It was just before 5 PM on a Friday when Denise, a busy mother, picked up the phone. Her five-year-old son had developed a cold that was worsening by the hour. She wasn't panicking – yet. She just needed to know if she should bring him in over the weekend or wait until Monday. She called the pediatrician's office, hoping for a quick answer.
After sitting on hold for eight minutes, the line transferred her to voicemail. No callback ever came.
By Saturday morning, Denise found herself in the emergency room, facing an impressive medical bill and a flustered provider who remarked, "If you'd just called us earlier…"
Denise's story isn't rare. Every day, thousands of calls like hers go unanswered. Behind each missed call is a patient in need, a frustrated provider, and a missed opportunity for care.
And behind every one of those missed calls is a healthcare system struggling to keep up.
The Crisis Behind the Phone Lines
Healthcare practices today are overloaded. Phone lines ring endlessly. Administrative staff juggle scheduling, triage, and paperwork, while trying to provide compassionate support – yet people still fall through the cracks.
Each missed patient call doesn't just represent poor service; it represents a real financial cost:
Industry estimates suggest practices lose around $57.50 for every missed interaction
For mid-sized practices that can be $90,000 to $180,000 in lost revenue, every single day.
Beyond the dollars, there's an even deeper cost. Staff are burning out. Annual turnover among clinical support teams hovers around 30%, largely driven by overwhelming administrative demands. When providers spend more time on phone calls than on patient care, the entire system suffers.
It's no wonder that patients, staff, and administrators alike are searching for a better way to stay connected.
The Cold Handoff Problem
What happened to Denise reveals something deeper than a missed call. When her call transferred to voicemail, all the context disappeared with it. Her concern. Her son's symptoms. The urgency in her voice. Everything that would have helped the practice respond appropriately was lost in the transfer.
This is the cold handoff problem, and it's costing practices far more than missed revenue. It's eroding patient trust, driving families to competitors, and forcing staff to play catch-up with incomplete information. When context gets lost between systems, channels, and shifts, even answered calls can feel like missed opportunities.
Your practice needs more than faster phones. You need coordinated intelligence that keeps context intact from first contact to final resolution.
What Your Practice Can Achieve with Keona Health
Your practice gets a Healthcare CRM that learns and improves with every patient interaction, combining AI automation (Autopilot) with human coordination (Copilot) to complete outcomes, not just deflect calls. At the heart of this system is Kara, our AI assistant built specifically for the real, messy, high-stakes world of healthcare communication. This isn't about deflecting calls away from your team. It's about completing every patient interaction with the context, speed, and care it deserves.
With Keona, your practice can:
No patient left waiting as every call is instantly answered 24/7
Route urgent concerns to the right person with full patient history intact
Capture revenue that would otherwise hang up or disappear into voicemail
Complete routine requests automatically while your staff focuses on complex care
Eliminate cold handoffs by maintaining complete context across every interaction
Real practices are already seeing these results. EmergeOrtho Triangle saw providers gain 7-11 additional appointments per week within one month of implementation, with urgent care locations adding 10+ appointments per day. Voice Exchange's 24/7 nurse triage service achieved full adoption in one week, with Kara maintaining the same quality and context across all shifts. Patient callbacks dropped 34% within two months, and provider complaints about scheduling fell to zero.
Results You Can Trust
Keona's platform delivers 99% accuracy in patient interactions because we've built it specifically for healthcare's high-stakes environment. Unlike generic AI solutions that deflect calls or provide unreliable responses, your practice gets results that providers trust and patients depend on.
Practices using Keona's platform report:
Revenue Recovery
EmergeOrtho Triangle providers gained 7-11 additional appointments per week within the first month, with urgent care locations adding 10+ appointments daily — translating to significant monthly revenue increases per provider.
Time Savings
Voice Exchange achieved full team adoption in just one week, immediately reducing call handling burden across all nursing shifts.
Operational Excellence
EmergeOrtho reduced patient callbacks by 34% within two months while achieving zero provider complaints about scheduling documentation.
ROI
Karen May, COO of EmergeOrtho Triangle, confirms: "If you are worried about the cost-benefits of Health Desk – don't! It pays for itself many times over."
What makes these results possible is Keona's unique business model. You only pay for completed outcomes, not empty effort. When patients get the care they need and your practice captures the revenue, that's when we succeed together. This pricing model reflects our core belief: access is care. Every interaction your practice completes is an opportunity to deliver on that promise.
Listening Is the New Standard of Care
The future of care doesn't start with a diagnosis. It starts with a simple question: "Can someone help me?"
With Keona's Practice Intelligence 360 platform, your practice can finally answer yes, every time.
Every call is an opportunity to build trust, deliver care, and strengthen your practice.
With Keona, your practice achieves:
Zero patients left on hold
Complete context maintained across every interaction
Staff freed to focus on care that truly requires human expertise
Revenue captured instead of lost to voicemail
Denise's story could have gone differently. With Keona, your practice ensures it does.
Are you ready to make every call count?
See how your organization can achieve zero missed calls, maintain complete context across every interaction, and deliver care that builds trust with every patient conversation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly does Keona's platform do?
Keona's platform combines coordinated autopilot and copilot capabilities to function as your healthcare CRM and practice intelligence hub. Kara, our AI assistant, answers missed calls, maintains complete context across interactions, triages urgent needs, and routes messages to the appropriate person with full patient history. The platform integrates with your existing systems to ensure seamless experiences for both staff and patients, 24/7.
Does Keona replace healthcare staff?
No. Keona's platform is designed to support your existing team, not replace it. By completing repetitive and time-consuming tasks automatically, your staff can focus on high-value interactions that truly require human judgment and empathy.
How much setup does Keona's platform require?
Keona offers flexible implementation options. Our Lite version can be deployed quickly with minimal setup and no deep system integration. For more complex environments, our Advanced platform integrates with your EHR and call workflows. Keona's implementation team offers support every step of the way.
Is Keona secure and HIPAA-compliant?
Yes. Keona's platform is fully HIPAA-compliant and built with healthcare-grade security protocols. Patient data is protected end-to-end, and all communications are encrypted.
How does Keona integrate with our current systems?
Keona's platform is designed to integrate with leading EHRs, phone systems, and scheduling platforms. Our team works closely with yours to ensure a smooth, customized setup that aligns with your existing tech stack and workflows.
What kind of ROI can we realistically expect with Keona?
EmergeOrtho Triangle provides a clear example: providers gained 7-11 additional appointments per week within one month, urgent care locations added 10+ appointments daily, and patient callbacks dropped 34% within two months. As Karen May, COO of EmergeOrtho Triangle, states: "If you are worried about the cost-benefits of Health Desk – don't! It pays for itself many times over." Because we price per outcome, you only pay when your practice is succeeding.
Can Keona scale with our practice?
Yes. Whether you're a small clinic or a large, multi-site organization, Keona's platform scales to meet your needs. You can start small and expand as you go, without needing to overhaul your existing systems.
What support does Keona offer?
Keona provides hands-on support from day one, including onboarding, integration assistance, training, and ongoing optimization. Our goal is to make implementation as smooth and impactful as possible for both your team and your patients.
Posted By
Stephen Dean is COO of Keona Health, where he’s spent 13 years building AI systems that transform patient access. Before “agentic AI” was a term, his team was deploying autonomous systems that now handle millions of patient conversations annually.
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