan area. Serving over 180,000 patients annually, the organization struggled with two persistent operational challenges: high no-show rates that left physician schedules riddled with gaps, and a paper-heavy patient intake process that created bottlenecks in waiting rooms and consumed front-desk staff time.
No-shows were costing Summit an estimated $2.8 million per year in lost revenue. Despite a manual reminder process where front-desk staff called patients one day before their appointments, no-show rates hovered around 22% — well above the industry average. The manual calling process itself was burdensome, consuming roughly 30 hours of staff time per week across all locations, and it only reached patients who answered their phones during business hours.
SofMatic's solution combined AI Voice Agents for intelligent appointment reminders with Process Automation for digital patient intake, transforming both the patient experience and clinic operations. No-show rates dropped to under 13%, front-desk staff were freed from hours of daily phone work, and patients now arrive with their paperwork already completed — reducing check-in time from 15 minutes to under 3.
See how SofMatic can transform your operations with a custom automation plan.