Table of Contents
Strategic Rationale
Post-COVID, Inova recognized they couldn't scale staffing sufficiently to meet growing demand from patients calling the system to make or change appointments. They had ~300 largely local remote contact center agents taking 2.4 million calls annually—over 3 million by the end of 2025—but needed greater efficiency. Most inquiries centered on appointment management, but staffing constraints and lengthy hold times created service bottlenecks, prompting many patients to abandon calls instead of confirming or adjusting their appointments. This resulted in higher no-show rates and unused appointment slots. Inova wanted to use agentic AI (specifically machine learning models that don't hallucinate, following pre-programmed logic) to handle lower-complexity, repetitive work and free human agents for higher-complexity patient needs.
“Today’s healthcare consumers expect the same immediacy and clarity they get from retail and tech. AI has helped us meet that expectation without asking patients to wait on hold.”
– VP, Operations, Clinical Enterprise
Overview
Inova collaborated with Hyro to deploy voice-enabled AI agents within its patient access and contact center operations, integrating them with Epic, the Cheers CRM platform, and the NICE CXone telephony system. These AI agents manage multiple functions such as smart routing, scheduling and updating appointments, verifying or canceling visits, addressing common patient inquiries, locating providers or facilities, and processing prescription refill requests.
Time Frame
General call center centralization has been in progress for 5 years. Hyro partnership was rolled out December 2024.
Scale
Centralized call center covers 30+ specialties, including primary care, behavioral health, pediatrics, and diagnostic imaging, and has 300 remote agents. Within 6 months of Hyro partnership launch, 100% of patient access call volume was covered—AI digital assistant answers every call first before routing them based on request.
Goals and Competitive Advantage
Smart route calls based on patient needs.
Provide self-service options (cancel/confirm/reschedule and medication refill request 24/7) and reduce no-shows.
Reduce manual agent workload on routine tasks and free capacity for more complex needs.
Results
50% of calls related to appointment management fully successfully managed by AI—4,272 hours of staff capacity gained per month
Reduced no-shows and increased revenue
338K automated calls per month
79% smart-routing accuracy within 30 days
Level of Investment
The initial phase required a moderate financial lift focused on technology modernization. Inova invested in a best-in-class Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) platform and an AI-enabled digital assistant to improve efficiency and expand patient self-service. While the upfront costs centered on system build and licensing, the investment continues through ongoing service expansion and platform optimization.
Lessons Learned
Standardize first, then integrate smartly. Centralizing call center infrastructure and workflows created the uniform environment with which Hyro’s AI could integrate. Inova first achieved systemwide contact-center consolidation, then implemented AI.
Ease fears by reframing the tool. Educating stakeholders that conversational AI is an assistive tool, not an autonomous decision-maker, helped Inova ease concerns about automation. Framing it as a way to extend self-service for low-complexity needs freed staff to focus on higher-value, complex interactions.
