While patients are taking a larger and larger part of their health into their own hands, thanks to wearables and at-home devices, but that is not the case for one key area: appointment scheduling.
Despite being able to make their own appointments via an online portal, only 2.4% actually taking advantage of this, while about 88% of appointments are still scheduled via the phone. That opens things up for errors and potential no-shows, which cost the healthcare industry in the U.S. $150 billion annually while healthcare professionals lose 60 minutes and $200 for every open or no-show slot.
To help solve this, Assort Health is providing an AI platform that can manage patient phone calls, with a mission is to improve access to care by eliminating lengthy hold times and scheduling inefficiencies. On Wednesday, the company announced a new round funding co-led by First Round Capital and Chemistry, with participation from existing investor Quiet Capital, bringing its total capital raised to $26 million.
Assort, which was founded by Jon Wang, co-founder of Shimmer, and Jeff Liu, former Head of Product Engineering at Athelas, integrates directly with electronic health record (EHR) systems, including Cerner and EPIC, so that AI agents can update patient data and insurance, as well as schedule appointments in real-time. It also breaks down patient interactions, using specialized AI agents to achieve more accurate scheduling.
Its AI is able to triage calls and answers FAQs based on provider names and patient needs, while allowing patients to provide information for staff to process later or in real-time. It will also notify patients proactively via SMS or calls for cancellations, reminders, and follow-ups, while also recovering unscheduled appointments with automated SMS follow-ups.
Launched in 2023, Assort Health now handles millions of inbound calls on behalf of its customers, which include Chesapeake Healthcare, OrthoIndy, Peninsula Orthopaedic Associates, and Cleaver Medical Dermatology. It has shown a resolution rate above 90%, while also gaining an average satisfaction rating of 4.6 out of 5 from patients. Its clients have also seen a 3% net gain in new patients, while seeing a 63% reduction in operational costs.
The company plans to use the new funding it raised to expand its team, with a particular emphasis on engineering talent.
“Our platform is democratizing access to care while making healthcare organizations more operationally efficient and economically sustainable,” Liu said in a statement.
“Assort Health’s proprietary agentic state machine, rigorous AI safety measures, and customized scheduling rules are redefining how health systems deliver care, and we’re just getting started. We will continue to push the boundaries of how healthcare providers and patients engage with one another—making care more efficient, personalized, and accessible.”
