As Private Clinics Struggle With Administrative Costs, Chatfuel Launches AI Receptionist

(MENAFNEditorial) In response to the growing administrative workload in clinics and private medical practices, Chatfuel has introduced an AI-powered receptionist, designed to fully automate the patient communication cycle. Built with more than 1 billion real customer conversations, the system is intended to reduce administrative burdens on healthcare providers and allow them to focus more on patient care.

The cost of hiring administrative staff has risen sharply for small clinics and private practices in recent years, leaving many physicians to manage scheduling, reminders, intake and routine follow-ups themselves. The shift has contributed to patient drop-offs, lower retention and growing levels of physician burnout.

The AI receptionist operates where clinics already communicate with patients - social networks and messengers. Chatfuel is the first to automate the full patient communication cycle end to end, including appointment scheduling and calendar management, reminders, intake, triage and routine patient communication, with a human stepping in only when needed.

The solution is already in use across more than 18,000 businesses, including healthcare providers. Clinics using the system report booking increases of 20% to 40% within weeks, along with reductions in no-shows of up to 45%. Those results are primarily attributed to automated reminders and follow-up messaging.

“Some patients come every month or every 20 days, and I can’t keep reminding them because I’m treating patients … With Chatfuel's automatic reminders, some patients tell me they won’t be able to come or ask to reschedule, so I can give that slot to someone else, who'll say ‘Yes’” said Darío Coruch, a solo physiotherapist in Mexico.

The product has been tested and deployed extensively in Spanish-speaking markets, where most providers rely on social networks and messengers like WhatsApp as their primary communication channel.

In the U.S. market, administrative expenses account for a higher share of healthcare spending than in other developed countries. Small clinics and private practices often cannot afford full-time administrative staff, which can cost between $80,000 and $120,000 annually. As a result, physicians frequently manage scheduling and patient messages themselves, limiting time available for care.

“Excess spending in the U.S. healthcare system comes from many sources, but administrative work is one of the largest and least addressed,” said Fedor Pak, CEO of Chatfuel. “We’ve seen that most patient communication is predictable and automatable. By handling that workload with AI, we can give doctors back their time while lowering costs for practices and patients alike.”

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