# How does a retina practice use AI voice agents for urgent scheduling?

> Northern California Retina-Vitreous Associates uses an Assort Health voice agent for about 10,000 monthly calls, roughly a third of which were previously missed. The agent applies diagnosis-based urgency rules, such as scheduling retinal detachment within one to two days.

- **Evidence grade:** B — Named organization with a quantified outcome, from the vendor or the organization's own announcement.
- **Organization:** Northern California Retina-Vitreous Associates (retina specialty practice)
- **Industry:** Hospitals & Health Systems — Ophthalmology (retina)
- **Roles:** Patient Access & Outreach
- **Tools:** Voice AI agent (Assort Health)
- **Status:** production · **Agent pattern:** voice-agent · **Autonomy:** 3/4
- **Last verified:** 2026-10-17

## Reported outcomes
- call volume handled: ~10,000 monthly calls, ~33% previously missed [1] (self-reported)

## How it works
1. Agent answers inbound calls and schedules using diagnosis-based urgency rules.
2. Handles long, complex appointment types and payer requirements.

## Risks & compliance
- PHI handling (HIPAA); EHR write access
- Escalation rules needed for clinically urgent requests
- Vendor-published results; not independently audited

## Sources
1. Assort Health, "NCRVA customer story" (undated; accessed 2026-10-17) <https://www.assorthealth.com/customers/ncrva>
   > "Assort handles ~10,000 monthly calls with ~33% previously missed, freeing staff to focus on patient care"

Canonical: https://agentcasefile.com/cases/ncrva-retina-assort-voice-ai-scheduling/ · License: CC BY 4.0 (summary) · Source: Agent Casefile