Healthcare Case Study: AI in Customer Experience with PanTerra + Five9

AI-powered customer experience automation in healthcare is the use of AI self-service to handle routine patient interactions 24/7.

Patients and members of the healthcare industry demand more than clinical excellence: they expect seamless, personalized customer service experience that reflects both convenience and efficiency. Don't we all?

AI in customer experience reduces call abandonment, speeds up access to care, and frees staff for complex, human-led support.

Healthcare providers using PanTerra Networks and Five9 are seeing measurable results.

Recent deployments report up to $40,000 per day in operational savings and call abandonment drops of up to 15 points.

Patients get faster answers and teams get time back.

Let’s see - by the numbers - how these innovations are reshaping the future of healthcare communication and delivering measurable results.

TL;DR

• AI self-service handles routine patient requests 24/7.
• Deployments show up to $40K/day savings and up to 15-point drops in abandonment.
• Patients reach the right department faster with fewer transfers.
• Staff time shifts from admin to complex, human-led care.

Why healthcare organizations are adopting AI CX automation now

Because patient access expectations are rising faster than contact centers can scale with staff alone, AI in customer experience closes that gap quickly.

By 2026, AI-driven contact centers are expected to handle a growing share of patient interactions, accelerating the shift to faster, more efficient support.

Healthcare contact centers face an access gap that patients feel immediately.

• 91% of patients expect responses within 24 hours, yet many wait days.
• Average abandonment rates sit at 5–15%.

Staffing gaps are no longer a future risk. They’re a near-term operational reality.

“Healthcare call centers that don’t use AI to handle routine requests will face a shortfall of 23 agents,” says Roni Jamesmeyer (Five9). Hiring alone doesn’t fix that gap. Automation does.

That’s why AI self-service is becoming the fastest path to better access and smoother patient experiences.

AI in customer experience: the expectations automation solves

AI is solving the expectation of immediate, digital self-service for scheduling, basic questions, and fast routing to the right department.

Patient demand is digital and cross-generational.

• 92% of healthcare leaders say AI is their most transformative technology.
• 150M+ Millennials and Gen Z patients expect online scheduling and app access.
• 64% of Baby Boomers actively use digital health tools.

Across voice and digital channels, IVAs, modern IVR, and mobile/web self-service are becoming the standard access layer for patients.

Self-service was a top contact center priority in 2024 (59.3%) and remains a key 2025 investment area (~36%), reflecting that fast access is now a baseline patient expectation.

How AI improves patient experience without replacing humans

AI in customer experience improves patient experience by resolving routine requests instantly and routing complex cases to humans with full context.

That makes care faster and more personal without losing the human touch.

AI handles high-volume, repeatable tasks. Humans handle nuanced care.

Deployments using PanTerra + Five9 show that AI self-service:

• Reduces long holds with natural-language routing.
• Automates appointment scheduling with SMS confirmations.
• Processes prescription refills in under 2 minutes.
• Transfers complex cases to humans with context preserved.
• Cuts handle time by ~33% using auto summaries.

Patients get answers fast, while staff focuses on empathy-heavy care.

Results healthcare organizations are seeing

Organizations are seeing lower abandonment, higher appointment capture, and ROI within months.

Real deployments show consistent outcomes within months.

Penn Medicine (5M calls/year)

Penn Medicine handles ~5M calls/year and struggled with high IVR abandonment and misrouting. After PanTerra + Five9:

• Abandonment dropped to 20%.
• New-patient appointments rose 10%.
• Bilingual support was added without new hires.

US Radiology Specialists (2.4M calls/year)

US Radiology Specialists had ~6,500 misrouted calls/month across 2.4M annual calls.

• $4M recovered revenue.
• 25% more call capacity captured.
• Hiring 15 agents was avoided.
• Full ROI in 3 months.

Exact Sciences (high-volume service lines)

Exact Sciences faced high-volume routine pickup requests across service lines.

• 15 FTE-equivalents automated on one line.
• 6% of total calls handled by AI, targeting 20%.
• Epic EHR integration enabled proactive outreach.

These results come from fixing predictable friction.

• Misrouting drops.
• Repeat calls drop.
• Scheduling becomes self-serve.

Check out our last webinar with Roni Jamesmeyer and Roni Pearson below for even more insights.

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How PanTerra and Five9 work together in healthcare

PanTerra’s Luna AI integrates directly with Five9’s contact-center platform.

The system is designed for healthcare workflows. Key capabilities include:

• Natural-language routing instead of phone trees.
• Voice biometrics for faster verification.
• Automated scheduling with confirmations.
• Native Epic EHR integration, used by 36% of U.S. hospitals.

Routine requests stay in self-service, while complex cases move to human agents smoothly.

PanTerra + Five9 help modernize patient communication while protecting the human side of care.

Join leaders in the industry with state-of-the-art customer service experience and discover the power of AI-driven communication.

Discover more case insights on how PanTerra Networks and Five9 can help your business grow.

AI in Customer Experience FAQs

What is an AI virtual agent in healthcare?

It’s an AI assistant that answers routine questions, routes calls, schedules visits, and handles basic requests around the clock using natural language.

How does AI reduce call abandonment?

It shortens wait time and removes confusing menus. Patients reach the right place faster, so fewer hang up.

How fast is ROI for AI CX automation?

Most healthcare deployments reach payback in 3–6 months.

What types of calls can AI handle?

AI answering services typically handle appointment bookings, rescheduling, cancellations and general enquiries about services, practice hours, location information and routine follow-up calls. It is customizable to fit your specific needs and protocols.