Inova Health Hits 8.8x ROI with 100% Coverage of Patient Access Calls in First 6 Months
Featuring Michelle Vassallo, VP of Operations and Matthew Kull, EVP, Chief Information and Digital Officer at Inova Health
8.8x
Return on AI Investment
50%
Appointment Management Automation Rate
338K
Automated Calls
Per Month
4,272
Hours of Capacity Gained Per Month
In a Nutshell:
In a strategic move to expand capacity and improve containment rate,
Inova Health deployed Hyro’s Voice AI Agents in their patient support centers. The rollout led to more efficient coverage of patient access calls within six months, with a boost to self-service empowerment for patients and higher efficiency for staff.
Inova Health rapidly scaled voice automation to manage surging call volumes while maintaining high patient satisfaction. With 50% of appointment management calls now successfully AI-resolved, the health system gained over 4,272 hours of staff capacity per month and realized an 8.8x return on AI investment (ROAI). Moreover, Inova experienced a reduction in no-shows and increased revenue from a higher volume of appointments converted.
The Challenge
Scaling Call Center Support to Meet Demand
Inova’s patient access teams were seeing a steady increase in call volumes across their facilities, with appointment management emerging as the top reason patients reached out. Long wait times and limited staffing led to a bottleneck in service quality and experience; patients, frustrated from holding the line, would hang up rather than modify, verify or cancel their appointments, leading to no-shows and vacancies. The leadership team recognized that today’s healthcare consumers expect rapid, seamless access to care—mirroring digital experiences found in leading retail and tech sectors implementing next-gen AI tools.
Additionally, Inova faced organizational challenges related to fragmented call center infrastructure and the need for smarter call routing and scheduling mechanisms. With a growing need to streamline patient throughput and unlock capacity, they looked to responsible AI voice solutions to modernize the digital frontline for their newly optimized and centralized call center.
The Solution
AI Agents for Patient Access – and Beyond
Inova partnered with Hyro to implement voice-based AI Agents into their patient access workflows, fully integrated with Epic, their Cheers CRM, and their telephony infrastructure, NICE CXone. The AI Agents handle a range of use cases, including appointment scheduling, modification, verification and cancellations – as well as FAQ resolution, provider and location search, and prescription refills.
Hyro’s AI Agents are able to resolve simple and repetitive calls autonomously or escalate to human agents when needed. Within six months, 100% of patient access call volume was covered, representing a major milestone in digital transformation and operational efficiency for Inova. Regarding total call coverage, Hyro reached 79% smart routing in the first 30 days, including identifying patient objectives and sending their calls straight to the accurate source of care.
We have more capacity to accomplish critical tasks now that Hyro’s AI Agents are implemented. We’ve saved around 4,000 hours per month through efficient call coverage.
Matthew Kull
EVP, Chief Information and Digital Officer
The Results
880% Return on AI Investment
Across the board, Inova has experienced successful AI augmentation of their workforce – especially for appointment scheduling. Prior to Hyro, Inova’s staff was managing a significant volume of tertiary use cases that didn’t require human interactions or result in better outcomes. Interestingly, during the first 90 days with Hyro, Inova’s health IT team, led by their CIO Matthew Kull, noted a spike in appointments being scheduled by their own staff. The logic? Hyro was able to field calls that didn’t require human interaction – with zero wait time – therefore freeing up staff to focus on more complex patient needs. This shift resulted in an average of 4,272 hours of staff capacity gained per month, a return on AI investment (ROAI) of 880%.
Covering roughly 330,000 calls per month with HIPAA-compliant AI agents marks a significant milestone for Inova’s vision to improve patient experience and access through responsible AI. The quality of safeguards embedded in Hyro’s platform has strengthened digital care without sacrificing patient privacy. Compliance, clarity and control are at the core of Hyro’s solution, leading to smooth, safe and secure deployment of AI within Inova’s preexisting tech stack.
Future-Focused
Looking ahead, Inova plans to bolster their AI suite to include Proactive Care: Outbound Communications using SMS and voice AI calls, driving timely engagement and activation using patient data. From prescription refill reminders to promoting medication adherence and care plan compliance, these use cases will play a critical role in improving healthcare outcomes along the patient journey. By embedding these workflows directly into their digital infrastructure, Inova is reimagining how Responsible AI Agents can be used not just to respond, but to reach out—enhancing care, before patients even ask.
We’re all-the-way satisfied. Hyro is a strong, flexible solution with awesome implementation and a highly responsive team in the AI space.
