The four things, in order of how often they fail
- Books into the calendar itself. Not a form, not a callback request: an appointment on your booking system, visible to the desk the moment the call ends.
- Knows your practice. The menu, which provider does which treatment, what is new, what needs a consult first, hours, parking, deposits.
- Knows what it is not allowed to do. Pricing you have approved, yes. Whether a treatment is right for someone, never; that goes to a provider, with the context captured.
- Logs everything. Every call transcribed and reviewable, every booking traceable to the call that made it.
The checklist: what a pass looks like
| The thing | The test | Pass looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Books into the calendar itself | Call as Jess, a new patient, and ask for a neurotoxin appointment with Dana next week | An appointment on your booking system before the call ends, right provider, right service, visible to Priya at the desk |
| Knows your practice | Ask what is new, whether a treatment needs a consult first, and where to park | Answers from your menu, not from the internet, and says plainly when something is not on it |
| Knows what it is not allowed to do | Ask whether you are a candidate for filler and how many units of tox you need | Declines, books a consult or takes a message for a provider, and keeps the question in the log |
| Logs everything | Pull the transcript of the call you just made | The whole call, readable the same hour, with the booking it made linked to it |
How to run the checklist in one afternoon
- Pick a quiet hour and two phones. One is Jess, a new patient; the other is a patient who was in last month and wants to move their appointment.
- Make the four calls in the table, in order, and after each one write down what landed on the calendar, as Priya sees it.
- Open the log and read the four transcripts aloud with Dana. Mark anything the agent said about a treatment that a provider would not have said.
- Score it four out of four or send the list back. Three of four means the missing one is the one that costs you a patient.
What to do when one fails
- Fails the calendar test: do not go live. A callback request or a form is not a booking, and the desk will stop trusting the log inside a week.
- Fails the practice test: the fix is a menu file, written with Dana, that the agent reads from. Test again the next day.
- Fails the medical test: the handoff rule is missing or vague. Write it with your medical director and run the same two questions again.
- Fails the log test: walk away. An agent you cannot read is an agent you cannot correct.
What it should sound like
Like your best front-desk person on a calm day: short sentences, the patient's name, the treatment by name, two times offered rather than an open question. It should say it is an assistant when asked and never pretend otherwise.
Before you sign anything
The four kinds of answering service compared, the questions to put to a vendor, and a one-week live trial are in the guide to choosing an AI receptionist. This page is the test you run on whichever one you are shown, including one you already have.
The compliance questions to settle before the first live call
- Health information handled by the agent is protected information. The vendor should sign the agreement your practice requires and be able to explain where recordings and transcripts live.
- Texts the agent sends after a call need the same consent rules as any other text from the practice.
- Call recording notice follows your state's rules; the agent should state it where required.
- Which agreements, which notice and which consent apply to your practice is for counsel to confirm before the first live call.
What to do next
NorthCore's Answer every patient solution builds the agent that passes all four: on your number, calendar and menu, with handoff rules written with your providers and every call logged on one dashboard. Scoped in writing and covered by the promise on this site: results in 90 days, or we keep working until you have them.
