“We selected Parlance as our PBX AI partner during the height of the pandemic and it has delivered significant results. In December 2020, we went live with Parlance in 6 weeks at a very large hospital, then subsequently rolled it out across all 10 hospitals in two states. As a CIO and professor of artificial intelligence in healthcare, I was impressed with Parlance’s robust combination of conversational AI technologies and proprietary tools. Their commitment to the data science of AI over their 25+ year history and their unrivaled name recognizer technology are demonstrated by the ROI — over 70% of our external calls are handled by Parlance technology. This allowed us to reduce FTEs by 50% and consolidate the department.
— Andy Draper, Regional CIO at HCA Healthcare
The Challenge
Andy Draper, identified consolidation and automation of the telecommunications infrastructure as an opportunity to modernize switchboard operations, increase the productivity of PBX operators, reduce labor costs, and improve calling experiences for internal health system callers as well as patients and their families.
A regional cost reduction initiative mandated:
- A quick implementation to avoid hiring new FTEs to replace retiring operators
- Use of AI to automate routine call routing tasks and increase productivity of frontline staff
- A solution with proven ROI and demonstrated success in the healthcare industry
- A tool with high accuracy in proper name recognition to decrease inbound call volume to switchboard operators
- Substitution of routine labor with technology where appropriate — saving human effort for complex calls
- Support for operators — with modern technology tools to alleviate burnout and help build a more engaged employee culture
“It’s imperative that any conversational AI solution in healthcare handle references to people with high accuracy – whether it be a patient wanting to talk to their doctor, a doctor trying to get medical records for a particular patient, or loved ones trying to reach a patient — getting the name right is important. Healthcare organizations must provide easy access to care and information to simplify communication for the community of people who rely on them. Modern Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) systems are poor at recognizing and handling proper names. Parlance solves this problem.”
— Will Sadkin, Directory of Technology and Architecture at Parlance
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“ROI for Parlance occurred within 90 days! If you’re a CIO looking for a quick win in the budget cycle, I would do this.”
— Andy Draper, Regional CIO at HCA Healthcare
The Solution
Parlance strategic technology implementation delivers critical operational transformation.
The Information Technology Group (ITG) team for the HCA Continental Division, in collaboration with Wesley Medical Center’s operations team, implemented a mission-critical telecommunications solution within an aggressive 6-week timeline to mitigate workforce continuity risks posed by imminent operator retirements. Parlance executed the deployment flawlessly, achieving an immediate 52% call offload rate upon implementation.
Following “go live,” Parlance comprehensive call pattern analytics identified significant operational inefficiencies within the directory infrastructure. This data-driven assessment revealed previously undetected systemic gaps in call routing protocols. The subsequent targeted recommendations eliminated numerous friction points for patients and staff, expanded automated self-service capabilities, demonstrably reduced operator and agent burdens and workload requirements, and enabled better service for callers throughout the care delivery network.
These evidence-based interventions transformed the HCA telecommunications infrastructure from an operational vulnerability into a strategic asset driving both patient satisfaction and operational efficiency outcomes.
Demonstrated success in the HCA Continental Division
Instant labor savings
Labor savings grow over time
Some notable examples of Parlance performance at HCA hospital switchboards
The Result
Parlance saves money for HCA while improving patient and operator experience at the switchboard, delivering comprehensive speech-driven solutions that bridge the gap between staffing limitations and patient demand.
Day one:
- Parlance enables callers to receive the support they need without the friction and frustration associated with typical automated solutions
- Patient and family member calling experiences improve right away
- Inbound call volume to operators is reduced
- Staff have breathing room and use their time more efficiently
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“Parlance is a proven, reliable HCA Strategic Partner.”
— Joseph Maxwell, CEO at Parlance
About Parlance
For over 25 years, Parlance has been at the forefront of speech-enabled solutions. Parlance improves switchboard and contact center performance at thousands of hospitals and clinics across the nation. Our expertise enables complex health systems to feel confident taking advantage of industry-leading technologies. As a trusted partner, we are committed to delivering the most valuable combination of technology and service to our customers. While we continue to push boundaries in the lab, we ensure that our customers have reliable industrial grade applications in the field. Parlance combines our proprietary phonetic names database, with AI, NLP, NLU, and integration into EHR systems, to deliver offload of call volume that is unrivaled in the industry.
As healthcare consumer demands continue to escalate, Parlance positions hospitals and clinics to maintain service quality regardless of volume fluctuations. By modernizing the voice channel with conversational AI at the healthcare digital front door, Parlance addresses the pain points of outdated phone communication while simultaneously transforming operational efficiency and delivering substantial ROI.
Parlance delivers every engagement as a fully managed service.
