The End of Hold Music: How Assort Health is Revolutionising Patient Access with Agentic AI

Remember the last time you called a doctor’s office? You likely experienced the all-too-familiar ritual: navigating a confusing phone tree, sitting through minutes of hold music while listening to a robotic voice assure you that your call is very important, only to be disconnected or told that the scheduler just stepped away from their desk. This frustrating scenario is not just a minor inconvenience; it is a systemic failure in healthcare access. Enter Assort Health, a groundbreaking platform that is finally silencing that dreaded hold music for good. By harnessing the power of agentic artificial intelligence, Assort Health is redefining what it means to engage with a healthcare provider. They are transforming the chaotic, time-consuming process of scheduling and patient communication into a seamless, efficient, and surprisingly pleasant experience. This article explores how Assort Health is not merely automating phone calls but is fundamentally rebuilding the infrastructure of patient access, one interaction at a time.

The Universal Headache of Healthcare Scheduling

The struggle to book a simple doctor’s appointment has become an unfortunate part of our daily lives. U.S. adults spend the equivalent of an entire workday each month just navigating healthcare needs for themselves and their families. This includes sitting on hold, playing phone tag with schedulers, and repeating personal information to multiple staff members. This administrative burden leads to delayed care, missed appointments, and widespread patient frustration. Assort Health was founded to tackle this exact problem, recognising that the front door to healthcare—the phone line—was broken. The traditional model forces overworked front-office staff to manage towering call volumes, leading to burnout and high turnover rates. By implementing Assort Health solutions, providers can finally lift this immense weight off their teams. The platform’s AI agents are designed to handle these routine yet critical interactions instantly, ensuring that when a patient reaches out, they receive immediate attention rather than a busy signal or a never-ending queue.

What Exactly is Assort Health?

At its core, Assort Health is a comprehensive patient experience platform powered by speciality-specific agentic AI. Unlike simple chatbots or basic interactive voice response (IVR) systems, the AI developed by Assort Health is “agentic”, meaning it can take independent action to complete entire workflows from start to finish. This isn’t just about understanding words; it’s about understanding context, intent, and the complex rules of a medical practice. The platform integrates directly with a clinic’s Electronic Health Records (EHR) and Practice Management (PM) software, allowing it to not only schedule appointments but also manage prescription refills, care navigation, and physician referrals. What sets Assort Health apart is its deep specialisation. Whether it’s orthopaedics, dermatology, or paediatrics, the AI agents are fine-tuned to understand the specific nuances and terminology of each medical field.

Also read: The Bright Side of Careers in Technology Today

The Magic of Speciality-Specific AI Agents

Healthcare is not one-size-fits-all, and neither should be the technology that supports it. An orthopaedic practice has vastly different scheduling needs and clinical workflows compared to a dermatology clinic. Recognising this, Assort Health has developed a suite of AI agents tailored to over 20 different specialities, including orthopaedics, OB-Gyn, gastroenterology, and cardiology. This specialisation allows the AI to ask the right questions, understand procedure names, and apply insurer-specific logic relevant to that field. For example, in a pain management setting, an agent from Assort Health can review prior visit notes and apply payer timing rules to avoid scheduling errors that might lead to denied claims. Assort Health level of bespoke intelligence ensures accuracy and efficiency that a generic AI solution simply cannot match. When a patient interacts with an AI trained specifically for their provider’s speciality, the conversation feels natural, informed, and reassuring.

Real Results That Speak Volumes

The proof of any technology lies in the results it delivers, and Assort Health boasts impressive metrics that demonstrate its tangible value. Customers using the platform have seen an 89% reduction in patient call wait times. One orthopaedic practice reported their abandonment rate plummeted from 41% down to just 8% within 30 days of implementation. These aren’t just numbers; they represent thousands of patients who successfully connected with their providers instead of hanging up in frustration. Furthermore, practices using Assort Health achieve a 98% resolution rate on the first call, meaning patients get their issues solved immediately without needing a human callback. The impact on operational costs is equally significant, with practices seeing a 63% reduction in operational costs related to patient access. By handling the heavy lifting of routine calls, Assort Health frees up human staff to focus on more complex and compassionate patient-centred activities.

Patient Reactions: Surprise, Delight, and “Wow”

One of the most heartening aspects of the Assort Health story is the reaction from patients themselves. Initially, there can be a trust gap—when told they are speaking with AI, about 30% of patients ask for a human . However, once they engage with the system, the experience often turns to delight. Patient reviews for Assort Health interactions are overwhelmingly positive, with an 84-year-old patient giving it a 5 out of 5, admitting, “This. technology is new for me, but it’s excellent.” Patients frequently express amazement, with quotes like, “All of it scheduled through AI? “Unbelievable” and “That was terrific”. The AI is designed to be polite, patient, and even empathetic, waiting patiently while a caller retrieves their insurance card. This human-like interaction quality ensures that the efficiency of automation doesn’t come at the cost of a personal touch, a balance that Assort Health has mastered.

Beyond Scheduling: A Comprehensive Platform

While scheduling appointments is its flagship capability, Assort Health is building a much broader ecosystem with its new platform, Assort OS. This operating system for patient access aims to manage the entire patient journey proactively. Beyond booking, Assort Health agents can handle prescription refill requests, send automated follow-up messages via SMS, manage cancellations, and even fill open slots by notifying patients on a waitlist. The vision is to shift healthcare from a reactive system, where patients must initiate every interaction, to a proactive one. Imagine an AI agent that automatically schedules a follow-up appointment three months after a cortisone injection, ensuring continuity of care without the patient having to remember to call. This is the future Assort Health is actively building, where technology anticipates needs and removes friction from every step of the care journey.

The Technology Behind the Voice

The seamless conversations facilitated by Assort Health are powered by a sophisticated technological backbone. The platform integrates deeply with a practice’s existing EHR and PM systems, allowing it to read visit notes, verify patient identity, and update records in real time. This deep integration is crucial for safety and accuracy. Unlike other AI solutions that might be “a prompt thrown into a voice pipeline”, the technology from Assort Health is built with industry-leading workflow coverage and patient safety guardrails to prevent “hallucinations” or errors. It is also SOC 2 Type 2 compliant, ensuring that all patient data is handled with the highest security and privacy standards. With features like multilingual support and customisable voices, Assort Health ensures that every interaction feels authentic and accessible, bridging communication gaps and providing equitable access for diverse patient populations.

A Vote of Confidence from Investors in Assort Health

The healthcare and tech investment communities have taken significant notice of the impact Assort Health is making. In a span of just four months in 2025, the company raised a total of $102 million, culminating in a $76 million Series B round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. This rapid influx of capital, following a Series A just months prior, signals immense confidence in the company’s vision and execution. Prominent investors like Felicis, First Round Capital, and even eight-time Olympic champion Apolo Ohno have thrown their support behind Assort Health. This funding is being used to accelerate the development of the Assort OS platform and expand the team, aiming to bring the solution to thousands more providers. The backing of industry veterans, including Paul Ricci, the founding CEO of Nuance (a pioneer in voice AI), further validates Assort Health’s position as a leader in the next wave of healthcare technology.

Why Providers are Making the Switch

For healthcare providers operating on thin margins and facing staffing shortages, the value proposition of Assort Health is undeniable. Medical practices are dealing with reduced reimbursements and increasing administrative costs, making operational efficiency a top priority. Front-office teams are overburdened, managing multiple physicians and handling towering call volumes, which leads to burnout and high turnover. By implementing Assort Health, providers can ensure that patient access remains dependable without overworking their staff. A physician at Annapolis Internal Medicine noted that getting the first impression right during a scheduling call is critical, and Assort Health’s AI agent excels at this, managing thousands of inbound calls with a pleasant and efficient demeanour. This leads to higher patient satisfaction scores (PSAT) and allows staff to redirect their energy to more critical in-office tasks, ultimately improving the quality of care and the financial health of the practice.

The Future of Patient Access in Assort Health

As we look ahead, the role of Assort Health in the healthcare landscape is poised to grow exponentially. The company is not just building a better phone tree; it is laying the groundwork for a complete reimagining of how patients interact with the healthcare system. The goal is to make accessing care as easy and intuitive as ordering a ride or streaming a movie. With tens of millions of patient interactions already under its belt and a spot on the 2025 Forbes Cloud 100 list, Assort Health is at the forefront of this transformation. They are proving that technology can make healthcare more human by removing the administrative noise that gets in the way of the patient-provider relationship. As agentic AI continues to evolve, Assort Health will undoubtedly play a pivotal role in creating a system where no patient is left on hold, and every call is the beginning of a path to better health.

Frequently Asked Questions about Assort Health (FAQs)

1. What exactly does Assort Health do?

Assort Health provides an AI-powered voice platform that automates phone calls for medical practices. It handles tasks like scheduling appointments, answering FAQs, managing prescription refills, and routing calls, all by integrating directly with the clinic’s existing electronic health records.

2. Is it just a chatbot? Can it actually talk on the phone?        

No, it’s far more advanced. Assort Health uses specialised “agentic AI” that can hold natural, two-way conversations on the phone. It listens to the patient, understands their needs, and takes action, just like a highly trained human scheduler would, but instantly and without hold times.

3. Is this service only for large hospitals, or can small clinics use it?

Assort Health is designed for practices of all sizes. It is currently used by hundreds of leading healthcare organisations, from large orthopaedic groups to smaller internal medicine practices. The platform can be customised to fit the unique workflows of any size practice.

4. How do patients feel about talking to an AI instead of a person?

While some patients initially request a human, the vast majority end up rating the experience very highly. Patient reviews for Assort Health interactions are excellent, with many expressing surprise and delight at how easy and efficient the process is.

5. How does Assort Health ensure my medical information is kept private?

Security is a top priority. Assort Health is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant, meaning it meets the highest standards for data security. The platform only accesses patient data after verifying their identity and does not train its models on customer data, ensuring your information remains private and protected.

Conclusion

The journey to better healthcare begins with a single phone call. For too long, that first step has been the hardest, marked by frustration, wasted time, and missed connections. Assort Health is changing that narrative entirely. By deploying intelligent, compassionate, and highly efficient AI agents, they are ensuring that every call is answered, every question is addressed, and every patient is guided smoothly toward the care they need. They are proving that automation, when done right, doesn’t depersonalise healthcare—it humanises it by removing the administrative friction that drains both patients and providers. As Assort Health continues to expand its platform and reach, the dream of a healthcare system that is instantly accessible, proactively supportive, and genuinely patient-centric is becoming a clear and present reality. The hold music is finally fading out, and a new era of connection is taking its place.