Eliminating patient hold times: Catholic Health's rapid deployment of voice AI

Health systems are experiencing rising call volumes while using phone systems that weren’t designed for today’s digital expectations. AI-based technologies are changing the landscape, enabling organizations to improve the patient experience and reduce costs.

During Becker’s 16^th Annual Meeting in Chicago, the session “Eliminating Patient Hold Times: Catholic Health’s Rapid Deployment of Voice AI” featured Allyson T. Collins, vice president, digital strategy, Catholic Health, Long Island (N.Y.), and Aaron Neinstein, MD, chief medical officer, Notable.

They discussed Catholic Health’s journey to adopting AI voice agents, with support from Notable.

Here are three key takeaways from the session:

1. Online and call center issues add costs and jeopardize the patient experience

While Catholic Health has an Epic-first technology stance, they received negative feedback about the MyChart Help Desk. Patient adoption of MyChart was poor, with an activation rate of only 20%.

This was financially costly and negatively impacted the patient experience. About 5,000 patients called each month, with each call costing $10. After analyzing call data, Catholic Health discovered patients were waiting 30-60 seconds for live agents to answer, resulting in 10% of calls being abandoned.

“We were preventing patients from accessing their digital health information, which meant they wouldn’t schedule appointments online, check messages from providers or check test results,” Ms. Collins said. “What’s worse, we knew other health systems were providing a much better digital experience, so patients might never come back to Catholic Health.”

2. AI voice agents increase patient satisfaction, while reducing call center costs

Catholic Health partnered with Notable to incorporate AI voice agents into the MyChart Help Desk processes. The goal — to help patients reset passwords, recover usernames and assist with other common tasks. The initial objective was 30% call containment. On day one, containment was 54%, which has increased to 64%.

According to Ms. Collins, the financial impact has been significant. “In just the first two months we saved $60,000 and projected annual savings of $360,000,” she said.

In addition, patient feedback has been positive. Since agents are available 24/7, patient hold times and call abandonment have been eliminated.

The MyChart Help Desk experience has given Catholic Health confidence to expand AI voice agents to additional patient-facing processes in a phased approach. The organization first extended into two-way texting to support referrals and patient communication, now live across more than 50 specialties with a 20% conversion rate and Epic integration for automated updates.

From there, Catholic Health expanded into inbound AI voice for patient access, targeting high call volumes — approximately 600,000 calls annually — with early use cases focused on identity authentication, triage and routing.

This progression reflects a broader roadmap to scale AI across the patient access front door, sequencing new capabilities based on value and complexity.

3. To succeed with AI voice agents, trust and buy-in are critical

A good first step is analyzing data to determine why patients are calling and where AI voice agents can make the biggest impact. “Look at the use cases, identify the steps and consider what AI agents can handle instead of live agents,” explained Ms. Collins. Based on this information, establish performance targets.

It’s also essential to involve the privacy and legal teams, and the CISO. Transparency and open relationships are key.

“We’ve discovered it doesn’t matter to the patient whether they’re dealing with a live human or AI, as long as they get the help they need,” Ms. Collins said.

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Originally published by Becker’s Health IT on April 23, 2026; republished with permission.

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