During our recent webinar hosted by the National Association of Healthcare Access Management (NAHAM), we polled attendees with this fundamental question: “What is your biggest concern about automated patient access solutions?”
‍

Two answers stood out.
‍

• Nearly 44% were most concerned with how automation solutions would impact patient satisfaction and the quality of patient experience.
• Another 35% were most concerned with the technical reliability and accuracy of an automated solution.
  ‍

Here's what we learned from those responses:

‍

Patient Experience Concerns Actually Underscore AI's Strengths
‍

Given that the webinar audience was healthcare access professionals, their paramount concern being patient satisfaction should not come as a surprise. What might be less obvious, however, is how well aligned this concern is with the core value proposition of well-designed AI automation.
‍

• Consistent Quality: AI agents can deliver standardized, high-quality interactions every time, eliminating the variability that often occurs with human agents.
• 24/7 availability across languages: Patients routinely cite accessibility as a major frustration with healthcare systems. AI automation can provide immediate response and self-service options around the clock in their language of choice.
• Reduced wait times: The poll results suggest leaders understand that patient satisfaction is directly tied to operational efficiency—an area where automation excels.
  ‍

The key implication is that successful AI solutions must be designed with patient experience at the forefront. This means prioritizing natural language processing, empathetic responses, and seamless escalation pathways to human agents when needed.

‍

Technical Reliability Fears Demonstrate Market Maturity
‍

The concern about technical reliability indicates that healthcare leaders have likely witnessed or heard about automation implementations that didn't live up to the hype. This presents both a challenge and an opportunity:
‍

• Proof points matter: As call center automation unfolds, healthcare organizations will understandably require extensive evidence regarding accuracy rates, uptime statistics, and successful deployments before committing to AI solutions.
• Integration complexity: The reliability concern may also stem from past experiences with tech implementations that disrupted existing workflows or required significant IT resources. Call center automation solutions need to meld seamlessly with the healthcare tech stack and workflows.
• Compliance considerations: Healthcare's regulatory environment means that technical reliability isn't just about efficiency. It is also about maintaining HIPAA compliance, data security, and audit trails.

‍

Conclusion
‍

The perspective of the webinar participants demonstrates that health systems aren’t opposed to the idea of call center automation, but they want to ensure that they are implementing solutions that elevate the experience for patients, create efficiencies for staff and deliver ROI for the organization.
‍

Healthcare leaders have moved beyond questioning whether to automate patient access functions and are instead focusing on how to implement automation effectively. Organizations that prioritize patient experience and technical reliability from the outset can capture significant operational benefits, while maintaining the trust and satisfaction foundational to healthcare relationships.