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Running an endocrinology clinic isn’t for the faint of heart. Between managing chronic conditions like diabetes and thyroid disorders, handling complex scheduling, and dealing with non-stop paperwork, staff barely have time to breathe. The volume is high. The workflows are complicated. The resources are tight. And every missed appointment or delayed task has real consequences for patients, staff, and revenue.

Behind the scenes, administrators whisper:

“We’re seeing too many no-shows, especially for new patients and important follow-up visits.”

“Our team spends hours every week chasing pre-auths for labs, imaging, or specialty meds.”

“It’s hard to keep track of referrals. Patients fall through the cracks when we can’t see where they are in the process.”

If your clinic is feeling overwhelmed, you’re not alone. Here are the biggest operational challenges endocrinology practices face today, and a few ways clinics are starting to simplify the chaos.

Missed Appointments Cost More Than Time

It’s 9:00 a.m., and your team is ready for a two-hour insulin pump training. The patient doesn’t show. That’s hours of staff time wasted, not to mention a hit to your clinic’s revenue. These no-shows aren’t isolated, especially with new patients or complex follow-up visits.

Why does this happen?

Every missed visit sets off a domino effect: delayed care, disjointed treatment plans, and frustrated teams trying to patch the holes.

Some clinics have started using automated reminders via text or email with instructions built in. It’s a small change that can reduce missed appointments and stabilize the daily schedule. Even a 10% improvement in show rates adds up over a week.

Admin Overload from Endless Pre-Auths

Getting an insulin pump or continuous glucose monitor (CGM) to a patient isn’t just a matter of placing an order. Each request comes with multiple steps:

Get one thing wrong, and you’re facing a denial. Multiply that by dozens of authorizations each week, and the workload gets overwhelming.

Staff spend hours chasing down missing paperwork, trying to correct submission errors, or appealing denials. It’s not just frustrating – it’s expensive. Denied claims and delayed treatment cost clinics time and money.

Some clinics are beginning to rely on systems that flag missing items earlier in the process before something goes wrong. When the right documents are in place from the start, everything moves faster and smoother.

Chronic Care, Time‑Crunched Staff

Endocrinology is chronic care. Patients don’t come in once and disappear. They need ongoing labs, medication changes, A1C checks, dietary support, and sometimes insulin or thyroid education.

But many staff are already maxed out with answering phones, coordinating referrals, prepping patients for procedures, and handling intake. That leaves little time for proactive care.

You might have patients whose labs are overdue, but no time to call them. Or a mom waiting on a pump class for her teenager, but no availability for two weeks.

A few practices have started using automated check-ins for chronic conditions. For example:

Automation doesn’t replace the human touch. It buys staff time to focus where it’s most needed.

Referrals and Lost Visits

Your clinic may be getting plenty of referrals from PCPs, OB/GYNs, and pediatricians. But how many of those actually turn into visits?

If referrals arrive via fax or voicemail, there’s no easy way to track what’s been received, what’s been scheduled, or what still needs outreach. Patients slip through the cracks – some forget, some go elsewhere, and some are simply never contacted.

One clinic leader put it bluntly: “We lose referrals we didn’t even know we had.”

Some organizations are fixing this with digital workflows that track referrals from receipt to appointment. Patients can be automatically contacted, given self-scheduling links, and guided through next steps. When you can see exactly where each referral stands, it’s easier to close the loop.

Complex Scheduling

Not all endocrine appointments are created equal. Some require fasting labs. Others follow imaging results. New diabetes patients need class time, plus education follow-ups. Add in medication changes, telehealth preferences, and time-of-day requests, and scheduling becomes a complicated puzzle.

It’s no wonder patients show up unprepared or don’t show at all.

Your front desk team spends mornings putting out fires:

When reminders include clear and custom prep instructions like fasting, medications, and time expectations, patients arrive ready. And when your scheduling system supports complex workflows, staff don’t have to juggle a dozen variables by hand.

Real-World Proof from Endocrine Clinics

Some clinics are already seeing results from modernizing their workflows:

One endocrinologist said,

“Luma helps us to be more proactive about communication and scheduling. Now we can see patients at regular intervals – not just when they’re already ill.” 

And a health system using Luma with Epic captured $138 million in appointments in a year—while 74% of endocrinology patients used automated rescheduling instead of cancelling.

3 Smart Moves You Can Take Today

You don’t have to overhaul everything. Start with three moves:

  1. Automate key reminders. Start with one or two areas like pump trainings or fasting labs. Send text reminders with prep instructions 48 and 24 hours before the visit. Let patients confirm or reschedule with one click.
  2. Triage referrals digitally. Pull in new referrals weekly. Send automatic invitations to book appointments. Track which providers are sending the most and following through the least.
  3. Build custom chronic-care check-in campaigns. Segment patients by A1C level, insulin start date, or lab schedule. Send educational nudges or scheduling reminders to keep care on track without manual effort.

A Better Balance for Your Clinic

Endocrinology clinics do essential work but the operational challenges make that work harder than it needs to be. When no-shows, paperwork, and scheduling gaps pile up, the system strains and staff burn out.

The good news? You don’t need to add more people to fix it. Smarter workflows, clearer communication, and a few well-placed automations can help your team do more with less chaos.

When your patients show up on time, referrals get booked, and care stays on track, everyone wins.

Want to see how your endocrinology clinic could benefit from smarter workflows and more connected patient experiences? Schedule a personalized demo with the Luma Health team to explore how our platform can help you streamline operations, reduce no-shows, and support your patients every step of the way.

Get in touch with us today

Ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) and specialty surgical clinics are designed to run like clockwork. Every operating room (OR) slot is scheduled with precision. Surgical teams move swiftly and in sync. The expectation is that every minute counts – because it does. But the reality? Things go wrong all the time.

It only takes one missed prep or a no-show to throw off the entire day. A patient forgets to stop their medication, another shows up late or not at all. A lab result doesn’t arrive. A consent form is missing. The ripple effects are immediate: delays, cancellations, frustrated staff, and lost revenue.

Let’s take a closer look at the everyday breakdowns, and what surgery centers can do to run more efficiently and recover that lost time.

When Surgeries Don’t Run, Revenue Doesn’t Flow

Every surgery slot represents more than just clinical care – it’s also a business asset. Unused OR time means sunk costs. If a patient cancels at the last minute or fails to show, it’s not just a gap in the schedule. It’s a loss across the board:

One administrator summed it up perfectly: “Last-minute cancellations kill our momentum, and our margins.”

Even a single lost case can throw off the day’s rhythm. Now multiply that across multiple ORs, multiple days a week, and the losses compound quickly.

Pre-Op Paperwork: The Hidden Time Drain

The pre-op process is full of paperwork, and none of it is optional. Patients need to submit consents, medical clearances, labs, imaging, and insurance authorizations. Staff are responsible for collecting it, reviewing it, and making sure nothing slips through the cracks.

That’s easier said than done. Many surgery center teams spend hours each day tracking down missing documents. They call clinics, fax forms, leave voicemails, and chase patients who don’t understand what’s needed.

If even one key piece is missing on the day of surgery, the case may be delayed or canceled altogether.

As one clinic leader put it: “Our team spends hours tracking down the basics. There’s no good way to stay ahead.”

Patient Prep Confusion: A Common, Costly Mistake

Even when instructions are crystal clear, patients can get confused or overwhelmed. Between medication changes, fasting (NPO) guidelines, arrival times, and last-minute updates, it’s easy for someone to miss a step.

And when they do? The surgery might be called off.

One nurse explained: “Patients get confused about being NPO or stopping meds, and we’re left with same-day cancellations.”

These aren’t just frustrating moments. They’re operational failures. And they often stem from the same root problem: inconsistent communication and unclear workflows.

Referral Drop-Offs: Where Patients Disappear

Many ASCs rely on a steady stream of referrals from PCPs, orthopedists, ENTs, GI specialists, and others. But referrals don’t always lead to procedures. From referral received, intake completed, clearance obtained, through to a scheduled appointment, without a clear system to track patients through this funnel, many patients fall through the cracks.

That’s not just missed revenue. It’s also a hit to your reputation with referring providers who expect their patients to receive timely care.

One administrator said it plainly: “We don’t know who’s in the pipeline, who’s been scheduled, or who’s just… gone.”

Communication Breakdowns Across the Ecosystem

Coordination in surgical settings involves many players: the clinic, the surgery center, anesthesiology, labs, referring providers, and, of course, the patient. Yet many centers still rely on outdated communication tools like fax, email, and voicemail.

That disjointed system leads to:

A center director put it this way: “It’s hard to keep everyone aligned, especially across clinics, surgery centers, and referral sources.”

Without centralized communication, things fall apart quickly.

Scheduling: A High-Stakes Puzzle

Booking a surgery isn’t as simple as putting a name on a calendar. There are multiple moving parts to align:

When even one piece is missing, the whole plan can unravel. Many surgery centers rely on spreadsheets or manual systems to manage this complexity. But as the volume grows or as they expand to more surgeons or sites, these systems struggle to keep up.

When Growth Outpaces Infrastructure

Growth is a good thing until your processes can’t handle it. As ASCs add more providers, acquire more locations, or expand their services, their old systems start to buckle.

Without consistent processes across sites, it becomes hard to track patient readiness, referral follow-through, and scheduling accuracy.

One clinical coordinator shared: “It’s tough to keep our patient intake consistent when we’re managing so many doctors and locations.”

Scaling up operations without scalable systems often leads to burnout and inefficiency.

Three High-Impact Fixes You Can Implement Now

You don’t need a massive overhaul to make a difference. Here are three practical ways to build momentum—without derailing daily operations.

1. Automate pre-op workflows
Technology can handle the reminders, document tracking, and clearance checks that currently fall on your staff. Use digital tools to:

With automation in place, surprises at 6 a.m. become much less common.

2. Introduce a Smart Waitlist
Instead of leaving last-minute cancellations as dead space in the OR schedule, use a smart waitlist to notify patients who are prepped and ready. Send out a text or email offer for the open slot and let them confirm electronically. This reduces manual scheduling work and keeps ORs productive.

3. Track referrals in one central system
Implement a solution that flags where each referral stands, from received referral to in intake to scheduled and then completed. This helps prevent drop-offs and improves communication with referring clinics. When everyone sees the same status in real-time, follow-up becomes much easier.

Making the Day Smoother, One Step at a Time

Running a surgical clinic or ASC will always be complex. But it doesn’t have to feel chaotic.

By addressing a few key breakdown points like prep communication, scheduling coordination, and referral tracking, you can make measurable improvements. The benefits are real: more procedures completed, fewer day-of disruptions, less staff stress, and better patient experiences.

Your OR schedule doesn’t have to feel like a juggling act. With the right tools and a few strategic changes, you can bring calm to the chaos and keep patients, staff, and your bottom line on track.

Want to see how your surgery center could benefit from smarter workflows and more connected patient experiences? Schedule a personalized demo with the Luma Health team to explore how our platform can help you streamline operations, reduce no-shows, and support your patients every step of the way.

Get in touch with us today

Running a pulmonology clinic isn’t easy. Every day, staff are juggling packed schedules, complex care plans, and patients who need serious attention, often urgently. From COPD and asthma to sleep apnea and post-hospital follow-ups, these patients require close monitoring and timely care.

But what happens when appointments get missed, paperwork slows things down, or referrals go untracked? The whole system starts to feel like a game of catch-up, and patients and staff both lose.

The good news? A few smart changes, especially with the help of modern technology, can make a big difference.

No-Shows Hurt More Than the Schedule

Pulmonology clinics see high no-show rates. Why? Some patients forget their appointment. Others don’t understand the prep, especially for sleep studies. And for many, transportation or mobility issues make it hard to get there.

“We get a lot of no-shows for follow-ups and sleep studies – patients forget or don’t understand prep.”

Each missed appointment isn’t just a hole in the schedule. It’s lost revenue and delayed care. Rebooking takes time, and staff have to scramble to adjust.

What helps:

Automating these steps means staff spend less time on the phone, and patients are more likely to show up prepared.

Coordinating Care Across Locations Is a Puzzle

Pulmonology care is spread out. Patients might need to:

“It’s a headache trying to juggle clinic visits, PFTs, bronchoscopies, and sleep studies across locations.”

Without tools to help, staff are left managing this all by hand – calling, tracking on spreadsheets, and hoping nothing gets missed.

What helps:

When the system works smoothly, patients know where they’re going and why, and your team doesn’t have to do everything manually.

Referrals That Fall Through the Cracks

Referrals are key to growing and sustaining a pulmonology clinic. But too often, they don’t turn into appointments.

“We lose track of referrals all the time – especially the ones that come from hospitals or PCPs.”

Sometimes they’re faxed in. Sometimes they’re emailed. Sometimes they’re just… lost.

What helps:

This reduces referral leakage and makes sure every patient gets seen, while boosting clinic revenue at the same time.

Chronic Care Follow-Up Is Hard with a Small Team

Managing patients with chronic conditions like COPD and interstitial lung disease takes a lot of follow-up. Labs, medication changes, education, and symptom checks all pile up.

“Managing COPD and other chronic patients is tough – we don’t have the staff to stay on top of it all.”

But most clinics can’t afford to hire more staff. And the staff they do have are stretched thin.

What helps:

When the routine communication is handled automatically, staff have more time to spend with patients who need them most.

Empty Sleep Labs = Missed Revenue

Sleep studies are one of the most valuable services pulmonology clinics offer. But if the lab isn’t full, the costs add up.

“Our sleep lab isn’t full most nights – we’re losing volume because of no-shows or delays.”

The reasons? Delayed scheduling. Confusing prep instructions. Patients who were never properly onboarded.

What helps:

These small improvements can lead to major gains in sleep lab utilization, and in bottom-line revenue.

Discharge Follow-Ups Often Get Missed

After a hospital stay for something like pneumonia or a COPD flare-up, patients need timely follow-up. But it’s common for them to leave the hospital without a scheduled appointment—and many don’t get one until weeks later.

“Discharged patients fall through the cracks before we can get them in for a follow-up.”

This gap in care can lead to readmissions or worsening conditions.

What helps:

The faster you can close the loop, the better for your patients and your practice.

3 Smart Moves You Can Make This Month

You don’t need a full system overhaul to start improving your clinic’s operations. Here are three low-lift actions you can take now:

  1. Pick your biggest bottleneck. Is it sleep study intake? Referral coordination? Find your most frustrating, time-consuming task, and focus your energy there first.
  2. Automate the repetitive stuff. Appointment reminders, prep instructions, follow-up messages? if it’s something your staff does 10+ times a day, it’s probably worth automating.
  3. Measure what matters. Track no-show rates, referral-to-scheduled time, or time-to-follow-up after discharge. Then re-measure after implementing new tools to see what’s working.

Your staff is already doing a tough job. They’re supporting patients with serious respiratory conditions while juggling complex logistics and paperwork.

You don’t need more people. You need more support.

The right tools, designed for how your clinic actually works, can help reduce chaos, streamline scheduling, and make sure patients don’t fall through the cracks.

And when you give your team the support they need, patients feel the difference.

Want to see how your pulmonology practice could benefit from smarter workflows and more connected patient experiences? Schedule a personalized demo with the Luma Health team to explore how our platform can help you streamline operations, reduce no-shows, and support your patients every step of the way.

Get in touch with us today

In pain management clinics, time equals revenue. When a patient misses a procedure like an injection or ablation, the slot often can’t be filled, and the clinic loses income it can’t get back. Staff are left scrambling, and patients are left without the care they need.

Behind each no-show or late cancellation is a web of challenges: confusing instructions, last-minute insurance issues, unclear follow-up steps. The cost is more than financial. It also disrupts care and stresses staff.

“We’re constantly losing revenue from no-shows, especially for follow-up procedures patients forget about,” said one clinic manager.

These visits are high-value and time-sensitive. If the clinic can’t connect the dots between referral, prep, and arrival, the opportunity is gone and may not come back for weeks.

The Pre-Auth Problem

Getting procedures approved by insurance is rarely smooth. Every payer has its own rules. Some require supporting notes, others need step therapy, and nearly all involve long waits.

One clinic leader put it bluntly: “Pre-auth and intake are still way too manual. My staff is drowning in paperwork.”

When prior authorization requests get stuck, it slows everything. A delay in approval can mean a canceled appointment. Patients wait longer, schedules shift, and everyone gets frustrated. Some clinics have teams dedicated to handling pre-auth, but even then, they’re stretched thin.

Technology that automates parts of this process, like flagging missing information or triggering follow-ups, can save hours each week. More importantly, it helps ensure patients don’t have to wait for pain relief.

Referrals Without Follow-Through

Pain management clinics often rely on referrals from primary care, ortho, or neurology. But referrals don’t always turn into appointments.

“It’s hard to tell which referrals we’ve lost until someone calls to ask if we’ve reached out yet,” one admin shared.

That lag in outreach is a major source of revenue leakage. And it’s not just about lost money. It’s lost care. Patients are left waiting, or they go elsewhere.

Using tools that automatically capture incoming referrals and send a text or email to invite the patient to schedule can plug this gap. Clinics that streamline this process see more visits scheduled, faster turnaround, and fewer missed opportunities.

Scheduling That Actually Works

Scheduling procedures is complex. It involves the surgeon or interventionalist, the anesthesia team, available room time, and patient preferences. Juggling it all manually often leads to missed opportunities.

“I have no clear view into our waitlist or how long patients are waiting to get in,” said one practice leader.

When patients cancel or don’t show, those valuable slots go unused. Meanwhile, others are still on hold waiting for an appointment.

Smart scheduling tools that incorporate waitlists, cancellation re-fills, and time block management give teams a clearer view. That means fewer wasted hours, more completed procedures, and less staff stress.

The Lost Follow-Up

Pain care doesn’t end after the procedure. Patients often need follow-up visits to check results, adjust medications, or discuss next steps.

But many clinics fall short on this front.

“We finish the procedure but don’t always follow up, and that shows up in our reviews,” one leader noted.

When patients feel forgotten, they’re less likely to return or recommend the practice. That can hurt both reputation and revenue.

Simple post-visit workflows, like an automatic message to check on recovery or prompt the next appointment. go a long way in keeping patients engaged and cared for.

Where Smart Tools Help

Luma Health works with pain management clinics to tackle exactly these problems. But it’s not about adding more tools. It’s about reducing the load.

Our customers use automation to:

Instead of relying on staff to remember every task, the system helps them focus on the work that matters most: caring for patients.

Three Quick Wins for Pain Clinics

Want to start improving your operations right away? Try these ideas:

  1. Check your no-show data. Look at the last 90 days. What’s the most missed appointment type? Is there a reminder problem? A prep issue?
  2. Centralize referral tracking. A shared tracker or lightweight tool can help your team follow up faster and more reliably.
  3. Ask your team. Where are they spending the most time on admin work? Their answers will point you to the biggest opportunities for automation.

Running a pain management clinic is tough. You’re dealing with complex care, strict schedules, and stressed-out patients, all while trying to stay profitable.

But even small changes can make a big difference. With the right technology, you can cut down on missed procedures, reduce admin burden, and help your staff do more of what they’re great at.

Want to see how your pain management practice could benefit from smarter workflows and more connected patient experiences? Schedule a personalized demo with the Luma Health team to explore how our platform can help you streamline operations, reduce no-shows, and support your patients every step of the way.

Get in touch with us today

In physical therapy, each visit counts – literally. Every visit is a step toward a patient’s recovery, and a critical unit of revenue for the clinic. But for clinic administrators, keeping things on track isn’t just about showing up. It’s a constant juggling act of referrals, intake, scheduling, paperwork, and proving the value of care. One missed step can cause a ripple that affects staff, revenue, and outcomes.

Let’s take a closer look at the operational challenges facing PT clinics today and how forward-thinking teams are using technology to fix the cracks before patients fall through them.

Getting Started Shouldn’t Be So Hard

Many physical therapy clinics lose patients before they even begin. A referral comes in, but then what? Between insurance checks, paperwork, and scheduling, days or even weeks can pass before the patient hears back. In that time, motivation fades and many never make it to their first appointment.

A PT administrator summed it up: “Patients fall through the cracks when intake and scheduling aren’t streamlined. Some never even get started.”

And when patients don’t show up, clinics lose more than a visit. They lose revenue, lose trust, and lose the chance to help someone get better.

Modern clinics are addressing this with tools like those offered by Luma including digital intake forms, automatic referral capture, and real-time self-scheduling. But more than just tools, the goal is simplicity. When the process is smooth for the patient, they show up. And that’s when care (and reimbursement) starts.

When Patients Disappear Midway Through Care

Even once treatment begins, engagement can drop. Patients miss appointments, cancel without rescheduling, or drop out of care altogether. That’s a serious problem in PT, where consistent attendance is essential for both outcomes and revenue.

“We lose revenue when patients no-show or drop out before finishing their plan of care,” one manager told us.

There are lots of reasons for drop-offs including transportation issues, forgotten appointments, or feeling like they’re not improving fast enough. But the effect is the same: lost time, lost income, and stalled progress.

Some clinics are fighting back with automated text reminders, two-way messaging, and rescheduling tools that make it easier to stay on track. The goal isn’t just fewer no-shows. It’s helping patients follow through with care.

Turning Referrals into Appointments

Referrals are the lifeline of many PT clinics. But just getting a referral isn’t enough. Converting it into a scheduled visit takes too long—and too often, it never happens.

“It takes too long to turn referrals into scheduled visits. We miss opportunities every day.”

Manual intake slows things down. Referrals arrive by fax or phone, sit in inboxes, and require staff to review, input, and follow up. With every extra step, there’s a chance the patient walks away.

High-performing clinics now treat referrals more like leads. They use platforms that automatically import and triage referrals, assign them to the right team, and send an immediate message to the patient with a scheduling link. That proactive outreach keeps patients from slipping away before care even starts.

Prior Authorizations Slow Everything Down

No discussion about PT administration is complete without talking about prior auths. They’re complex, time-consuming, and often inconsistent between payers.

“Prior authorizations are a manual headache that slow everything down,” said another admin.

This isn’t just annoying. Treatment gets delayed. Patients disengage. And clinics lose time—and money—trying to navigate it all.

Even partially automating prior auth workflows can make a difference, like sending documentation reminders or flagging incomplete records. These small improvements help move care forward without draining your team’s energy.

Drowning in Paperwork and Short on Staff

Documentation requirements in physical therapy are heavy. Intake forms, progress notes, compliance records – it all adds up fast. Add in staffing shortages, and the result is clear: burnout.

“Our staff is buried in documentation and compliance work that takes time away from patient care.”

Digital intake forms, automated chart prep, and communication tools that tie directly into your EHR can help your team work smarter, not harder. Freeing up even an hour a day per staff member can improve morale and help them focus on what matters: the patients.

Proving That Care Works

It’s not enough to provide good care – you have to prove it. As more payers and health systems shift toward value-based care, clinics must track and report outcomes. But fragmented data, incomplete visit records, and disconnected systems make this a challenge.

“We’re constantly asked to show our impact on outcomes and justify our value but the data is hard to track and report.”

The solution? Connect patient engagement systems with your EHR and reporting tools. When visits, reminders, and patient feedback all live in one ecosystem, reporting becomes easier and more accurate.

3 Ways You Can Take Action Today

If these challenges sound familiar, you’re not alone. But you don’t need a full tech overhaul to start seeing results. Here are three low-lift ways to make a difference:

  1. Track your referrals from start to finish. Don’t just log incoming referrals. Track how many convert, how long it takes, and where patients drop off. This will help you spot where you’re losing patients and then you can fix it.
  2. Create an automatic no-show follow-up. Set up a workflow to send a friendly text when someone misses an appointment. Include a link to reschedule and follow up again in 48 hours. It’s simple, and it works. You’ll recover more visits and revenue without adding staff workload.
  3. Review your manual tasks. What’s still being done by hand that could be automated? Look at things like reminder calls, intake forms, or insurance checks. Small wins here can free up hours a week.

Running a physical therapy clinic today is hard. You’re balancing the need to grow with the need to provide excellent care on a tight budget, with a small team, and in a complex healthcare system.

But by focusing on the operational pain points that slow you down, and applying tools that are built to fix them, you can create a smoother, more sustainable way of working.

That means fewer no-shows, faster referral conversion, and a lighter load for your team. Most importantly, it means more patients finishing the care they need and more clinics thriving as a result.

Ready to reduce no-shows and streamline your physical therapy operations?  Schedule a personalized demo with the Luma Health team to see how our platform can help your physical therapy clinic run more smoothly.

Get in touch with us today

It’s a typical Tuesday at a busy rheumatology clinic. The schedule’s packed. The phones won’t stop. The infusion nurse is managing three patients while waiting for insurance approval for a fourth. An administrator’s on their third prior auth of the morning – and it’s not even 10 a.m.

If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone.

Across the country, rheumatology clinics are under pressure: fewer specialists, more complex patients, tighter margins, and growing paperwork. Clinic administrators carry much of the load, trying to keep everything moving.

This post explores the biggest challenges administrators face and how technology can reduce stress, improve patient care, and help staff focus on what matters.

The Scheduling Squeeze

There’s a national shortage of rheumatologists, and clinics are feeling it. Appointments book out months in advance. New patient referrals pile up. Staff spend hours balancing urgency, provider availability, and infusion schedules.

Patients with autoimmune diseases often need ongoing care, including regular appointments, labs, and medication adjustments. A single no-show or cancellation can throw off an entire day.

“We’re booking months out because there just aren’t enough rheumatologists to meet patient demand.”

While technology can’t add more providers, it can help make better use of their time. Smart recall systems, automated reminders, and simple ways for patients to reschedule all help fill gaps and reduce chaos.

Infusions, Labs, and Follow-Ups: A Daily Puzzle

Coordinating an infusion visit is complex. Everything depends on everything else: lab results, insurance approval, nurse availability, and medication delivery.

“Coordinating infusions, labs, and follow-up visits is like solving a puzzle every day.”

If one piece falls out of place, the whole visit may need to be rescheduled. That creates wasted time for patients and staff alike and delays treatment.

Manual tracking (via spreadsheets or faxes) makes this worse. A small misstep like missing a prior auth deadline can mean a missed billing opportunity or disrupted care. Streamlined workflows and shared visibility reduce the chance of these breakdowns.

Prior Auth Fatigue

Specialty medications come with paperwork. A lot of it.

Payer rules change often. Staff must log into multiple portals, follow up on pending approvals, and rework orders when meds aren’t covered. In small clinics, this burden often falls to one or two people.

“Our team is buried in paperwork from prior auths, med changes, and prepping charts.”

It’s exhausting and risky. One error can delay care or cost the clinic money. Automated tracking and built-in alerts help staff stay ahead, not behind.

Complex Billing and Tight Margins

Rheumatology practices rely on visits, not procedures, to generate revenue. Visits are time-intensive and often emotionally demanding, but not always highly reimbursed.

Infusion billing adds complexity. Multiple codes. Drug costs. Documentation rules. A missed detail can lead to denials or clawbacks.

“Infusion billing is incredibly complex. We’re constantly worried about missing something or getting denied.”

Automation helps here too. Tools that guide coding, flag missing info, and assist with documentation reduce risk and help staff feel more confident in their work.

Communication Bottlenecks

Patient care depends on coordination. Refill requests. Lab results. Imaging reports. Referral paperwork. And every one of those tasks requires outreach, usually by phone or fax.

“We waste so much time chasing down referral paperwork and external test results.”

When communication breaks down, patients fall through the cracks. That’s bad for outcomes and bad for revenue. Digital intake, secure messaging, and automated reminders reduce the back-and-forth and give staff more time for higher-value work.

Burnout and Constant Training

Supporting patients with chronic illness is emotional work. Add in a flood of paperwork, constant retraining on payer policies, and staff turnover—and burnout becomes a real threat.

“Burnout is real. Our team is emotionally drained and drowning in administrative tasks.”

Staff don’t need more apps. They need tools that make work easier, not more complicated. When technology helps reduce manual work and gives staff more control, retention and morale improve.

When Technology Makes a Tangible Difference: Lessons from DENT Neurologic Institute

DENT isn’t a rheumatology clinic – it’s the largest private outpatient neurology center in the U.S. – but their fax and referral challenges will feel familiar to any specialty clinic.

“We get around 1,500 faxes a day,” said Emily Smythe, DENT’s EMR & Technology Systems Manager. “Each fax used to take up to 10 minutes to process. We were thinking of hiring more staff just to handle the backlog.”

Instead, they implemented Luma’s Fax Transform. The results?

The faxes are now automatically parsed and routed to the correct team, using DENT’s own business logic. Staff review and approve only when needed, saving hours per day.

“Now, it takes 30 seconds or less to file a fax,” Smythe said. “And we’re not delaying patient care.”

The takeaway? When automation fits your workflow, it doesn’t just reduce paperwork. It reduces burnout, improves care, and protects revenue. Whether it’s neurology or rheumatology, the right tools can make a major difference.

Three Small Moves You Can Make This Week

1. Audit your manual processes. Are you still printing faxes? Manually confirming appointments? Calling to collect forms? Those are areas where automation can save hours each week.

2. Spot the gaps in your EHR. Staff workarounds like sticky notes and spreadsheets often signal where your systems aren’t doing enough. Ask staff what tools they trust and where they waste the most time.

3. Get feedback from the front lines. What do front desk staff and infusion nurses say is slowing them down? Use their answers to guide where technology could make the biggest impact.

Running a rheumatology clinic means managing high volumes, sensitive care, and tight resources. But the right technology doesn’t just support your staff. It transforms how care gets delivered.

If your team is overwhelmed or your processes are buckling under pressure, it may be time to reassess how you’re working and what could work better.

Want to see how your rheumatology practice could benefit from smarter workflows and more connected patient experiences? Schedule a personalized demo with the Luma Health team to explore how our platform can help you streamline operations, reduce no-shows, and support your patients every step of the way.

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Picture a busy Monday morning: a patient with unexplained chest pain shows up for a cardiology consult. Another is there to follow up with orthopedics after a knee replacement. Meanwhile, a parent brings in their child for a skin rash. Multi-specialty clinics are built for this type of comprehensive care—but that convenience often masks behind-the-scenes chaos.

Clinic leaders juggle high patient demand, limited provider hours, complicated referrals, and tightly linked appointments. And while the goal is seamless care, the reality is often fragmented workflows and a lot of manual coordination.

The good news? A few small changes—especially those powered by the right tools—can make a big difference. Here are five challenges that multi-specialty clinics face every day, and how a smarter approach can help.

1. Filling Open Slots and Waitlists the Smart Way

Let’s start with one of the most familiar frustrations: a specialist’s schedule is fully booked for weeks, but cancellations happen last minute—and the open time goes unused. Meanwhile, someone on a waitlist still hasn’t been contacted.

This mismatch is more common than you’d think. Gaps in communication and manual scheduling slow everything down, which leads to longer wait times and wasted capacity.

Simple changes can fix this. Automated reminders let patients confirm, cancel, or reschedule with a tap. A smart waitlist can instantly offer that newly opened slot to another patient. These quick interactions reduce friction for patients and help staff use time more effectively.

2. Closing the Loop on Referrals

A primary care provider refers a patient to dermatology. Somewhere along the way, that referral stalls. Maybe it got buried in a shared inbox. Maybe the patient never got a call. Either way, the connection was never made.

This kind of referral leakage is a real problem in multi-specialty care. One administrator put it simply:
“We keep losing patients after referrals. They either don’t follow through or go outside our network.”

The fix? Make it easy and immediate. As soon as a referral is received, send the patient a direct link to schedule. Follow up with clear reminders. That keeps the patient engaged and improves the odds they’ll stick with your clinic—not drift elsewhere.

3. Reducing No-Shows and Keeping Schedules Predictable

Every missed appointment chips away at clinic efficiency. No-shows for follow-ups, canceled imaging visits, forgotten skin checks—they all create gaps that are hard to recover from.

The reasons vary: patients forget, don’t understand the instructions, or get confused about the appointment type. Whatever the reason, the impact is the same—wasted time and strained staff.

Automated reminders help. Letting patients confirm or cancel directly—without needing to call—means schedules are more accurate. When someone does cancel, a smart waitlist can fill the gap. One clinic using this strategy saw fewer no-shows and more predictable days.

4. Getting Scheduling Right the First Time

Multi-specialty scheduling is a different beast. One patient might need imaging before a pulmonary consult. Another needs a pre-op clearance before surgery. Getting the order and timing right is essential—and also really hard to do manually.

“Scheduling is a constant back-and-forth,” said one clinic leader. “We’re playing phone tag, juggling calendars, and patients still end up delayed.”

With smarter scheduling rules in place—such as blocking time for key visit types, auto-prioritizing based on urgency, and enabling self-scheduling where it makes sense—appointments get set correctly the first time. Staff spend less time fixing mistakes, and patients move through care faster.

5. Poor Outreach = Lost Care

Sometimes the problem isn’t the process—it’s the communication. Patients don’t show up because they never got the reminder, didn’t understand it, or it wasn’t in a language they’re comfortable with.

As one clinic told us:
“We were shocked at how many patients missed their prep because they didn’t see or get the instructions.”

That’s not just a tech problem—it’s a trust and access issue. The fix is to meet patients where they are: send prep instructions in their preferred language, use simple language, and include easy-to-click links for confirming or rescheduling. These changes build confidence and reduce missed appointments.

Three Small Changes You Can Make This Week

1. Improve the referral handoff.
 Set up an automated “welcome” message that goes out as soon as a referral is received. Include a booking link, and follow up if the patient hasn’t scheduled within 48 hours.

2. Add appointment reminders and a digital waitlist.
 Choose one specialty to start. Send reminders with options to reschedule, and offer canceled slots to waitlisted patients automatically.

3. Make messages clearer and more inclusive.
 Update reminders and instructions to reflect your patient population. Include relevant prep info, send it in the patient’s preferred language, and keep the tone friendly and simple.

These shifts don’t require big system overhauls. They don’t demand a new EHR or a full process redesign. But they do ease some of the most common pain points in running a multi-specialty clinic.

When scheduling, referrals, and communication get just a little smarter, care delivery gets smoother. Staff get time back. Patients stay on track.

Want to see how your multi-specialty clinic could benefit from smarter workflows and connected experiences? Schedule a personalized demo with Luma Health to explore how our platform can help you reduce no-shows, streamline referrals, and support patients every step of the way.

Get in touch with us today.

As places where people find support for mental health, addiction, and trauma, behavioral health clinics are often hubs of hope. Yet behind the scenes, clinic administrators face a perfect storm of challenges: high no-show rates, stretched-thin staff, complex intake, coordination breakdowns, and sensitive communication hurdles. These issues don’t just weaken revenue – they disrupt care and burn out providers.

But with thoughtful use of technology, clinics can reduce those burdens, reframe workflows, and ultimately help patients better. This blog post explores the top pain points behavioral health leaders face and how targeted tools can make a real difference.

Challenge 1: Too Many Patients, Too Few Therapists

Behavioral health clinics often juggle growing demand against limited providers, especially when psychiatrists are in short supply. Waitlists stretch into weeks which leaves patients feeling anxious and staff overwhelmed.

“We have more demand than we can handle – patients wait weeks to see a psychiatrist, and we just don’t have enough providers.”

In this environment, every missed appointment or delayed consultation compounds the problem. And as pressure grows, staff burnout and turnover follow.

A better formula? Clinics that integrate waitlist tools with self-scheduling see shorter wait times. Patients can choose available slots which staff have programmed to ensure appropriate placement. This simple shift helps clinics manage capacity more efficiently.

Challenge 2: Burdens on Providers Fuel Burnout

Long hours, emotional fatigue, and constant retraining are real for many behavioral health clinics, especially those funded publicly. Waiting on paperwork, verifying eligibility, coordinating care, and dragging calls into evening hours wear providers down. When staff do everything from phone intake to no-show follow-ups, it’s unsustainable.

Tech can lift the load through:

All of these add up to better care and more sustainable work for staff.

Challenge 3: Scheduling and Intake Are Manual Nightmares

For many clinics, intake means calling dozens of new patients to schedule, explain paperwork, send reminders, and follow up manually. That’s hours spent on logistics instead of healing.

“Scheduling and intake are a nightmare – there are so many phone calls, forms, and back-and-forth just to get someone in the door.”

Paper forms still get faxed, copied, lost. Incomplete intake leads to late cancellations and no-shows, compounding stress for everyone.

What if patients could do it themselves? Digital intake forms that are sent ahead of time let patients complete surveys and consent in their own time. Then, an automated, personalized reminder before the session confirms they’re ready. That eliminates much of the friction and anxiety for patients and cuts hours of administrative work.

Challenge 4: No‑Shows Block Treatment Progress

It’s a familiar story in behavioral health: a patient doesn’t show up, and the day’s schedule collapses. Admins and therapists scramble to fill gaps, often unsuccessfully. That disruption goes far beyond lost revenue:

The fix? Smart reminders and seamless rescheduling tools. Clinics that implement automated SMS and email reminders where patients can confirm or reschedule see dramatic drops in no-shows. And when cancellations do happen, clinics can offer those open slots to other patients via an automatic waitlist system, keeping the schedule moving.

Challenge 5: Privacy, Stigma & Tech Barriers

Behavioral health brings unique sensitivity. Between telehealth, email, and phone calls, patients worry about security and confidentiality. Many prefer low-tech options and could feel uncomfortable responding to automated messages.

“Many of our patients struggle with technology, are hesitant to engage, or are worried about privacy. It really makes communication tough.”

One FQHC clinic which includes behavioral health, however, found a middle ground: Spanish-language text reminders, simple scheduling links, and optional secure chat. As a result:

That story shows that thoughtful, respectful communication, even done digitally, can build trust instead of breaking it.

Quick Wins You Can Try Right Now

With tools that support communication, coordination, and convenience that are used with care and respect, clinics can lighten the load, strengthen relationships, and bolster care continuity.

Patients deserve easier access and more privacy, and clinics deserve ease and sustainable workflows. With simple digital tools, that balance is within reach.

Want to see how your behavioral health practice could benefit from smarter workflows and more connected patient experiences? Schedule a personalized demo with the Luma Health team to explore how our platform can help you streamline operations, reduce no-shows, and support your patients every step of the way.

Get in touch with us today

From kidney stones to prostate concerns, urology clinics handle some of the most complex and personal medical issues out there. But the challenge isn’t just clinical. For the people managing the operations, the bigger headache often comes from what happens behind the scenes.

The daily work of running a urology practice including scheduling procedures, navigating insurance approvals, coordinating with referring providers, and making sure patients actually show up, has become increasingly complicated. Many clinics are still expected to hit financial and quality benchmarks under value-based care programs, all while working within a system built for fee-for-service.

If you lead or work in a urology clinic, you’ve probably felt it: the constant pull between providing excellent care and just trying to keep up with the paperwork, processes, and patient communications. Below are some of the most common operational challenges we’ve heard directly from urology administrators, and how smart, simple technology can help lighten the load.

Too Much Time on Paperwork

One of the most common sources of frustration is prior authorization. Getting approval from insurance companies for procedures like cystoscopies, biopsies, or lithotripsy means chasing down multiple forms, physician signatures, eligibility checks, and documentation uploads. If anything’s missing, a procedure can get delayed or denied entirely, hurting both patient trust and clinic revenue.

“We’re constantly chasing down prior authorizations and paperwork just to get procedures approved,” said one practice manager.

Some clinics are solving this with real-time eligibility checks and automated workflows that flag missing documents early. These tools also prompt staff when it’s time to follow up. That means fewer last-minute scrambles and a smoother path from referral to procedure, freeing up time for staff to focus on patients instead of forms.

When Patients Feel Uncomfortable, They Don’t Follow Through

Many urology conditions are deeply personal. Whether it’s erectile dysfunction, urinary incontinence, or prostate issues, patients often feel embarrassed or unsure about discussing them. That discomfort can lead to delays in scheduling, skipped follow-ups, or flat-out ignoring reminders.

“It’s tough getting patients to open up or follow through when the issues are personal or embarrassing,” one administrator explained.

The key here isn’t more reminders – it’s better communication. Clinics that use secure, respectful messages delivered via text or email in plain, patient-friendly language tend to see stronger follow-through. Self-scheduling helps too, giving patients more control and privacy. A simple text after the visit asking, “How are you doing?” can go a long way in making patients feel supported without feeling pressured.

No-Shows Hurt the Bottom Line

Procedures in urology often require patients to follow complex prep instructions. A bowel prep, hydration protocol, or fasting schedule can be daunting especially if it’s poorly communicated. That leads to last-minute cancellations and no-shows, which waste staff time and expensive procedure slots.

“No-shows are a huge problem – particularly with procedures that require prep,” a clinical coordinator shared.

What’s working better? Sending reminders that include clear, easy-to-follow instructions, ideally 24 to 48 hours before the appointment, can dramatically reduce confusion and missed appointments. Letting patients confirm or reschedule via text makes the process quicker and less stressful. And if someone does cancel, smart waitlist tools can automatically offer that spot to the next patient in line, keeping the schedule full and efficient.

Lost in the System: The Referral Black Hole

Referrals are the main engine of volume for most urology practices. But once a PCP or OB/GYN sends one over, it’s all too easy for that patient to fall through the cracks. Maybe the patient never hears from the clinic. Maybe the fax gets misplaced. Maybe the clinic staff are just too slammed to follow up.

“Much of our volume comes from referrals,” one urology leader said. “Making leakage prevention and referral coordination big concerns.”

By automating patient outreach for new referrals (think friendly texts or emails with direct scheduling links) clinics can make sure those patients get booked. Referral tracking tools also help staff spot which providers are sending the most volume, which ones convert to appointments, and where drop-offs are happening.

A Real-World Example: Middle Tennessee Urology Specialists

Middle Tennessee Urology Specialists, a busy six-provider group in Nashville, was tired of losing referrals and chasing paperwork. Their team used to spend hours making calls that often went unanswered.

With help from Luma, they rolled out automated outreach and waitlist tools. The results were dramatic:

According to Kim Bullock, their finance manager: “The solution paid for itself within just two months of implementing the waitlist feature.”

By using automation to close the gap between referral and appointment, they saved staff time and kept revenue flowing.

Small Changes, Big Results: Three Moves to Try Today

You don’t need to overhaul your whole system to start seeing progress. Here are three things your clinic can do right now:

1. Clean up the referral funnel. Stop losing patients after the handoff. Automate your outreach to referred patients with self-scheduling links. Use waitlists to quickly fill late cancellations and reduce call volume.

2. Make procedure prep easier. Send automatic reminders with prep instructions tailored to each procedure. Let patients confirm or cancel digitally to avoid surprises. This helps reduce anxiety, avoid no-shows, and keep the schedule moving.

3. Tie it all together. Connect your referral and authorization tracking with your EHR. Let your system flag missing forms and nudge staff when it’s time to follow up. A complete view of each patient’s journey helps you prevent gaps and reduce the chance of dropped balls.

Urology clinics play a critical role in patient health, and their work deserves support from tools that actually work. The right technology doesn’t replace your staff. It makes their lives easier. It gives them more time for patients. It fills empty appointment slots. It reduces burnout. And it gives your clinic more room to grow.

You’re already doing the hard part: delivering complex, high-value care to patients who need it. With smart automation, personalized messaging, and smarter workflows, you can do it with less stress, fewer dropped handoffs, and better outcomes.

Want to see how your urology practice could benefit from smarter workflows and more connected patient experiences? Schedule a personalized demo with the Luma Health team to explore how our platform can help you streamline operations, reduce no-shows, and support your patients every step of the way.

Get in touch with us today

Pediatric clinics look like cheerful places with bright walls, friendly staff, and kids clutching stickers and toys. But behind the scenes, administrators are navigating a very different reality, often filled with financial pressure, staffing strain, and the constant balancing act of keeping kids healthy while keeping the practice running.

These challenges aren’t new, but they’ve gotten more intense. Families are stretched thin. Medicaid reimbursement rates haven’t kept pace with the actual cost of care. And the administrative demands placed on pediatric practices are growing, not shrinking.

Let’s take a closer look at the challenges pediatric clinic leaders are facing today, and what’s at stake if they go unaddressed.

The Business Model of Pediatrics Is Under Pressure

Well-child visits are the backbone of pediatric care and a major driver of clinic revenue. They help kids stay on track with development, immunizations, and chronic condition management. But they’re often the first appointments families skip when time, money, or transportation get tight.

Some pediatric clinics serve predominantly Medicaid populations, and the reimbursement for these visits is often barely enough to cover the cost of care, especially for longer or more complex visits. As one administrator put it, “Most of our patients are on Medicaid, and the reimbursement barely covers the cost – especially when we need to spend extra time with the family.”

High no-show rates compound the problem. Missed appointments aren’t just missed opportunities for care – they’re lost revenue. And when patients fall off the schedule, it can be hard to get them back.

Scheduling Is More Complex Than It Seems

Administrators know how crucial it is to keep kids on schedule for well visits, immunizations, and chronic care check-ins. But doing that requires more than just sending a reminder. It takes staff time, accurate contact information, and a system to manage recalls and re-engagement.

When parents do call in, staff are often buried under paperwork and eligibility checks. “Our front desk is overwhelmed,” said one clinic leader. “They’re constantly on the phone, chasing forms, and trying to verify insurance. It’s nonstop.”

Missed steps during intake or outdated contact information can derail an entire visit. When families move often, change phone numbers, or struggle with access to technology, even the best efforts can fall short.

Care Coordination Is a Full-Time Job

Pediatrics doesn’t stop at the primary care level. Many kids need referrals to specialists for conditions like asthma, ADHD, speech delays, or behavioral health issues. But coordinating those referrals and ensuring proper follow-through is a complex, manual process.

Referrals often come in by fax or phone and require staff to track down appointment confirmations, send records, and follow up repeatedly. When things fall through the cracks, families are left waiting and clinics risk losing them to other systems. As one administrator shared, “Coordinating referrals is a huge pain point. Families get stuck in limbo, and we risk losing them altogether.”

The Communication Gap Is Real

Pediatric clinics don’t just communicate with patients – they communicate with caregivers. That means juggling preferences, languages, work schedules, and tech comfort levels. Reaching families in ways that are timely, convenient, and accessible is critical but not always easy.

It’s especially hard when families move frequently, change phone numbers, or have limited access to phones and the internet. “We struggle to reach them to confirm or reschedule,” one administrator said. “It’s hard to keep up.”

Communication isn’t just about logistics. It’s also about trust. Parents want clear, respectful, and reassuring guidance, especially when it comes to complex topics like vaccines, developmental delays, or behavioral concerns.

Staff Are Burned Out, and It Can Affect Care

The weight of all these challenges often falls on a small team of front desk staff, care coordinators, and nurses. They’re expected to do it all from registering patients and checking eligibility to chasing down referrals and managing no-shows.

The result? Burnout. Turnover. And less time spent where it matters most: with patients.

Pediatric clinic administrators aren’t just looking for new tools. They’re looking for breathing room and ways to make sure their team can focus on delivering high-quality care, not just putting out fires all day.

A Real-World Boost: Tenafly Pediatrics’ Wins

Consider the team at Tenafly Pediatrics in New Jersey which serves a diverse, multi-lingual patient base. Before working with Luma, their morning sick-visit hour was overwhelmed during flu season, with long lines and stressed families. It wasn’t working for their staff or their patients.

By enabling self-scheduling after hours, Tenafly shifted that stress into a smoother workflow. Families could book next-day sick visits online, freeing up the front desk and giving doctors breathing room to actually provide care instead of answering calls.

The results were clear and powerful:

As Tenafly’s COO Tom Zeug noted, giving families the ability to book anytime “empowered” them and eased the burden on staff, especially during high-demand seasons. That’s a powerful reminder that small changes can yield big gains.

Three Changes to Consider for Your Peds Clinic

Here are three actions pediatric clinics can consider to make a meaningful difference, without a complete systems overhaul.

  1. Start with the schedule. Analyze no-show patterns and create a simple re-engagement plan for patients who’ve fallen off the radar. Automating outreach to overdue families can add up.
  2. Implement a system to streamline appointment prep. Automation and digitization of the pre-appointment process, from insurance eligibility checks to payments to intake forms, can potentially lighten the load significantly for the front office staff.
  3. Make communication more flexible. Consider offering text reminders or follow-ups where possible. Many families are more likely to respond to a quick message than a phone call—and it’s often easier on staff, too.

Pediatric administrators are doing some of the hardest work in healthcare. They’re navigating financial pressures, regulatory hurdles, and operational complexity, all while serving families who need and deserve excellent care.

By starting with small, targeted improvements and staying focused on the real-world barriers families face, pediatric clinics can create more room to breathe, more time for care, and stronger outcomes for their patients.

Want to see how your pediatric practice could benefit from smarter workflows and more connected patient experiences? Schedule a personalized demo with the Luma Health team to explore how our platform can help you streamline operations, reduce no-shows, and support your patients every step of the way.

Get in touch with us today

Cardiology clinics care for patients with complex and often urgent health concerns. But for the teams running these clinics, it’s not just the medicine that’s challenging. The operational side, like appointment scheduling, managing referrals, and keeping communication flowing, has become just as demanding.

It’s not that clinics don’t know how to provide great care. It’s that their systems and workflows often get in the way.

Let’s walk through five major challenges that administrators in cardiology clinics face every day. And we’ll explore how targeted technology, especially automation and smart patient communication, can offer real relief without requiring a complete systems overhaul.

1. Patient Access & Throughput

The challenge: There simply aren’t enough cardiologists to see everyone as quickly as needed. It’s common for new patients to wait 2–3 weeks (or more) to get in for a first appointment. These delays create stress for patients and missed opportunities for early intervention.

And when a patient cancels or doesn’t show? That slot goes unused. Another patient who could have taken it stays on the waitlist. Multiply that by a few missed appointments per day, and it quickly snowballs into a major bottleneck.

A clinic might be fully booked on paper but still not operating at full capacity.

“No-shows are a constant headache, and it backs up our schedule for weeks.”

The result:

A better way: Automated scheduling tools help clinics react faster. When someone cancels, the system can instantly invite another patient to fill that spot. Reminders reduce no-shows. Two-way communication helps patients confirm or reschedule without picking up the phone. Staff time is saved, and the schedule stays full.

2. Referral Management

The challenge: Most cardiology care begins with a referral from a primary care doctor. But the path from referral to scheduled visit is full of friction. Often, clinics receive paper or faxed referrals and then rely on manual calls to reach the patient.

If the patient doesn’t answer or call back, the referral stalls out. Nobody follows up. Nobody gets scheduled. It’s a system built on good intentions, but no follow-through.

“We lose track of referrals all the time, and patients fall through the cracks.”

The result:

A better way: With automated referral outreach, patients are contacted by text or phone right away. They can self-schedule on their own time. Follow-up messages go out if they don’t respond. And staff are only looped in when a human touch is really needed. It’s faster for everyone, and patients actually show up.

3. Care Coordination

The challenge: Cardiology patients rarely receive care from just one provider. A single episode of care might include a visit to the ER, testing at a hospital, prescriptions from a PCP, and follow-up with a cardiologist. And each of those providers may be using a different system.

Faxing results, leaving voicemails, or documenting in siloed systems leaves a lot of room for gaps and delays. Staff spend hours tracking down labs or calling other offices just to find out whether something’s been done.

The result:

A better way: Shared platforms and real-time updates make it easier for everyone – patients and care teams alike – to see what’s next. Whether it’s a test result, prescription update, or care plan note, having that information in one place keeps things moving.

4. Chronic Care Management

The challenge: Conditions like heart failure, atrial fibrillation, and hypertension don’t get resolved in a single visit. Patients need ongoing support, regular check-ins, and active monitoring of medications, labs, and sometimes implanted devices like pacemakers or ICDs.

But many clinics still rely on manual tracking like sticky notes, spreadsheets, and calendar reminders. And when the clinic is busy, it’s easy to miss something.

“We’re still manually tracking device patients. It’s time-consuming and easy to miss something.”

The result:

A better way: With automated programs, clinics can trigger reminders when a patient is due for labs, visits, or a device check. Two-way communication allows patients to report symptoms or ask questions. Staff only step in when needed, and nothing falls through the cracks.

5. Cath Lab Scheduling & Efficiency

The challenge: Cardiology clinics rely heavily on high-cost equipment like imaging systems, cath labs, stress testing machines. Scheduling these procedures requires coordination across providers, rooms, staff, and sometimes anesthesia.

When a patient cancels or misses an appointment, those resources sit idle. Reaching out manually to fill that spot takes time, and usually doesn’t work fast enough.

The result:

A better way: Digital waitlists automatically notify eligible patients when an opening appears. The system confirms the appointment, sends prep instructions, and follows up afterward, all without extra phone calls. The lab stays busy, patients are served faster, and the clinic avoids unnecessary downtime.

What Cardiology Clinics Are Seeing with Luma

Pima Heart replaced phone-based communication with automated, two-way texting. The difference was immediate:

By meeting patients where they are – which is on their phones – Pima Heart improved both access and efficiency.

Across Luma’s cardiology customers, clinics using digital outreach and scheduling have filled 63% more referrals on average and cut wait times by nearly a week.

Three Smart Moves You Can Make Now

You don’t need to rip and replace your entire system to start solving these problems. Here are three practical steps you can take today:

1. Automate referral outreach and waitlist scheduling. Make it easier for patients to schedule and fill cancelled appointments. Even simple outreach by text can prevent patients from falling through the cracks.

2. Reduce no-shows with reminders and 2-way texting. Let patients confirm, cancel, or reschedule appointments without calling. It keeps your schedule full and saves your team time.

3. Streamline chronic care tracking. Build workflows that automatically remind patients when they’re due for a check-in or test. Alert staff only when a response is missed.

Cardiology teams are under growing pressure – from rising patient volume to complex coordination to value-based care demands. But these problems don’t require massive system changes to solve.

Smart, focused tools like automated reminders, digital referrals, real-time updates can reduce the daily friction. They help staff work more efficiently, help patients stay on track, and help clinics grow sustainably.

Want to see what that could look like in your clinic?

👉 Schedule a personalized demo with Luma and let’s talk about your goals.

A fictional case study on practical AI in healthcare

In the rush to adopt AI, healthcare organizations are often caught between hype and reality. Headlines promise revolutionary breakthroughs, but many teams just want to fix the everyday bottlenecks: long phone queues, missed appointments, overflowing fax inboxes, and staff who are stretched too thin.

That’s why we created Hayes Valley Health, a fictional mid-sized, multi-site provider group, to illustrate how real-world problems in patient access and operations can be tackled with the right kind of automation. This is not a real health system. But their story reflects what we’ve heard from countless clinics and health systems navigating the complex intersection of care delivery and administrative efficiency.

This illustrative case study explores how a group like Hayes Valley might evaluate AI tools and what results they could realistically expect. It’s not about chasing buzzwords. It’s about making care easier for patients and staff alike.

Phase One: Identifying the Real Gaps

Hayes Valley brought together leaders from scheduling, clinical ops, and IT to define the actual outcomes they needed:

Some vendors and even their EHR’s native solution claimed to offer AI-driven insights, like predicting who might miss an appointment. But when staff still had to call those patients manually? It wasn’t a true solution.

Phase Two: Seeing Beyond the Buzzwords

They explored several tools, including options from their EHR vendor. One solution offered fax extraction and no-show prediction, but it required human intervention for the next step. The IT team noted the lack of customization. Clinical admins were concerned about per-use pricing. Most importantly, the access team still had to act on every insight manually. The team asked a simple question: If our staff still has to follow up manually, what exactly is the AI doing?

Then came a different approach: a platform that automated entire workflows, not just flagged problems. 

Phase Three: Finding Automation That Actually Closes the Loop

Hayes Valley piloted a system that didn’t just predict a no-show — it took action  automatically:

They also saw intelligent fax handling in action: new referrals were triaged and routed without manual review. No inbox chaos. No more staff “cherry-picking” easy faxes and delaying the rest.

Early Wins That Mattered (Even in a Hypothetical World)

In this fictional pilot, within weeks, Hayes Valley Health saw measurable improvements:

While these figures  are made up, they represent the kinds of early improvements we’ve seen in real Luma Health implementations. The difference? Automation that does the work, rather than just suggesting what the work should be.

Staff weren’t just relieved — they were finally able to focus on the patients in front of them.

Four Lessons to Take from What Hayes Valley Learned

Hayes Valley Health may not be real, but the takeaways from their fictional journey echo the needs of real clinics and health systems that are evaluating AI tools:

  1. AI should act, not just alert. Predictive tools without automation only shift the burden to staff.
  2. One-size-fits-all doesn’t work. Customization by site, specialty, or workflow is essential.
  3. Pricing matters. Pay-per-page, per-visit, or per-line models can add up fast—especially for larger orgs.
  4. Don’t mistake “integrated” for “intelligent.” Real integration should support action, not just visibility.

Conclusion: It’s Not About AI—It’s About Impact

Hayes Valley Health didn’t choose a platform because it had AI. They chose it because it solved their problems by automating patient engagement in a way that scaled across locations, specialties, and care teams.

For health systems evaluating the next generation of patient engagement, the takeaway is clear: AI is only valuable when it turns insight into action—and reduces the burden on staff.

While Hayes Valley Health may be made up, Luma’s solutions are already in use at real practices across the country. From pediatric clinics to specialty providers to large health systems, our customers are reducing no-shows, automating referral management, and helping their teams get back to patient care.

To see how it might work at your organization, get in touch with us today

FAQs

What EHRs does Luma integrate with, and how deep is that integration?
Luma offers bidirectional, seamless integration with major EHRs, including Epic, Oracle Cerner, MEDITECH, eClinicalWorks, athenahealth, NextGen, and more. This integration enables functionalities like patient self-scheduling, EHR-integrated intake and consent forms, and reminders synchronized with your EHR schedule.

How configurable is the automation—can I tailor it to different departments or clinics?
Luma’s platform is highly configurable. Its Novel Workflows feature allows you to build unique workflows, customize patient outreach, and streamline care, enabling you to tailor automation to specific departments or clinics.

What’s the typical implementation timeline and lift for my internal teams?
Most organizations see their first AI workflows live within weeks. Luma’s dedicated team handles the heavy lifting of the initial implementation, requiring minimal demands on your IT resources. The rollout is tailored to your existing workflows, with hands-on support to ensure a smooth transition.

Do I need to replace any existing tools, or can Luma layer onto what we already use?
Luma is designed to integrate with your existing systems, including EHRs, RCM, payments, CRM, call center solutions, telehealth, population health systems, and homegrown tools. This allows Luma to layer onto your current infrastructure without necessitating the replacement of existing tools.

What kind of support or training does Luma provide post-launch?
Luma provides hands-on support during the rollout and offers self-serve tools for building workflows. Additionally, Luma U Live is a learning opportunity where users can bring questions to the training team and subject matter experts.

How does Luma ensure compliance with HIPAA and protect patient data?
Luma is HIPAA-compliant and has achieved ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification, ensuring secure handling of sensitive health information. Their dedicated, in-house Security and Compliance team ensures adherence to the latest information security frameworks and data privacy regulations.

Are there real-world case studies or references from similar organizations I can review?
Yes, Luma’s Learn Hub features stories, tips, and resources from Luma and its community members, including case studies from various organization types such as enterprise health systems, regional health systems, FQHCs, and specialty clinics.

How does Luma’s automation compare to what my EHR vendor already offers?
Luma provides deeper EHR integration and a more comprehensive product with experienced customizability and support, distinguishing it from standard EHR vendor offerings. It is designed to work alongside your EHR to enhance patient engagement and operational efficiency.

Allergy clinics play a key role in helping patients manage chronic conditions and improve their quality of life. But running one isn’t easy. Administrators face daily challenges: missed appointments, complex immunotherapy schedules, manual coordination, and systems that don’t talk to each other. These hurdles affect clinic efficiency, staff morale, and patient satisfaction.

Let’s walk through five major roadblocks and explore practical ways to smooth out operations, without adding fancy tools or overwhelming your team.

1. Missed Appointments Disrupt Immunotherapy

Allergy shots work best when a patient sticks to their schedule. Missed visits interrupt the treatment and may require changing the dose or restarting the buildup. This frustrates both patients and staff.

Every missed shot also hits the clinic’s revenue, especially in high-volume practices. Instead of focusing on patients, staff spend time calling, rescheduling, and reshuffling appointments. Over time, missed visits can lead to patients dropping out entirely. That means lost treatment benefits and lost income for the clinic.

To fix this, clinics can send automated reminders ahead of scheduled shots and follow up quickly when someone misses a visit. Tracking missed appointments and reaching out early helps keep patients on track. A small push at the right time can prevent drop-offs and keep treatment rolling.

2. Streamlining Shot Clinic Flow

Many allergy clinics operate as “shot clinics,” where patients come in just for a quick injection, with or without an appointment. When everything works well, it’s highly efficient—but even a small hiccup can cause delays. Late check-ins, unclear monitoring steps, or lack of visibility into who’s next can clog the flow.

Clinics using paper sign-in sheets or whiteboards often struggle to track who’s waiting, receiving shots, or in the observation area. This not only slows things down but also introduces safety risks – patients need to be watched after receiving an injection for a certain period. Losing track of that window could be dangerous.

A better option is a digital queue system. Patients check in via kiosk, QR code, or staff entry and move through the visit with status updates. Everyone on the team can see where patients are in real time. That keeps the line moving and helps patients feel confident that they’re safe and being taken care of.

3. Keeping Long-Term Patients Engaged

Immunotherapy often lasts for years, and patient engagement over time is critical. Unfortunately, many people taper off treatment once they feel better, or simply don’t make time for recurring shots. Some clinics don’t realize patients have fallen off until months later.

By then, it’s hard to reconnect. That’s why tracking patient adherence is so important. Clinics benefit when they can spot patients who miss appointments and nudge them gently. Re-engaging a patient who’s fallen behind can save a treatment plan and support better outcomes.

A flow that reminds patients of missed or upcoming visits and offers easy rescheduling on the spot helps keep long-term care on track. It prevents drift and keeps patients and revenue on a consistent path.

4. Reducing Coordination Burden

Running an allergy clinic means managing a lot of small communications: appointment reminders, pre-shot instructions, consent forms, and post-visit care. Many clinics rely on manual phone calls for this.

That creates a heavy workload and leads to missed calls or confusion if systems don’t sync. Saying the same thing three different times invites errors and frustrates patients, who may get mixed instructions or have questions go unanswered.

The solution is to automate what makes sense early on. Appointment confirmations and reminders go out by text or email. Consent forms and prep details can be completed online before the visit. After shots, a follow-up message ensures patients know how to care for themselves. This cuts duplicate work and raises the standard of care, all without speaking a single extra word.

5. Tracking Referrals With Care

Allergy clinics depend on referrals from pediatricians, ENT doctors, and primary care providers. But if referral systems aren’t managed well, patients fall through the cracks and clinics lose growth opportunities.

Referrals often arrive by fax, email, or even paper handed over by a patient. Clinics struggle to see which ones were scheduled and which weren’t. Without a clear referral workflow, some patients are never contacted. That means missed appointments, lost revenue, and strained relationships with those referring doctors.

Managing referrals more deliberately can make a big difference. When new referrals are logged and outreach efforts are consistent, clinics can bring more patients in and keep clients happy. Clear tracking builds trust with referral partners and drives steady growth.

Connecting the Dots

These challenges are often connected. Missed shots slow the clinic flow. Missed referrals weaken the schedule. Manual coordination drains staff and hurts patient experience. The key is to set up a reliable, flexible workflow that makes the path clearer for both patients and teams.

Automation doesn’t have to be complex. Start with one area, like appointment reminders, queue tracking, or referral follow-up. See immediate gains, build confidence, and expand to the next area. One practical change at a time adds up to a much smoother operation.

Real-World Success from an Allergy Practice

Houston ENT & Allergy modernized how they schedule and communicate with patients, delivering results that speak volumes:

This shows that when allergy clinics offer flexible scheduling and proactive outreach, they reduce no-shows, recover unused appointment slots, and support long-term growth.

3 Practical Steps to Enhance Allergy Clinic Efficiency

  1. Automate patient communications. Set up systems to automatically remind patients about upcoming visits, allergy shot schedules, and required prep or consent forms. This reduces staff phone time and helps patients stay on track with their care plans.
  2. Streamline patient flow for walk-ins and shot visits. In many allergy clinics, especially those running high-efficiency “shot clinics,” patients arrive without a traditional appointment time. Consider implementing a digital queue that lets patients check in via kiosk, QR code, or staff entry, and automatically updates their status as they move through each step. With this type of system, everyone on the team can see real-time patient progress, reduce wait times, and keep safety monitoring on track.
  3. Optimize referral follow-through. Referrals are the start of the patient journey, but many clinics don’t have a reliable way to track whether those patients ever schedule or show up. Simple changes – like setting up alerts for new referrals, sending friendly outreach messages, and making it easy for referred patients to schedule online – can improve conversion rates and reduce leakage from your referral pipeline.

By addressing these common challenges with practical solutions, allergy clinics can enhance operational efficiency, improve patient satisfaction, and support sustainable growth.

Want to see how your allergy practice could benefit from smarter workflows and more connected patient experiences? Schedule a personalized demo with the Luma Health team to explore how our platform can help you streamline operations, reduce no-shows, and support your patients every step of the way.

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From managing jam-packed surgical schedules to keeping young patients (and their parents) on track, Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) clinics operate under intense pressure. Whether it’s a missed tonsil consult or a delayed sinus surgery, small disruptions can ripple through the day as well as the bottom line. Behind the scenes, clinic administrators are juggling far more than appointments: they’re working to prevent no-shows, close the loop on referrals, coordinate pre- and post-op care, and make disconnected systems play nicely together.

These challenges are common, but they’re not inevitable. With the right strategies and tools, ENT practices can reduce daily friction, protect surgical revenue, and make life easier for both patients and staff.

The High Cost of Missed Appointments

In ENT clinics, a missed consult isn’t just a calendar inconvenience – it can mean an unused surgical slot that directly impacts revenue. Pediatric visits are particularly vulnerable to no-shows: short appointments, busy parents, and school schedules all contribute to last-minute cancellations. When a patient misses their pre-op consult for a tonsillectomy or cochlear implant, that entire surgical pipeline is thrown off.

Some clinics try to fill open slots same-day, but this often isn’t realistic for surgical procedures that require insurance authorization or patient prep. The result: lost revenue and underutilized clinical or OR resources. Reducing missed appointments, especially in high-value visit types, has to be a top priority, but doing so requires more than just reminder calls.

Referrals In, Patients Out?

ENT practices often rely heavily on referrals from pediatricians, primary care providers, and even dentists. These partners are trusted entry points for patients who need specialized care. But what happens after that referral is sent?

Too often, clinic administrators simply don’t know. Without a closed-loop system, it’s hard to track who followed through. “We rely on referrals from pediatricians, but we often don’t know who followed through,” one clinic leader shared. This “referral black hole” not only stalls new patient growth, it also erodes hard-won referral relationships.

Some practices use spreadsheets or manual tracking to follow up on referrals, but this is difficult to scale. Automating outreach and establishing referral pipelines with clear visibility can help ensure that more patients get scheduled and fewer fall through the cracks.

Pre- and Post-Op Communication Overload

ENT procedures require detailed coordination. From sinus surgery to sleep apnea treatments, patients need clear pre-op instructions, reminders, and post-op follow-up. Yet in many practices, these touchpoints are handled by already overwhelmed front-desk staff.

One administrator put it plainly: “We’re still calling every patient to go over surgery instructions – our front desk is maxed out.” That workload is unsustainable, especially when patients miss calls or forget instructions shared days earlier.

Some clinics are shifting to automated patient pathways and texting pre-op checklists and post-op care instructions at scheduled intervals. This keeps patients informed without adding to staff burden. Even small shifts in how these messages are delivered can improve compliance and reduce last-minute rescheduling.

When Systems Don’t Talk to Each Other

Disconnected tools are one of the most frustrating and preventable issues in ENT operations. It’s not uncommon for a practice to have one system for allergy testing, another for surgery scheduling, and a separate EHR entirely. Multiply that by the number of steps involved in coordinating a procedure, and the friction adds up quickly.

The consequences go beyond annoyance. Important details get lost. Staff waste time entering the same patient information into multiple platforms. Delays pile up. And patients can feel the disjointedness, especially if they get inconsistent messages or incomplete prep instructions.

Solving this doesn’t necessarily mean replacing every system. Starting with the EHR with scheduling capabilities, integrating key tools can eliminate a lot of double work and make the patient journey much smoother.

The Prior Auth Bottleneck

ENT treatments often require prior authorization, whether it’s for a CT scan, allergy drops, or a sleep study. And while the clinical need may be urgent, the approval process rarely is.

Staff frequently find themselves stuck waiting on faxes, chasing paperwork, or calling insurers multiple times to get care approved. “We spend too much time chasing prior auths,” one clinic leader shared. It’s not just tedious – it causes delays in diagnosis and treatment, frustrates patients, and adds to staff burnout.

Some clinics have found success by standardizing the intake process to flag cases that need prior auth early, and using tools that help surface missing information before a request is submitted. Reducing these delays starts with tightening internal workflows and finding ways to take some of the lift off the staff.

A Look at What’s Working

Houston ENT & Allergy saw measurable results when working with Luma Health to address missed appointments and streamline referral follow-up. With a reduction in no-shows by 9% and over half a million dollars in new scheduled referrals, small operational changes made a big difference in efficiency and revenue. Their experience highlights that even long-standing pain points in ENT clinics can be tackled with the right mix of process and technology.

Three Things You Can Do Right Now to Reduce Pressure Points

Even small changes can make a big impact on day-to-day operations. Here are three actionable steps ENT clinic administrators can take today:

ENT clinic administrators are balancing high-volume care, complex procedures, and the ever-growing expectations of patients, staff, and payers. While every practice is different, the pain points are strikingly similar: missed visits, lost referrals, manual coordination, and fragmented systems. The good news? These challenges aren’t unsolvable.

By focusing on where the biggest breakdowns happen and taking small, targeted steps to improve, ENT practices can protect surgical revenue, support their teams, and deliver the high-quality care their patients deserve.

Want to see how your ENT practice could benefit from smarter workflows and more connected patient experiences? Schedule a personalized demo with the Luma Health team to explore how our platform can help you streamline operations, reduce no-shows, and support your patients every step of the way.

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Family medicine clinics are the foundation of community health, caring for patients of all ages across a wide range of needs — from preventive screenings and chronic disease management to sick visits and behavioral health. But providing that kind of comprehensive care, day in and day out, is not without its challenges.

Clinic leaders and staff are often stretched thin, balancing overloaded schedules, heavy administrative demands, and a growing need to keep patients engaged and on track. Left unaddressed, these issues can strain resources, affect the quality of care, and lead to burnout.

Here are four of the most common challenges in family medicine today — and how the right technology can help address them.

1. Overloaded Schedules and Continuity of Care

Family medicine clinics often manage high patient volumes across a broad range of services. Providers might see dozens of patients a day, moving between routine checkups, chronic care visits, and same-day sick appointments. That pace can make it difficult to spend enough time with each patient or to fully address their questions and concerns.

When the schedule is packed too tightly, appointments can feel rushed. Providers may have limited time to review patient histories or care plans, and patients may leave feeling unheard or unsure about their next steps. Over time, that can hurt satisfaction and even deter people from coming in regularly — especially for preventive care or chronic disease management.

On the staff side, the pressure to keep up can lead to burnout. The challenge is maintaining visit volume without sacrificing the relationships and communication that are the heart of family medicine.

The answer? Smarter scheduling and communication

Simple changes — like optimizing schedule templates, enabling real-time availability, and sending automated reminders — can reduce friction and give providers more breathing room. Same-day openings and follow-up workflows can help clinics respond to patient needs quickly, while minimizing no-shows and unfilled appointment slots.

2. Missed Wellness Visits and Care Gaps

Preventive care is one of the most valuable services family medicine offers. Annual physicals, cancer screenings, vaccinations, and chronic condition monitoring help patients stay healthy and catch issues early. But getting patients to attend those visits consistently can be a challenge.

Busy families, older adults, and patients with few symptoms often skip wellness visits. Some forget, others assume they’re not necessary, and many aren’t aware they’re overdue until it’s too late. When preventive care is missed, small problems can go unnoticed — and become much more serious later on.

Clinics also struggle to keep track of who is overdue, especially when visit reminders and outreach are done manually.

The answer? Personalized, automated outreach

Technology can take the guesswork out of preventive care. Systems that identify patients who are due — or overdue — for screenings or checkups can send personalized reminders automatically, including a direct link to schedule. Outreach can be tailored by age, risk level, or health condition, making it easier to run targeted campaigns for things like flu shots, pediatric well visits, or Medicare physicals.

When it’s easy for patients to understand what they need — and even easier to schedule — clinics can reduce gaps in care and improve outcomes across their panels.

3. High Administrative Burden

Behind every visit is a long list of administrative tasks: intake paperwork, prior authorizations, referrals, insurance checks, and documentation. In many family medicine clinics, these tasks are still handled manually — by phone, fax, and email.

Staff spend hours each week chasing down signatures, following up on incomplete forms, or tracking referrals in spreadsheets. That work is time-consuming and takes team members away from patient-facing roles. It can also lead to errors, delays, and missed care opportunities.

Patients feel the impact too. A missing form might mean a delayed visit. A lost referral could mean weeks before a specialist appointment is scheduled.

The answer? Streamlined, digital workflows

Tools that digitize common workflows — like pre-visit forms, consent, and referral tracking — can reduce the workload on staff and speed up care. For example, patients can fill out and sign documents ahead of time from their phone or computer, cutting down on paperwork at check-in. Systems that flag missing info in prior auth requests or track referral status in real time help prevent delays and reduce dropped balls.

When clinics spend less time on paperwork, they can spend more time on patients.

4. Patient Disengagement and No-Shows

It’s common in primary care: a patient misses their appointment, and the slot goes unfilled. Sometimes they forgot, sometimes they couldn’t get there, and sometimes they didn’t feel the visit was worth it. These no-shows don’t just affect clinic revenue — they can also interrupt care continuity and delay treatment.

Disengagement is especially common in underserved populations, where barriers like transportation, work schedules, language, or lack of trust can keep people from seeking care. Once a patient starts missing appointments, they’re more likely to drop out of care completely.

At the same time, clinic staff are left trying to follow up, reschedule, and fill the empty slot — often with little success.

The answer? Timely reminders and smart scheduling tools

Automated reminders — delivered in the patient’s preferred language and format — are one of the simplest ways to reduce no-shows. Giving patients an easy way to confirm, reschedule, or ask questions without calling in removes common friction points.

One especially effective tool is a smart waitlist system. When a cancellation happens, the system can automatically offer that opening to another patient based on their availability, urgency, or past appointment requests. Patients get seen sooner, and clinics keep their schedules full without needing staff to manage the back-and-forth.

Helping patients stay connected to their care — and making it easy to come in — improves outcomes, satisfaction, and overall clinic efficiency.

Real-World Impact: Alexander Valley Health Center

Alexander Valley Health Center, a family medicine clinic in California, faced many of these same challenges — missed screenings, limited staff capacity, and high patient demand. By implementing more automated and connected patient workflows, they saw measurable improvements:

“Luma Health offers and confirms appointments at any hour of the day, which allows patients to have quicker access to their primary care and behavioral health providers.”
  —  Samantha Guthman, Chief Operating Officer, Alexander Valley Healthcare

Taking Action: How to Get Started

Even small improvements in communication, scheduling, and paperwork can ease the pressure on staff and improve the care experience for patients. Here are three steps clinics can take right now:

  1. Review your no-show rates. Identify patterns and test automated reminders combined with a smart waitlist to reduce lost appointments.
  2. Simplify your admin tasks. Use digital tools to streamline intake, referrals, and authorizations, freeing staff to focus on patients.
  3. Reach out proactively. Identify patients overdue for care and send personalized reminders they can act on immediately.

Family medicine clinics don’t need to overhaul everything overnight. But by adopting the right tools and focusing on areas with the biggest impact — like appointment access, preventive care, and patient communication — they can improve outcomes, reduce burnout, and create a better experience for everyone.Ready to see how your practice could benefit from smarter workflows and more connected patient experiences? Schedule a personalized demo with Luma Health today.

Internal medicine clinics are essential for adult patients. They focus on preventing illness, managing chronic conditions, and making sure care stays on track. But these clinics are under more pressure than ever. Staff are stretched thin trying to care for large numbers of patients, meet quality goals, and keep up with changes in healthcare – all while trying to avoid burnout and keep patients happy.

Let’s look at the biggest everyday challenges these clinics face and share ideas to make things run more smoothly.

Too Many Patients, Not Enough Time

Most internal medicine doctors have over 1,500 patients which means they’re responsible for a huge list of tasks: from yearly check-ups and vaccines to chronic condition follow-ups and lab tests. Keeping track of who needs what, like a diabetes screening or cancer check, is hard to do without a system in place.

Many clinics try to use reports from their EHRs or spreadsheets, but those take a lot of time and aren’t easy to act on. When patients fall through the cracks, clinics miss important care and risk falling short on quality scores – especially if they’re in value-based contracts.

Too Many Systems That Don’t Work Together

Internal medicine clinics often rely on several different tools: one for the EHR, one for scheduling, another for messaging, and maybe another for telehealth. The problem? These tools often don’t talk to each other.

Staff end up switching between systems, retyping the same information, and trying to track down updates. This wastes time, increases the chance for mistakes, and slows down care. Patients might miss follow-ups or never hear back on test results—all because the systems aren’t connected.

One internal medicine clinic leader said, “We’re juggling multiple systems: EHR, patient messaging, telehealth – it’s a mess.”

Follow-Up is Exhausting

Internal medicine clinics carry much of the weight when it comes to care coordination. Teams spend hours each day calling patients to confirm appointments, deliver test results, check in after hospital discharges, or follow up on chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension, or COPD. Front office staff and care managers alike often juggle multiple lists, just trying to make sure no one falls through the cracks.

But even with all that effort, the results can be discouraging. Patients may not answer calls, ignore voicemail messages, or forget what they were told. Others assume the clinic will call again if it’s important, or believe their specialist is handling next steps. And when follow-up depends on busy staff chasing patients down one at a time, it’s hard to keep up – especially when the volume of outreach grows with each new care gap or test result.

Internal medicine practices often serve patients with complex, ongoing needs, where continuity matters. A missed lab result follow-up or a delayed check-in after starting a new medication isn’t just an administrative miss. It can lead to worsened health outcomes. But with limited staff and disconnected systems, creating a reliable and scalable follow-up process is a real challenge.

Without a structured, repeatable way to stay in touch between visits, patients can quickly fall off the radar. This not only delays needed care – it can impact quality scores, increase unnecessary hospitalizations, and contribute to staff burnout from constantly trying to play catch-up. For many clinics, improving follow-up isn’t just about efficiency. It’s about ensuring patients actually get the care they need, when they need it.

Referrals That Go Nowhere

From abnormal lab results to new symptoms that require specialist evaluation, internal medicine providers are often the first point of contact for a wide range of health concerns. As a result, referrals to cardiology, endocrinology, dermatology, gastroenterology, and other specialties are a regular part of daily clinic operations.

But once that referral leaves the clinic, visibility often disappears. Did the patient ever call the specialist’s office? Did the appointment get scheduled? Was the visit completed, and if so, was any follow-up information shared back with the primary care team?

In many internal medicine clinics, tracking referrals is a manual, time-consuming process. Staff may enter notes in the EHR, send a fax, or make a few follow-up calls, but without a closed-loop process, it’s hard to know which patients followed through and which never made it to their appointment.

This referral leakage is a significant problem. Patients may forget to schedule, feel unsure about next steps, or hit delays due to insurance or prior authorization issues. Others may not realize how important the referral is or assume someone else is handling it.

And when referrals go untracked, it doesn’t just affect the patient’s care—it can reflect poorly on the clinic’s performance, especially in value-based care arrangements where outcomes and care coordination are closely measured. Missed specialist appointments can lead to gaps in diagnosis, delayed treatment, and preventable ER visits or hospital admissions.

Three Ideas to Try Today

Internal medicine clinics don’t need to replace all their tools to start seeing improvements. Here are three simple, high-impact changes that can help:

Start Small, Make a Big Difference

Internal medicine clinics are doing tough, important work, and it’s not getting any easier. But by focusing on the biggest pain points and making some smart changes, clinic leaders can ease the load for staff and make sure patients get the care they need.

Running efficiently, staying connected with patients, and keeping things moving aren’t just nice to have anymore. They’re the foundation of good care and the key to success in today’s healthcare system.

Want to see how your internal medicine practice could benefit from smarter workflows and more connected patient experiences? Schedule a personalized demo with the Luma Health team to explore how our platform can help you streamline operations, reduce no-shows, and support your patients every step of the way.

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Running a gastroenterology (GI) clinic involves juggling many tasks: scheduling procedures, communicating with patients, coordinating between departments, and ensuring everything runs smoothly. When things go wrong – like missed appointments, patients not following preparation instructions, or referrals getting lost – it affects both patient care and the clinic’s financial health.

Fortunately, practical solutions, including technology like Luma’s can help address these common issues by simplifying operations and keeping patients engaged.

Why Missed Appointments and Poor Prep Hurt Clinics

Colonoscopy appointments and other GI procedures are essential for diagnosing serious conditions like colorectal cancer, Crohn’s disease, and ulcers. They’re not just important for the patient – they’re also a major part of how GI clinics stay financially healthy. These procedures take time, space, and staff to prepare, and they often require coordination across the front desk, clinical team, and even anesthesia or surgical staff.

So when a patient cancels at the last minute or doesn’t show up at all, it isn’t just an empty slot on the calendar. It’s a ripple effect. Staff who were prepped for the visit now have unexpected downtime. Rooms sit unused. Other patients who could have taken the slot miss the chance to get care. And for procedures that require pre-authorization or specialized prep, that time is even harder to fill at the last minute.

Poor preparation is another common and costly problem. Colonoscopies, in particular, require patients to follow a detailed bowel prep routine in the days before their procedure. If patients don’t follow these instructions exactly, the doctor may not be able to complete the exam safely or effectively. That means the procedure gets canceled or rescheduled, the clinic loses time and revenue, and the patient is left feeling frustrated.

This happens more often than most people realize. Prep instructions are sometimes forgotten, misunderstood, or lost in the shuffle, especially if they’re given over the phone or printed out once during a rushed appointment.

As one clinic administrator put it: “When a patient doesn’t show up, that time is gone – and so is the money.” But even when they do show up, if they’re not prepared, it’s almost the same outcome.

Reducing missed appointments and poor prep is not just about revenue. It’s about making sure patients get the care they need, when they need it – and that the clinic can run as efficiently as possible.

Better Communication, Less Work for Staff

Behind every successful procedure is a series of small but critical communications: confirming the appointment, explaining how to prepare, answering patient questions, and checking in afterward. In many GI clinics, these touchpoints are handled by staff making phone calls, leaving voicemails, or mailing paper instructions.

This process is time-consuming, and it’s easy for things to slip through the cracks. Front-desk staff may be juggling hundreds of calls per week. Nurses might be explaining the same prep routine five or six times a day. And if the patient doesn’t pick up, doesn’t call back, or forgets what they were told, staff have to start all over again.

What makes it more difficult is that the tools in use – EHRs, scheduling systems, and patient messaging platforms – often aren’t built to work well together. A staff member might have to enter the same patient information into multiple systems just to send a reminder or follow-up. That slows everything down and increases the chances of mistakes.

Some clinics try to work around this by building their own processes or tracking communication manually, but these stopgaps don’t scale. As patient volumes rise and expectations grow, staff burnout becomes a real concern.

That’s where automation can help. Systems make a big difference, especially those that send appointment reminders, prep instructions, and follow-ups automatically and pull from the same up-to-date patient record. Not only do patients get the right message at the right time, but staff can focus on the kinds of conversations that actually need a human touch: calming nerves, answering complex questions, or coordinating special needs.

Better communication doesn’t just benefit patients. It helps clinics run more smoothly, reduces last-minute cancellations, and gives overworked staff some breathing room in their day.

Keeping Referred Patients from Slipping Through the Cracks

Gastroenterology clinics often face challenges in managing referrals. Patients sent by primary care providers don’t always complete the scheduling process, which can result in missed opportunities for care and lost revenue. In many cases, the referral process relies on manual tracking, spreadsheets, or inconsistent follow-up, making it hard to know which patients actually scheduled and which fell through the cracks.

Another common bottleneck is the prior authorization process, especially for advanced procedures like endoscopic ultrasounds or certain treatments for chronic conditions. These approvals often require multiple steps and documentation, leading to delays that can frustrate both patients and staff.

Improving visibility into the referral pipeline and streamlining the authorization process can help clinics reduce delays, close care gaps, and build stronger relationships with referring providers.

Real-World Impact for GI Practices with Luma

The implementation of Luma Health’s solutions has led to tangible improvements in various gastroenterology clinics:

These examples show how using connected technology can help GI clinics solve everyday problems, take better care of patients, and bring in more revenue.

Getting Started: Simple Ways GI Clinics Can Improve Right Now

If you’re looking to make your gastroenterology clinic run more smoothly, here are three changes that might deliver a big impact:

These steps can help solve everyday problems and make things run more efficiently.

Healthcare is always changing, and GI clinics need to keep up. By using the right tools and staying focused on both patient care and clinic operations, practices can reduce stress for staff, help more patients, and support long-term growth.

Want to see how your gastroenterology practice could benefit from smarter workflows and more connected patient experiences? Schedule a personalized demo with the Luma Health team to explore how our platform can help you streamline operations, reduce no-shows, and support your patients every step of the way.

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Running an ophthalmology clinic isn’t easy. Between packed schedules, surgical coordination, and constant communication needs, administrators are juggling a lot. Add in no-shows, manual referrals, and paperwork-heavy processes, and it’s no surprise many clinics feel stretched thin.

But here’s the good news: the right technology can help reduce that pressure and boost efficiency, improve patient care, and keep schedules running on time.

When One No-Show Disrupts the Whole Day

Procedures like cataract surgeries and injections are the financial backbone of many ophthalmology clinics. But they depend on tight, predictable schedules. 

One clinic leader put it simply:

“When a patient cancels at the last minute, or worse, just doesn’t show up, it throws off the entire day.”

Gaps in the schedule don’t just impact efficiency; they hurt the bottom line. Filling those gaps quickly, or preventing them in the first place, can make a big difference.

Referral Leakage Quietly Hurts Growth

Referral networks, particularly with optometrists and primary care providers, are the backbone of many ophthalmology clinics’ growth strategies. These referring partners help maintain a steady pipeline of new patients, especially for specialty services like cataract surgery and retinal care.  

But too often, clinics can’t tell whether referred patients ever make it to their first appointment. The problem often stems from manual processes: referrals are logged into spreadsheets or emailed, follow-up is inconsistent, and there’s no easy way to flag patients who are missed.

An administrator highlighted this concern, “We work hard to build relationships with local optometrists, but sometimes those patients never actually make it to us. It’s frustrating – we don’t always know who’s falling through the cracks or how to follow up.” Without a system to follow up and close the loop, clinics risk losing both revenue and referral trust.

Manual Work Slows Everyone Down

Running an ophthalmology clinic means juggling communication at every stage of the patient journey. From sending pre-visit reminders and intake forms, to delivering post-op instructions and follow-ups, every interaction matters. But when staff are stuck making phone calls, leaving voicemails, and copying information between systems, the administrative burden can be high.

Too often, ophthalmology teams rely on a patchwork of disconnected tools: a standalone EHR, a separate ASC scheduling system, and third-party platforms for texting or email. Each one requires logins, duplicate data entry, and manual coordination which creates friction that slows staff down and increases the risk of errors. When systems don’t connect, staff waste time jumping between tools, re-entering the same information, and chasing down tasks by hand. This slows things down, creates room for mistakes, and makes it harder to scale.

One administrator summed it up:

“Nothing talks to each other. We’re stuck flipping between systems and entering the same info over and over.”

This kind of disjointed workflow drags down efficiency and hurts the patient experience. Centralizing communication and automating routine steps can free up staff and help clinics run more smoothly.

Prior Auth and Post-Op Care Are Still Too Manual

Getting prior authorization for high-cost treatments, like anti-VEGF injections for macular degeneration, is often a slow, paperwork-heavy process. Staff have to collect paperwork, submit forms, and follow up again and again to get approval, and patients are left waiting. These delays can hurt outcomes and damage trust.

The work doesn’t stop after a procedure. Patients need to follow detailed post-op instructions, like using eye drops or avoiding certain activities, but it’s hard to know if they’re following through. 

“After surgery … unless they call us, we don’t always know how they’re doing – and that’s risky.”

Digital tools that send reminders, check in automatically, and flag issues early can help patients recover faster and take pressure off staff.

Embracing Technology: A Path to Operational Excellence

Many ophthalmology clinics are turning to solutions like Luma to simplify their operations and improve the patient experience. Several ophthalmology clinics have witnessed tangible benefits from implementing Luma’s solutions:

These examples underscore the potential of technology to transform clinic operations and patient engagement.

Taking the First Step: Strategies to Make Your Clinic Run Better

If you’re trying to improve how your clinic works, here are a few practical things you can do right away:

These small changes can solve current problems and make things run more smoothly going forward.

Ophthalmology clinic administrators deal with a lot, but these problems can be solved. With tools like the ones from Luma Health, you can cut down on busywork, stay connected with patients, and improve your bottom line. In today’s healthcare world, using smart tools isn’t a luxury – it’s a must.

Want to see how your ophthalmology practice could benefit from smarter workflows and more connected patient experiences? Schedule a personalized demo with the Luma Health team to explore how our platform can help you streamline operations, reduce no-shows, and support your patients every step of the way.

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Neurology practices are no strangers to complexity. From chronic condition management to diagnostic coordination, neurology administrators are responsible for more than just filling calendars. They’re orchestrating a high-stakes system of care that affects patients’ daily lives and long-term outcomes.

But delivering that care is getting harder.

No-shows are rising. Providers are overwhelmed. Patients fall through the cracks between consults, tests, and treatment plans. And because neurology reimbursement is heavily tied to time-based cognitive visits, not high-dollar surgeries, missed appointments aren’t just frustrating. They’re costly.

What if smarter, more integrated technology could help?

Across the country, neurology practices are turning to technology to reduce administrative burden, strengthen patient relationships, and improve access to care – without overwhelming already-stretched staff.

Why Neurology Clinics Need a Different Kind of Workflow

Neurology is a cognitive specialty, meaning that much of the value delivered both clinically and financially happens in the context of extended, often complex conversations. Whether it’s adjusting seizure medication, evaluating new migraines, or managing MS symptoms, time is the currency.

But that also means the clinic’s schedule is the lifeline. Every open slot represents a missed chance for reimbursement. Every missed follow-up is a lost opportunity for continuity of care. And every breakdown in communication, from unreturned referral calls to missed MRIs, can delay diagnosis, increase costs, and put patients at risk.

As one administrator shared: “We have a 3-month waitlist for new patients, and then they no-show.”

Or, even more urgently, “We pay upfront for infusions. If the patient doesn’t come in, we eat that cost.”

When visit volume and patient engagement directly drive your bottom line, efficiency isn’t just about convenience. It’s essential for sustainability.

When Patients Drop Off, So Does Revenue

Many neurology patients require lifelong care. But the journey isn’t always linear. A patient gets referred post-stroke but never books the MRI. Another is due for a follow-up but forgets to schedule. A child with seizures needs consistent tracking, but the family is overwhelmed and stops responding.

This isn’t just a poor patient experience. It’s lost revenue and compromised care.

Technology can bridge these gaps with automated communication that adapts to each patient’s condition and care path. Practices can send reminders for MRIs and EEGs, guide patients through pre-visit prep, and stay connected between visits through secure, two-way messaging. Patients don’t fall off the map because the practice stays one step ahead.

Fewer Staff, Higher Expectations

It’s a familiar paradox: fewer available neurologists, higher patient demand. Meanwhile, support staff are buried in portal messages, phone calls, prior authorizations, and scheduling tasks. Providers are burned out on charting. Admins are overwhelmed.

Technology alone won’t solve staffing shortages but the right technology can reduce the pressure.

Digital intake workflows can collect clinical forms ahead of visits. Secure messaging can relieve phone lines. Referral management tools eliminate bottlenecks. Appointment readiness workflows ensure patients show up with everything needed for an effective, on-time visit.

That means fewer delays, more efficient encounters, and less burnout for everyone involved.

Outcomes, Access, and Reputation

Long wait times aren’t just frustrating – they’re risky. Research shows that patients who wait more than a month for a new visit are significantly more likely to no-show. And in a specialty where the average wait can stretch for weeks or months, that’s a real problem.

When patients give up on scheduling or never hear back after a referral, they often seek care elsewhere or not at all. That’s not just a lost visit. It’s lost continuity, poorer outcomes, and weaker practice performance in a value-based care world.

Solutions like Luma Health prioritize speed and personalization. Referred patients receive timely outreach with simple scheduling options. Follow-ups are proactively nudged. Educational materials and checklists keep patients informed between visits. And after the visit, automated surveys invite feedback, helping you monitor satisfaction and build a stronger online reputation.

Customer Outcomes in Neurology

Neurology clinics using Luma Health are seeing measurable improvements across key performance areas:

DENT Neurologic Institute, one of the largest private neurology practices in the country, has adopted Luma’s platform to streamline scheduling, follow-up, and patient communication. By meeting patients where they are, whether it’s through SMS reminders or personalized intake workflows, DENT has reduced administrative load and improved continuity for its chronic care population.

Three Smart Moves to Strengthen Neurology Operations Today

  1. Start by analyzing your no-show rates. Where are you losing the most visit volume, and how could automated reminders or waitlists help?
  2. Review your referral-to-appointment timeline. How long does it take for a new patient to get scheduled? Can you reduce leakage with faster, digital intake?
  3. Take stock of staff bandwidth. What manual tasks could be automated to ease the load, like collecting forms, sending imaging reminders, or responding to refill requests?

Neurology isn’t getting simpler. But your workflows can.

With smarter tools built for cognitive specialties, clinics can reduce administrative friction, strengthen the patient-provider relationship, and improve outcomes without overloading the people behind the scenes.

For neurology clinics seeking better access, better efficiency, and better care, the path forward is already being paved. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel—you just have to optimize how it turns.

Want to see how your neurology practice could benefit from smarter workflows and more connected patient experiences? Schedule a personalized demo with the Luma Health team to explore how our platform can help you streamline operations, reduce no-shows, and support your patients every step of the way.

Get in touch with us today

In the fast-paced world of orthopedic care, efficiency isn’t just a goal — it’s required. Every missed appointment, empty surgical slot, or delayed referral is a direct hit to revenue, operations, and provider satisfaction. For administrators, keeping high-value procedures moving through the pipeline while managing the mountain of operational tasks is an ongoing balancing act.

Orthopedic clinics have a unique challenge: they’re structured for throughput. Whether it’s a knee replacement or a fracture follow-up, every patient interaction is one link in a tightly choreographed chain of care. But when manual processes and fragmented communication slow things down, it puts pressure on staff, frustrates patients, and leaves revenue on the table.

Here’s the good news: it doesn’t have to be this hard.

Orthopedic practices that invest in smarter, more connected technology are seeing measurable gains in access, scheduling efficiency, surgical readiness, and revenue capture, without adding headcount or increasing staff burnout. Let’s break down the most common pain points, and how technology like Luma can help.

The Referral Race: Why Speed and Follow-Up Matter More Than Ever

Referrals are the lifeblood of any orthopedic clinic. A steady stream of patients from PCPs, urgent care centers, and ERs fills consult slots and, ultimately, surgical schedules. But when referral intake is slow, manual, or poorly tracked, patients can fall through the cracks.

In many practices, referrals arrive via fax or email, then sit in inboxes waiting to be processed. There’s no visibility, no accountability, plus it can be hard to follow up. By the time someone reaches out to schedule an appointment, the patient may have already booked elsewhere or decided to delay care and tough it out.

Speed matters. Faster follow-up means fewer lost patients, happier referring providers, and a healthier surgical pipeline.

Missed Appointments = Missed Revenue

Joint replacements, arthroscopies, and spine procedures are some of the most profitable services for orthopedic practices, but they demand precise scheduling and coordination. When a patient cancels at the last minute or doesn’t show up, it’s not just an inconvenience. It’s lost revenue and wasted operating room time. As one orthopedic administrator shared, “Patients wait weeks for an appointment, then don’t show – we could’ve filled that slot!”

To help prevent these costly gaps, technology can appointment reminders through SMS, email, and voice, making it easier for patients to remember and prepare for their visits. If plans change, patients can quickly cancel or reschedule through two-way texting, which reduces friction and increases clinic responsiveness. And when cancellations do happen, a smart waitlist can automatically fill the open slot with another patient already waiting, which keeps your schedules full without creating extra work for staff.

Pre-Op Prep: Stop Chasing Patients

Few things are more frustrating than canceling a surgery because a patient didn’t complete a required form or lab. But in many clinics, staff spend hours each week calling patients, printing instructions, and chasing down imaging or labs – and very often these steps are tracked manually, making it easy for tasks to fall through the cracks.

The consequences? Day-of cancellations, safety concerns, and a waste of valuable surgical capacity. Without consistent, automated communication, practices lose time chasing down patients, printing instructions, and making last-minute calls—all while trying to keep the schedule on track.

Phone Lines Tied Up? Free Your Front Desk

Manual scheduling, phone tag, and voicemail overflow are common pain points. One administrator summed it up: “Our phone lines are slammed, and we don’t have enough staff to keep up.”

Rather than increasing headcount, many orthopedic practices are turning to digital access tools to offload common communication tasks. With modern technology, including agentic AI, patients can self-schedule appointments through referral links, text message reminders, or broadcast campaigns. They can also easily cancel or reschedule appointments via two-way texting – no more waiting on hold. Even lab results and follow-up communication can be handled through secure messaging.

This shift not only reduces call volume but also improves response times and overall patient satisfaction. For patients who prefer texting over voicemail or portal logins, this modern approach meets expectations while freeing up valuable staff time.

Online Reviews Matter, Especially in Competitive Markets

Patient experience may be transactional in orthopedics, but it still matters. In competitive urban markets, where patients have a range of options, online reviews can significantly influence a clinic’s growth trajectory. Additionally, in value-based care arrangements, patient satisfaction scores can directly impact reimbursement.

One missed message or unclear instruction can turn a routine visit into a poor experience. Without a structured feedback loop, issues may go unaddressed, damaging the clinic’s reputation and limiting future growth. For practices looking to enhance their online presence and maintain a competitive edge, an automated feedback loop is both strategic and sustainable.

It’s a low-effort, high-impact way to strengthen your reputation and attract new patients.

Real Results from Orthopedic Clinics Using Luma

Orthopedic practices across the country are already seeing measurable improvements with Luma. Clinics have reported:

Dr. Stefano Bini, Chief Technology Officer of the UCSF Department of Orthopedic Surgery, shared:

“Luma Health has completely streamlined the scheduling process and improved patient access across multiple medical centers. Few companies have addressed a pain point in healthcare with such clear, demonstrable ROI.”

These outcomes show that with the right technology, orthopedic practices can deliver better patient care while improving the bottom line.

3 Smart Actions You Can Take Today

Want to start seeing results without a full system overhaul? Try these quick wins:

  1. Audit your no-show and cancellation rates to identify where gaps are hurting your schedule, and implement automated reminders and waitlist tools to keep your calendar full.
  2. Digitize your referral intake process to quickly convert referrals into scheduled visits, preventing leakage and speeding up patient access.
  3. Automate pre-op and post-op communication using templated digital workflows to ease staff workload and keep patients on track before and after surgery.

Orthopedic care isn’t slowing down. And the clinics that thrive will be the ones that move faster, not by working harder but by working smarter. With connected, patient-centered technology, orthopedic administrators can streamline operations, maximize surgical volume, and keep patients moving forward.

That’s better for the bottom line, and better for the people you serve.

Want to see how your orthopedics practice could benefit from smarter workflows and more connected patient experiences? Schedule a personalized demo with the Luma Health team to explore how our platform can help you streamline operations, reduce no-shows, and support your patients every step of the way.

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Walk through the doors of any busy OBGYN clinic and you’ll see it immediately: phones ringing nonstop, front desk staff juggling referrals and follow-up calls, and a schedule filled with everything from ultrasounds to postpartum visits to annual exams. For practice administrators, keeping operations running smoothly while ensuring patients get the care they need is a high-wire act.

Behind the scenes, these clinics are balancing complex challenges, many of which have real impacts on care outcomes, patient satisfaction, and revenue. Whether it’s missed postpartum visits that affect value-based performance, or overburdened staff trying to track down lab results and reschedule no-shows, the operational hurdles are significant.

But they’re also solvable.

Technology, when it’s purpose-built for healthcare and tightly integrated with your EHR, can automate a lot of complexity. Platforms like Luma’s are helping OBGYN clinics reduce staff workload, improve patient engagement, and increase retention – without requiring a massive overhaul or change management lift.

Let’s explore five common pain points for OBGYN practices, and how smarter tech can help.

1. Missed Postpartum Visits and Prenatal Milestones

When patients miss postpartum checkups or important prenatal milestones, the impact goes beyond clinical care. It can also jeopardize compliance with bundled payments and value-based care metrics. In many clinics, the responsibility of keeping patients on track falls to the front desk team or to nursing staff, who often rely on inefficient methods like spreadsheets, EHR flags, or paper-based workflows to manage these critical touchpoints.

With Luma, clinics can automate these touchpoints by:

This results in higher adherence to clinical care guidelines and fewer missed visits that can compromise outcomes or compliance.

2. The Silent Risk of Patient Drop-Off

For many OBGYN practices, patient relationships begin during pregnancy and taper off afterward. It’s common for patients to switch providers, miss annual exams, or simply never come back. Every missed connection is a lost opportunity to deliver preventive care, as well as a missed opportunity for long-term patient retention.

The key here isn’t just outreach. It’s proactive, personalized re-engagement.

Technology solutions like Luma’s help practices build smart recall campaigns based on patient history and visit cadence. Whether someone is overdue for an annual exam, pap smear, or birth control check-in, the platform can automatically reach out, remind, and invite them back in. This kind of ongoing communication is what turns a one-time patient into a loyal one.

And in a competitive landscape, where retail clinics and telehealth providers are increasingly capturing women’s health visits, that loyalty is essential.

3. Staff Overload and Phone Volume

From appointment changes to lab result follow-ups to insurance questions, front desk teams and clinical staff can get overwhelmed by call volume. One missed message can snowball into a delayed visit, a missed test, or a frustrated patient.

Instead of hiring more staff or adding overtime, many clinics are finding relief in smart workflows. Luma helps by:

By automating routine communication, staff can focus on providing high-touch, in-person care right where they’re needed most.

4. No-Shows for Ultrasounds, Procedures, and Annuals

Ultrasound slots are precious. So are colposcopy appointments, IUD insertions, and annual exams. Every no-show leaves a gap in care — and in the schedule. And while reminder calls help, they often come too late or are missed entirely.

With Luma, practices can automate appointment reminders days and hours before a visit, giving patients multiple chances to confirm or reschedule. The smart waitlist functionality can then fill those openings in real time, often with patients who are already on standby for sooner availability.

Clinics using Luma have seen no-show rates drop dramatically. In fact, one OBGYN practice cut missed appointments in half and saw a $10,000 monthly revenue lift after implementing Luma’s reminder and waitlist tools.

5. Slow, Manual Referral and Intake Processes

Every day a referral sits in a fax inbox is a day of delayed care. In fertility consultations or high-risk pregnancy referrals, those delays can disrupt care timelines and patient confidence. Unfortunately, annual referral intake processes often create bottlenecks that slow down patient access.

Luma’s referral management tools streamline the entire intake process, from digitizing referrals to collecting pre-visit paperwork and ensuring the patient is ready for care. Automated outreach keeps patients informed while reducing the phone tag that slows everything down.

Registration and appointment prep solutions can streamline the check-in process and ensure that everything, from forms to pre-visit screenings, is completed ahead of time, so appointments start on time and with all the necessary information in place. 

3 Smart Ways to Start Improving Your Workflows Today

You don’t have to tackle everything at once. Here are three actions you can take now to start seeing impact:

  1. Audit your no-show rates. Start by identifying the appointment types with the highest no-show rates. Then consider layering in automated reminders and a smart waitlist to recapture lost revenue.
  2. Map your referral-to-intake process. Where are the delays? How long does it take to convert a referral into a scheduled appointment? Look for gaps you can automate.
  3. Segment your patients for smarter outreach. Create lists based on care timelines (e.g., postpartum, annuals, overdue labs) and use recall tools to bring patients back in proactively.

With the right technology, OBGYN clinics don’t have to choose between efficiency and compassion. By automating the workflows that slow your team down, you make space for better care, stronger patient relationships, and better clinical and financial outcomes.

And that’s a win for everyone.

Want to see how your OBGYN practice could benefit from smarter workflows and more connected patient experiences? Schedule a personalized demo with the Luma Health team to explore how our platform can help you streamline operations, reduce no-shows, and support your patients every step of the way.

Get in touch with us today

Ask any dermatology practice administrator what keeps them up at night, and the answers are surprisingly consistent: empty chairs from last-minute no-shows, front desk teams drowning in manual calls, and schedules that pit high-revenue cosmetic visits against urgent medical needs. Add in clunky tech and poor patient communication, and the result is a frustrating (and expensive) game of Tetris.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

The most successful dermatology practices today are investing in smarter, more connected systems that reduce manual work, improve the patient experience, and grow high-margin service lines—without burning out staff. And the good news? It doesn’t require an expensive overhaul.

Let’s look at the pain points dermatology administrators are facing, and how the right technology — especially when it’s tightly integrated with a practice’s EHR — can make a measurable difference.

No-Shows Cost More Than You Think

Whether it’s a routine skin check or a time-sensitive MOHS procedure, no-shows are a persistent headache. These missed visits don’t just disrupt the schedule — they hit the bottom line, especially when high-value procedures are left on the table.

Many practices try to manage no-shows manually: calls from the front desk, reminder postcards, sticky notes on monitors. But without automation, it’s nearly impossible to consistently reach patients with the right message at the right time.

Here’s where Luma can help:

The result? Fewer gaps in the schedule, higher visit volume, and less stress on staff.

Cosmetic vs. Medical Scheduling: Stop the Tug-of-War

Balancing medical dermatology with a growing cosmetic service line is a common challenge. One missed Botox consultation could mean hundreds in lost revenue, but squeezing it in shouldn’t mean pushing back a skin cancer re-check.

What dermatology leaders need is more control and visibility — not just over the calendar, but over how patients are booked, routed, and prepared. With Luma, practices can segment patient communications by visit type to ensure cosmetic and medical visits are managed with intention. 

Cosmetic patients can be proactively contacted for follow-ups or reminders, while medical patients receive clear, timely instructions for urgent care. Each type of visit can have its own tailored pre- and post-visit communication, reducing confusion and making room for both care priorities.

This kind of targeted outreach not only boosts revenue, but also helps practices prioritize urgent medical visits.

The Front Desk Is Drowning in Manual Tasks

Dermatology front office staff are often responsible for it all: referrals, intake, reminders, test results, follow-ups, prior authorizations, and scheduling. And while practices have talented, hardworking teams, the reality is this level of manual work isn’t sustainable.

It’s also not necessary with today’s technology. Luma can dramatically reduce the staff burden by automating many of the highest-friction workflows:

When these pieces are automated, staff have more time to focus on what truly matters: the patient standing in front of them.

Poor Communication = Poor Retention

Many dermatology clinics find that patient retention is surprisingly low. Why? Because communication often stops once the appointment ends. Patients forget to schedule re-checks, misunderstand follow-up instructions, or miss a call with test results.

The solution lies in delivering timely, consistent communication that keeps patients engaged between visits. With Luma, clinics can automatically send secure messages when it’s time to come back, provide easy access to test results and follow-up instructions, and share educational content that builds trust and encourages return visits.

When patients feel informed, supported, and connected, they’re far more likely to stay loyal to the practice — and far less likely to fall through the cracks.

3 Smart Steps You Can Take Today

Not ready for a full technology overhaul? No problem. Here are three quick wins to get started:

  1. Map your manual workflows: Identify where your team is losing the most time (referrals, follow-ups, appointment reminders) and consider automation opportunities.
  2. Segment your patient communication: Start grouping cosmetic and medical patients to deliver more relevant messages and increase retention.
  3. Start filling gaps with a smart waitlist: Even without major system changes, implementing a smart waitlist can help you reduce no-shows and backfill cancellations automatically—keeping your schedule full and high-value appointments on the books.

The road to a more efficient, patient-friendly dermatology clinic doesn’t have to be long or complicated. With the right tools in place, practices can ease the burden on staff, improve communication, and grow both medical and cosmetic lines of business—one smarter workflow at a time.

Want to see how your dermatology practice could benefit from smarter workflows and more connected patient experiences? Schedule a personalized demo with the Luma Health team to explore how our platform can help you streamline operations, reduce no-shows, and support your patients every step of the way.

Get in touch with us today

It’s a familiar paradox in healthcare: volumes are up, but margins are down. According to Strata Decision Technology, U.S. health systems saw outpatient visits increase by 5.6% and inpatient admissions by 4.6% year-over-year as of March 2025. Gross outpatient revenue rose by 10% in the same period, yet the median year-to-date operating margin has fallen to just 0.9%, the first drop below 1% in over a year.

This trend, outlined in the recent Health Management Academy report “Health System Margins Take a Fall” (May 2025), highlights a sobering truth: cost growth is outpacing revenue growth, and many systems are finding it harder than ever to maintain financial sustainability, even as demand for care continues to rise.

The Expense Squeeze: Non-Labor Costs Take Center Stage

Labor has long been a primary cost concern for health system CFOs, but now non-labor expenses are rising faster. Drug expenses rose by 11.5%, supply costs by 10.8%, and purchased services, which includes everything from cleaning contracts to revenue cycle support, jumped by 9.5% year-over-year.

These increases are difficult to offset through traditional productivity improvements or staffing cuts alone. As the report notes, these expenses “continue to outpace growth, compressing margins to increasingly unsustainable levels.”

The implication is clear: cost control efforts must expand beyond headcount. Leaders will need to examine the systems, contracts, and workflows that drive non-labor spend.

Outpatient Growth Brings Its Own Challenges

The shift toward outpatient care is continuing, and while it’s often been touted as a way to lower costs and improve access, it’s not a magic wand. Outpatient revenue may be rising, but these services often bring thinner margins than traditional inpatient care, meaning health systems must see more patients just to break even.

Operationally, outpatient settings mean more appointments, more communication, and more coordination. This higher-volume, lower-margin model demands precision and efficiency.

Managing capacity constraints smartly becomes essential in this setting, and health systems must focus on optimizing every slot, room, and provider schedule. That means reducing last-minute cancellations, improving schedule accuracy, and ensuring patients are ready to be seen.

Industry data underscores the urgency of this challenge. According to the Sg2 2024 Impact of Change report, outpatient volumes are projected to increase by 17% over the next decade, reaching 5.82 billion annual visits, driven by an aging population, increased incidence of chronic diseases, and a higher demand for mental health services. 

To address these capacity challenges, health systems are increasingly turning to technology solutions. For instance, AI-powered software can help optimize scheduling, reduce no-shows, and improve patient flow. A LeanTaaS report found over 90% of hospital leaders cited staffing limits and inefficient discharges as major barriers to patient flow. 

Investing in the right tools, systems can match capacity to demand without burning out staff or compromising patient care.

Executive Response: Strategic Alignment Over Shiny Objects

In this climate, health system leaders are rethinking their approach to innovation and investment. According to the report, CFOs and CSOs are prioritizing:

New projects are under tighter scrutiny. The focus is shifting away from experimentation and toward execution. We hear a constant refrain from our Luma customers and partners: “we must automate since we’re being asked to do more with the same or less people resources.”

As The Health Management Academy notes, “Initiatives that clearly improve margin, reduce cost, or accelerate ROI will rise to the top of the executive agenda.”

Technology’s Role: From Nice-to-Have to Need-to-Have

While some health systems may slow their tech investment in response to budget pressures, innovators are doubling down on tools that demonstrate clear financial value. Platforms that automate manual workflows, reduce appointment leakage, or accelerate revenue cycle processes are becoming more essential, not less.

At Luma, we’ve seen this shift firsthand. Many of our health system partners are using our platform to:

In an environment where every hour and every dollar counts, these types of improvements are not just helpful. They’re critical.

Where Do Health Systems Go From Here?

There’s no one-size-fits-all solution to the margin challenge. But some strategies are emerging as consistent priorities:

Final Thoughts: Focused Innovation Wins the Day

The data is clear: volumes are up, but costs are rising faster. For health system leaders, the challenge now is to drive financial performance in this new normal. That means focusing not just on cost cutting, but on optimizing and identifying where investment in people, process, and technology can yield the greatest margin impact.

Innovation isn’t off the table. It’s just under new constraints, and perhaps becoming even more vital. The most effective solutions will be those that prove their worth in real terms: time saved, revenue created/captured, and costs avoided.

That’s the future of operational strategy in healthcare. And it starts now.

For oncology practices, each day is a balancing act of delivering coordinated, compassionate care to patients navigating serious and often complex conditions, while also managing a complex web of administrative responsibilities behind the scenes.

From chasing prior authorizations for chemotherapy to coordinating infusion chairs, labs, scans, and specialists visits across multiple locations, it’s no surprise that oncology administrators are overwhelmed. As one practice leader put it, “Scheduling is a constant puzzle”

The complexity adds up. Staff burnout rises. Referral or authorization delays lead to treatment delays. No shows become more frequent, especially when patients are feeling unwell or unclear on pre-visit instructions. 

Amid all of this, the stakes couldn’t be higher. 

When complexity slows care, everyone feels it

Unlike other specialties, delays in oncology aren’t just frustrating, they can be dangerous. A missed infusion or delayed scan can ripple through an entire care plan. Meanwhile, patients often need more support, not less, to stay on track during treatment.

The good news? Oncology practices are finding ways to ease the burden on staff and patients alike, without sacrificing the quality or humanity of care.

Reimagining the patient journey

Imagine this: A patient undergoing treatment receives a friendly reminder about their upcoming appointment, along with tailored prep instructions based on their specific visit type. If they’re feeling unwell, they can quickly reschedule with a few taps, rather than missing the visit entirely.

Behind the scenes, referrals, lab orders, and imaging requests flow seamlessly between providers and departments. Staff are no longer stuck on the phone coordinating next steps—they’re focused on higher-value work. And pre-authorizations for infusions or specialty meds move faster because everything is tracked and organized in one place.

The payoff? More patients complete their treatment plans on time. Fewer cancellations. Less chaos for staff.

Small Changes, Big Results

This isn’t just theoretical. Technology is playing a critical role in how oncology practices are delivering care and supporting their teams. Platforms like Luma Health are helping practices streamline operations, enhance patient engagement, and reduce the daily friction that weighs down both staff and patients. 

At Monterey Bay GI Consultants, automation helps the specialty practice reduce the time and cost of outreach, saving $5.7 million in external call center expenses while driving $412,000 in increased referral volume. While not an oncology practice, their story shows how operational efficiency directly benefits both patients and practice revenue.

Banner Health saw similar results with a 20% reduction in no-shows for CTs, mammograms, and MRIs and a corresponding revenue boost. The key in both cases was consistent, personalized communication with patients—at scale.

For oncology, where communication needs to be not just timely but deeply compassionate, that kind of scalable personalization can be a game-changer.

Bringing Consistency to Complexity

One of the biggest challenges in oncology is variability: different sites, different teams, different instructions. But patients don’t see departments—they see one care experience. When intake instructions vary between locations, or when follow-up communications fall through the cracks, trust erodes.

Platforms like Luma help standardize workflows so every patient gets clear, accurate information, no matter where they’re seen. Automated care pathways and templates ensure consistency while still allowing for the empathy and human touch that oncology care demands.

And for patients moving through long and complex treatment plans, visibility matters. Practices can track where each patient is in their journey and ensure they’re ready for the next step, whether it’s an infusion, a scan, or a follow-up.

By automating the routine—like appointment reminders, pre-visit instructions, and follow-ups—oncology teams can focus on what matters most: delivering excellent care, with compassion and clarity.

Practical Steps to Enhance Your Oncology Practice

Improving oncology operations doesn’t have to start with a full-scale transformation. Here are three actions practices can take today to begin easing operational strain and enhancing patient experience:

  1. Audit your communication touchpoints. Where are patients getting confused or falling through the cracks? Map the journey from referral to treatment and identify opportunities to clarify, automate, or standardize.
  2. Start small with automation. Pick one workflow to automate—like referral outreach or lab coordination—and measure the impact. Even a single change can reduce hours of manual work.
  3. Give patients an easier way to engage. Whether it’s through two-way text messaging, mobile intake forms, or digital prep instructions, offering modern, convenient tools can dramatically reduce no-shows and improve satisfaction.

By taking these steps, oncology practices can enhance patient care, reduce staff burden, and improve overall operational efficiency.

Cancer care will always be complex. But by combining compassionate care with the right tools, practices can create a more supportive, efficient environment for everyone involved.

And that’s a win worth showing up for.

Want to see how your oncology practice could benefit from smarter workflows and more connected patient experiences?
Schedule a personalized demo with the Luma Health team to explore how our platform can help you streamline operations, reduce no-shows, and support your patients every step of the way.

Get in touch with us today

Healthcare organizations under pressure to reduce costs are often tempted by offshore call centers offering rates as low as $7.50 per hour. On paper, that sounds like a smart move—especially when access center teams are struggling to keep up with rising patient demand, missed appointments, and burnout.

But as leaders at several health systems have discovered, what looks like a 20x cost savings on paper rarely plays out that way in practice. When you add up the full cost of offshore staffing—and compare it to what modern AI can offer—there’s a strong case for investing in automation instead.

Here’s why AI-powered access solutions like Luma Health’s Navigator are not only more cost-effective, but a smarter, more scalable choice for healthcare organizations looking to modernize patient engagement.

The Hidden Costs of Offshore Call Centers

1. Turnover and training burn resources. Offshore call centers, especially those supporting healthcare, face high employee turnover—ranging from 30% to 45%. Every time an agent leaves, organizations incur hidden costs: onboarding, training, and productivity losses. If it takes up to three months to fully train a new access center agent, that’s three months before they’re even able to support patients confidently.

2. Management overhead adds up. Managing offshore teams introduces friction. Organizations must accommodate time zones, language barriers, performance oversight, and quality assurance processes. Add in the infrastructure to securely handle sensitive data and the model quickly becomes more complex—and expensive—than anticipated.

Even when healthcare organizations outsource offshore staffing through an agency—avoiding the need to manage those teams directly—the burden doesn’t disappear. Practices still face high costs, delays from turnover, and frustrating coordination challenges. The agency may handle day-to-day management, but communication gaps, time zone friction, and inefficiencies still land squarely on the practice’s shoulders. The promise of “hands-off” management often turns out to be more complicated in practice.

3. Compliance and security risk. Partnering with an offshore vendor can introduce risk: U.S. laws including HIPAA may not be enforceable in other countries and enforcing contractual obligations including anything referenced in a Business Associate Agreement may be difficult. Offshore vendors, depending on locale may not maintain the same standard of security and privacy controls we have come to expect in the U.S. and auditing their processes may be more difficult. These factors could lead to increased compliance and reputational risks that healthcare systems cannot afford to take lightly.

Why AI Agents Are Built for the Realities of Patient Access

1. AI is always on. Solutions like Navigator don’t clock out at the end of the day. They operate 24/7, instantly engaging patients for scheduling, appointment cancellation, rescheduling, medication refill intake and more — no shift coordination or overnight staffing required.

2. AI agents scale instantly. Need to handle a surge in call volume or launch a new service line? AI can scale up in minutes — not months. No hiring pipeline. No onboarding lag. No burnout.

3. AI eliminates training gaps. There’s no ramp-up period for Navigator. It launches with predefined workflows and can be configured to match your organization’s protocols. Staff training isn’t needed—and consistency is guaranteed.

4. AI agents reduce human error. Unlike offshore agents who rely on training and manual processes, Navigator handles workflows with accuracy and automation, minimizing the risk of miscommunication, data entry mistakes, or missed follow-ups.

The Real Financial Picture

Let’s revisit that $7.50/hour offshore agent. Sure, it’s cheap upfront — but it doesn’t tell the full story.

The Security and Compliance Advantage

Navigator is built specifically for healthcare with privacy and security at its core. It’s HIPAA-compliant, integrated with leading EHRs, and rigorously tested to meet enterprise-grade security standards. Navigator builds upon Luma’s existing security programs and certifications in this area, including HITRUST CSF r2, ISO 27001:2022, US-EU Privacy Framework and TX-RAMP Level 2. Additionally, our annual SOC 2 Type II process reinforces our dedication to security and compliance. We’re committed to the gold standard in healthcare information security. We believe so strongly in our security programs that our policies are available publicly, without NDA at https://policy.lumahealth.io. 

Luma employs robust data protection measures to safeguard sensitive information and access to data is strictly controlled through least-privilege principles, multi-factor authentication, VPNs, and context-aware access. 

Navigator harnesses cutting-edge leading foundational AI models from trusted partners such as Vapi, Deepgram, OpenAI, Claude, and Elevenlabs. These models are regularly updated, with new versions released periodically — typically when they offer significant improvements in capabilities and performance. 

It’s important to note that no patient data is ever used to train any models, and we operate on a zero-retention model, so no data is retained any third parties.

Final Takeaway: Cheap ≠ Scalable or Effective

Offshore agents may seem like a bargain — but in healthcare, speed, reliability, and data integrity matter more than hourly rates. When the true cost of managing offshore resources is considered, the math changes quickly.

AI agent solutions like Navigator are purpose-built for modern access needs: reducing staff burden, closing gaps in care, and delivering a better experience for patients — day or night.

Want to explore what AI-led access could look like for your organization? Let’s talk.

FAQs

How does pricing for Navigator compare to offshore call center models in real terms?
While specific pricing details are not publicly disclosed, Luma Health emphasizes that its AI-native Patient Success Platform reduces manual tasks, leading to increased efficiency and revenue. For instance, you can review the real outcomes that UAMS has seen using Navigator, suggesting significant cost savings compared to traditional staffing models.

Can Navigator handle both inbound and outbound workflows?
Yes. Navigator is designed to manage both inbound and outbound patient communications. 

What specific workflows can Navigator automate today?
Navigator can automate a range of workflows, including:

How does Navigator integrate with my EHR or practice management system?
Navigator offers bidirectional, seamless integration with all major EHRs—including Epic, eClinicalWorks, MEDITECH, Oracle Cerner, and athenahealth—ensuring patient data flows smoothly and securely between systems. Backed by over a decade of experience in building deep, robust EHR integrations, Luma is uniquely positioned to deliver reliable, scalable connectivity that reduces manual work, minimizes errors, and enables smarter workflows. Unlike other solutions, our proven integration track record means you won’t be left troubleshooting or relying on partial connections.

What are the limits of AI agents in complex patient interactions?
While Navigator handles a wide array of patient interactions, complex cases may still require human intervention. Navigator agents are designed to triage and escalate issues appropriately, ensuring patients are attended to appropriately and in a timely manner, receiving the necessary attention without overburdening staff.

What kind of results have other health systems seen?
 Healthcare organizations using Luma Health’s platform have reported:

Is AI secure and compliant enough to replace human agents in a PHI-rich environment?
Yes. Luma Health’s platform is designed with security and compliance in mind, ensuring that patient data is handled in accordance with HIPAA regulations and industry best practices.

What’s the implementation timeline and IT lift?
Luma Health emphasizes ease of implementation with its platform. It happens in four key steps with each step taking approximately 7 business days: 1) solution design, 2) account configuration and QA testing, 3) user acceptance, and 4) go-live including go-live readiness. Dedicated support throughout the process ensures a smooth integration with existing systems, minimizing IT burden.

Can we configure Navigator to reflect our branding, scripts, or workflows?
Absolutely. Luma Health offers configurable workflows, allowing organizations to tailor the agent workflow to their specific needs and maintain consistency with their brand identity. (YouTube)

How do patients respond to interacting with an AI agent instead of a human?
Patients have responded positively to interactions with an AI agent, appreciating the convenience and efficiency. Luma Health’s platform is designed to enhance patient engagement, leading to improved satisfaction and outcomes.

Right now, uncertainty is the only constant in healthcare. Leaders are grappling with budget cuts, shifting policies, legal challenges to long-standing mandates, and an exhausted workforce. The landscape is evolving rapidly, often without clear guidance on what’s next or how to prepare.

But throughout this unpredictability, one thing hasn’t changed: people still get sick. Families still need answers. Communities still rely on timely, high-quality care. In fact, the need for accessible, efficient healthcare has never been more urgent.

This is not a moment to pause. It’s a moment to refocus — and double down on patient access and operational efficiency.

The New Normal of Uncertainty

Across the industry, leaders are feeling the squeeze from every angle. At the policy level, questions around Medicaid expansion, telehealth reimbursement, and DEI initiatives have created a fog of confusion. Funding windows open and close without warning. Priorities shift seemingly overnight. And no one’s quite sure what will be funded — or when.

Operationally, the pressure is relentless. Staffing shortages are hitting hard, not just in clinical roles, but also in IT departments and access centers. Burnout is no longer just a concern; it’s the reality. At a recent industry event, one executive remarked that call volumes at their access center were spiking — not because of new demand, but because frustrated patients couldn’t navigate existing digital tools. The system is overloaded.

Financially, most health systems are operating with little room for error. Margins are flat or shrinking. IT teams are being asked to stretch aging systems further while driving innovation on tighter budgets. In this environment, every inefficiency becomes a liability.

And then there’s the patient experience — the part of the story that can get overshadowed. 

This isn’t just noise. It’s a call to act.

The debates about policy are ongoing, but one thing is clear: people still need care. Delaying that care doesn’t make the need go away, it just makes it more urgent later.

What Happens If We Wait

In times of uncertainty, it’s tempting to hold still. To wait for clarity before making changes. But in healthcare, waiting often makes things worse.

Delaying or deprioritizing access initiatives won’t stabilize the system — it will destabilize it further:

And once patients disengage from the system, rebuilding that trust is possible but it takes more time, and money, to bring them back. 

Focus, Not Freeze

Instead of freezing, healthcare organizations must focus. That means getting smarter about where and how they invest in access and efficiency.

Lean Into Efficiency

Efficiency doesn’t mean doing more with less. It means doing the right things, better.

Small improvements in how appointments are booked, how reminders are sent, or how patients are guided through the system can lead to big wins — for both experience and revenue.

Prioritize Access

Even modest improvements in scheduling or communication can yield major results:

Remember: prioritizing access is essential to healthcare because access is the gateway to outcomes. If patients can’t get in the door (whether that door is physical, digital, or operational) nothing else in the care journey can happen.

Build Resilience Into Your Tech Stack

Technology, too, plays a key role. The future isn’t about ripping out what’s already in place. It’s about building resilience into what’s already working. 

This isn’t the time for short-term patches. Invest in systems designed to evolve:

When done right, these investments don’t just help organizations weather uncertainty. They make them more agile, more adaptive, and ultimately more effective.

Leading Through Uncertainty: A Call to Action

This moment calls for leadership — not paralysis. The health systems and clinics that come out stronger won’t be the ones that waited. They’ll be the ones that acted with purpose, even amid ambiguity, in order to:

Because at the end of the day, uncertainty doesn’t change the mission. It clarifies it. If anything, uncertainty makes it clearer than ever: every patient deserves access to timely, compassionate, and efficient care. People still need care. They always will. And the systems that serve them need to be ready — not someday, but now.

In healthcare, solving challenges always requires more than a single step. From scheduling appointments and verifying insurance to managing care transitions and reducing no-shows, the path to better patient outcomes is rarely straightforward. Just as healthcare organizations rely on interconnected systems like electronic health records (EHRs) and practice management software, AI solutions are most effective when they work together seamlessly.

This is where agentic AI comes in. Agentic AI refers to a system of specialized AI agents—each designed to perform specific tasks—working in coordination to achieve a larger goal. Think of it as a team of experts, each contributing their skills to move a patient smoothly through their care journey. By handling tasks autonomously, these agents reduce administrative burdens and allow healthcare teams to focus on what they do best: caring for patients.

At Luma Health, we believe the future of healthcare lies in the collaboration of AI agents. Our AI-powered Navigator solution uses agentic AI to streamline workflows, improve patient experiences, and drive measurable outcomes. From automating routine tasks to providing actionable insights, our network of AI agents supports both operational and patient care teams in delivering exceptional care.

In this blog post, we’ll explore how multiple AI agents work together to solve complex healthcare challenges, the benefits of agentic AI, and how Luma Health is helping providers navigate this new era of intelligent automation.

What is Agentic AI and How Does it Work?

Agentic AI is like having a team of digital assistants, each with its own role, working together to achieve a common goal. Each agent is specialized, meaning it has a clear task—whether that’s gathering data, analyzing information, or triggering actions.

As Ivan Viragine, AI Engineering Manager at Luma Health, explains: “An agent is a combination of a large language model (LLM), a prompt, and a set of tools. In Navigator’s case, we have one agent for verifying a patient’s identity, another for listing appointments, and others for tasks like confirming visits. These agents work together to achieve their goal of understanding and fulfilling the user’s request.”

These agents coordinate in real time, adjusting their actions based on new information. For example, if a patient cancels an appointment, one agent verifies the patient’s identity, another lists the upcoming appointments to confirm which one to cancel, and a third cancels it directly in the EHR. This intelligent division of labor reduces administrative burden and ensures patients receive timely care.

This multi-agent or “agentic AI” approach also improves accuracy and reliability. Instead of relying on a single AI to parse an overwhelming set of rules or data—like expecting one person to memorize and apply a 100-page manual—agentic AI distributes the cognitive load. Each agent focuses on a smaller, well-defined domain (like one chapter of that manual), and a coordinating supervisor directs requests to the most relevant agent. This specialization not only speeds up performance but also reduces the risk of error or confusion—especially critical in healthcare, where mistakes can have serious consequences. The result is a system that’s more capable, precise, and less prone to “I can’t help you with that” dead-ends.

Why Healthcare Needs Agentic AI Systems

Healthcare operations are inherently complex. From scheduling and follow-ups to prior authorizations and patient communications, these processes often require complex coordination with large groups of people. Disconnected systems lead to inefficiencies, delays, and frustrated patients. On top of that, healthcare staff are burdened with administrative tasks—research shows that clinicians spend nearly 50% of their time on paperwork and administrative work, taking away from patient care.

Healthcare needs multi-agent AI systems. Many real-world patient interactions are too nuanced for a single agent to manage. Imagine a patient who wants to cancel her upcoming PCP appointment and refill her child’s prescription—all within one call to the clinic’s access center. A common scenario, yet far too intricate for traditional, monolithic AI systems to handle effectively. This is where multi-agent AI shines.

One way to understand the power of agentic AI is through analogy: imagine asking a person to memorize a 100-page instruction manual and then locate the answer to a very specific question. The likelihood of them missing or mismanaging the task is high—because the answer might live in a tiny paragraph on page 56. But if you break the manual into chapters and assign a smaller expert to each one, then have a supervisor route questions to the right expert, accuracy improves dramatically. Each specialized agent only needs to sift through a narrow slice of information, which significantly reduces the risk of misunderstanding or error.

This is especially critical in healthcare, where the consequences of a mismanaged task can directly affect patient safety or delay care. Smaller, specialized agents reduce cognitive load and hallucinations—two well-documented risks in large language models—resulting in more reliable performance.

Think of agentic AI like a surgical team. Each member—surgeon, anesthesiologist, nurse—has a well-defined role. Similarly, AI agents specialize in distinct functions:

As Hwee Min Loh, Senior Product Manager at Luma Health, describes it: “Agentic AI means that the reasoning framework is spread across multiple specialized agents, rather than relying on one massive list of instructions. This reduces common issues like hallucination and enables more accurate, reliable outcomes. Navigator ensures all patient requests are directed to the right specialized agents.”

Real-World Use Cases of Agentic AI in Healthcare

At Luma Health, we see the impact of agentic AI systems every day. One compelling example is our work with UAMS (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences). Faced with rising call volumes and patient communication challenges, UAMS partnered with Luma Health to deploy our Navigator AI platform.

With Navigator’s agentic AI approach:

The results were transformative—UAMS saw a 20% decrease in patient no-shows and significantly reduced call center volume. Staff were freed from repetitive tasks, allowing them to focus on providing high-value care. Learn more in our UAMS case study.

Looking Ahead — The Future of Agentic AI in Healthcare

The future of multi-agent AI in healthcare is exciting. As AI systems become more adaptive, predictive, and personalized, hospitals will increasingly rely on agentic AI to anticipate patient needs and proactively manage care.

Healthcare organizations will further integrate agentic AI for proactive care management—reducing administrative burdens, improving operational efficiency, and ultimately enhancing patient outcomes. At Luma Health, we’re excited to continue leading this transformation, empowering providers to deliver exceptional care through the power of many AI agents.

AI Agents Must Collaborate

No single AI agent can solve healthcare challenges alone. Just as healthcare providers work as teams, AI agents are most effective when they collaborate to streamline operations and enhance patient care.

At Luma Health, we are committed to applying the power of multi-agent AI to make healthcare easier for providers and patients alike. By leveraging Navigator’s agentic workflow, we help healthcare organizations reduce administrative burdens, improve operational efficiency, and ensure patients receive timely, high-quality care.

Want to see how multi-agent AI can transform your organization? Learn more about Navigator or request a demo today to experience the Luma Health difference.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does agentic AI integrate with our existing systems like EHRs or practice management software?

Luma’s Navigator platform is designed to integrate seamlessly with leading EHRs, scheduling systems, and communication tools. Whether you’re using Epic, Cerner, Athenahealth, or other platforms, our AI agents can access and act on real-time data through secure API connections and industry-standard integrations.

What is the implementation timeline? How much lift is required from our IT team?

Most organizations see their first AI workflows live within weeks. Our dedicated team handles the heavy lifting of that first implementation, with minimal demands on your IT resources. We tailor the rollout to your existing workflows and provide hands-on support to ensure a smooth transition. There are also self-serve tools available so that you can build your own workflows in a no-code, easy-to-use interface using Navigator’s individual agentic AI skills. 

Is this secure and HIPAA-compliant?

Yes. Security and compliance are non-negotiable. Luma Health is HIPAA-compliant and HITRUST-certified, and all agent actions are fully auditable. Our platform ensures patient data is handled securely at every step, with encryption and strict access controls built in.

Will Navigator replace my staff?

Navigator is designed to augment, not replace, your team. By taking on repetitive and time-consuming tasks like scheduling, appointment reminders, and eligibility checks, our AI agents free up your staff to focus on high-value interactions that improve the patient experience and operational outcomes.

What happens when the AI doesn’t know what to do?

Agentic AI is built to collaborate—with each other and with your team. When an agent encounters a complex or ambiguous request, it automatically escalates the task to a human staff member. Patients never hit a dead end, and your team is always in the loop.

How do I measure the ROI of agentic AI?

Navigator includes built-in analytics that track key performance metrics—reduction in call volume, no-show rates, scheduling efficiency, and more. Our clients often see measurable impact within the first few weeks of deployment.

Can we customize workflows or agent behavior?

Yes. Each Navigator agent can be configured to fit your needs, such as modifying the welcome and end message, the agent’s voice, and the action it can take with your patient. Whether you want agents to follow specific scripts, recognize custom intents, or trigger internal protocols, we give you the flexibility to stay in control. There are also self-serve tools available so that you can build your own workflows in a no-code, easy-to-use interface using Navigator’s individual agentic AI skills. 

How do patients feel about interacting with AI agents?

Patients appreciate fast, 24/7 access to the help they need—without waiting on hold. Our Spark AI is designed to be transparent and patient-friendly, clearly indicating when they’re interacting with a digital assistant. When needed, agents seamlessly hand off to staff, ensuring a smooth and trusted experience.

Changing your electronic health record (EHR) system is one of the most significant technology decisions a healthcare organization can make. But while most teams are laser-focused on the EHR transition itself, they may miss a critical opportunity: reevaluating their broader tech stack.

At Luma, we’ve seen firsthand how organizations like University Hospitals took a comprehensive approach to their EHR migration. Stacy Porter, who previously served as the VP of Digital Transformation at University Hospitals in Cleveland, says: “When you’re implementing a new EHR, it’s not just an opportunity — it’s an obligation to look at your entire digital portfolio.”

Here’s why evaluating your IT landscape during an EHR transition can unlock long-term value and how Luma can be an invaluable partner in the process.

1. Consolidate and Simplify Your Digital Portfolio

An EHR change often reveals redundancies and inefficiencies. Before University Hospitals switched to Epic, according to Porter, they completed a capability mapping exercise to compare their existing digital tools — including platforms like Salesforce, Conversa, and RevSpring — against Epic’s capabilities. This allowed them to make informed decisions about what to keep, what to replace, and where gaps existed.

Rather than defaulting to piecemeal solutions like Twilio for patient reminder texts, Porter asked: “Is there a vendor that can consolidate these functions and provide additional value?” Enter Luma Health. By selecting a partner like Luma, they reduced their vendor sprawl and ensured seamless interoperability with Epic from day one.

“When you’re implementing a new EHR, it’s not just an opportunity — it’s an obligation to look at your entire digital portfolio.”

Stacy Porter, former VP of Digital Transformation at University Hospitals

2. Co-Design for Long-Term Success

When evaluating vendors during an EHR transition, consider how co-designing can prevent future headaches. Porter emphasized this strategic approach: “We co-designed with Luma, so when we turned on both Epic and Luma, everything worked by design — no overlap, no retrofit.”

By collaborating with Luma early in the process, University Hospitals avoided unnecessary IT buildout later. This streamlined implementation and reduced the burden on their IT team, with Luma handling most configurations and only needing operational input.

3. Minimize Change Fatigue

For both patients and staff, transitioning to a new EHR means significant change. University Hospitals took a “rip off the Band-Aid” approach to minimize disruption. “Change once, change deep,” Porter said. Rather than subjecting patients and staff to waves of adjustments, they implemented Epic and Luma Health simultaneously.

This reduced the need for multiple rounds of training and communications, ultimately leading to smoother adoption and fewer frustrations.

4. Communicate Effectively

One of the most critical factors in a successful transition is proactive communication. Porter highlighted the importance of clear, consistent messaging to both patients, staff, and providers about what’s changing and why. Now imagine repeating that process three, six, or nine months later when introducing another solution — it’s a scenario best avoided.

By implementing Luma alongside Epic, University Hospitals ensured that everyone was aligned and informed upfront, reducing confusion and frustration.

5. Choose the Right Partners

Not all vendors are equipped to navigate the complexities of an EHR transition. Aditya Bansod, Luma’s co-founder, advises organizations to think holistically: “Every EHR conversation is part of a larger IT conversation. Use this as a moment to clean up your tech stack. Luma can be part of that.”

By choosing a partner like Luma, healthcare organizations can consolidate disparate tools, bring legacy systems into the future, and maximize their EHR investment.

EHR conversions take a lot of consideration from all fronts, and these five reasons make it clear: an EHR migration isn’t just a system switch — it’s a strategic opportunity to modernize and streamline your entire digital infrastructure. Here’s a quick recap to guide your planning:

An EHR migration is not just a software upgrade — it’s a pivotal moment to evaluate and optimize your entire digital strategy. With the right planning, stakeholder engagement, and vendor support, your organization can turn this period of change into a long-term advantage.

At Luma Health, we’re here to help you make the most of your EHR investment. Let’s reimagine what’s possible together.

At Luma, we believe the healthcare industry has moved beyond the initial hype of artificial intelligence (AI). While AI once dominated conversations with grand promises and speculative claims, it has now become table stakes. The industry is entering a new phase, one where AI is treated like any other technology investment — evaluated with rigor and held accountable for delivering real outcomes. For healthcare leaders, this shift requires a focus on practical applications and measurable impact.

AI should not be designed or deployed with the intent to replace your workforce. Instead, it enables your workforce to focus on patient-facing interactions over administrative busywork.

To explore what this shift looks like in practice, in this blog post we’ll follow the journey of Hayes Valley Health Center, a mid-sized hospital navigating the realities of AI adoption. Hayes Valley is fictional, but its challenges are anything but. Modeled after the experiences of Luma customers, the health center faces mounting pressure to improve operational efficiency, deliver high-quality care, and enhance experiences for both patients and staff. Like many health systems, they’re excited by AI’s potential but have struggled to move beyond the buzzwords.

Throughout this post, we’ll explore how Hayes Valley Health Center approaches AI adoption with a focus on outcomes, applying the same level of diligence and strategic thinking they would with any other technology. From identifying clear goals to measuring success, their story serves as a practical guide for healthcare organizations striving to turn AI’s promise into real-world progress.

AI as a Productivity Booster, Not a Workforce Replacement

Like many health systems, Hayes Valley’s leadership initially viewed AI as a way to reduce staff costs. They hoped that chatbots could replace human schedulers, handling appointment management and patient inquiries with minimal human intervention. It seemed like a quick win to drive efficiency and lower expenses.

The reality didn’t match expectations. While the AI chatbot excelled at simple tasks, it struggled with more complex patient requests. Patients seeking specialized care, needing to reschedule complicated procedures, or asking detailed insurance questions grew frustrated. Staff often had to step in without sufficient context, leading to inefficiencies and dissatisfaction on both sides.

Recognizing this challenge, Hayes Valley recalibrated their approach. Instead of positioning AI as a replacement for human schedulers, they deployed it as a productivity booster. The AI was assigned three key tasks:

This shift freed staff to focus on higher-value patient interactions. Without the burden of routine tasks, they could provide more compassionate and personalized support. AI operated behind the scenes to streamline workflows, while human schedulers brought empathy and expertise to complex situations. The result was a better experience for both patients and employees.

Luma’s AI-powered Navigator product supports this kind of balanced approach. Navigator uses conversational AI to assist with appointment management and patient inquiries, ensuring staff can dedicate their time to what matters most. By handling the repetitive, AI enables healthcare organizations to scale their services without sacrificing quality.

The key lesson Hayes Valley learned is clear: AI is not a substitute for human expertise. Instead, it’s a powerful tool to enhance productivity, reduce operational friction, and improve care experiences. When thoughtfully applied, AI empowers staff to excel in their roles, making healthcare more efficient and empathetic for all.

Prioritizing Real Use Cases Over Shiny Tech

What can all of us learn from the missteps of the fictional Hayes Valley? We must shift focus to AI solutions designed to solve practical, high-impact problems, and it should integrate seamlessly with existing systems and staff workflows.

Before adopting any new AI tool we recommend asking four critical questions, based on input from health system leaders we work with who have successfully adopted and deployed AI:

Future-proofed, AI-native platforms like Luma’s are designed with these principles in mind. Built to adapt and grow with healthcare organizations, they ensure today’s AI solutions won’t become tomorrow’s technical debt. Platforms that anticipate industry needs and prioritize interoperability are the ones that will drive lasting impact.

Moving Forward with Practical AI

Hayes Valley Health Center’s journey offers lessons for effectiveAI adoption — avoid the hype, invest in practical solutions, and ensure AI tools support (rather than replace) healthcare teams.

By aligning AI investments with clear goals, empowering staff with adaptable tools, and maintaining a disciplined roadmap, organizations can drive meaningful improvements.

The key takeaway is simple: AI should empower, not complicate. With the right mindset and technologies, AI can become a powerful tool for transforming healthcare—enhancing experiences, improving outcomes, and making care more accessible for all.

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences handles 95% of after-hours calls with AI automation for healthcare call centers

Healthcare call centers are overwhelmed. Agentic AI can help – right now.

Like many access leaders, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences’ Michelle Winfield-Hanrahan had a legacy workflow in her contact center – and it was hurting patient experience and staff efficiency. 

When a patient called after the contact center – also commonly known as an access center or call center – had closed for the day, they left a voicemail on a dedicated after-hours phone line. The workflow had been created to avoid costly overnight staffing. “Staff shortages don’t only affect nursing and clinical roles, but their effect spans into the call center as well,” said Winfield-Hanrahan.

UAMS’ Epic-integated Luma AI solves healthcare call center challenges

But the after-hours line presented a challenge for staff the next day. Many patients used it to let UAMS know that they needed to cancel an appointment – and staff needed to take action on those requests right away. 

“The team was using three hours’ worth of time every day just listening to voicemails from patients who called in after hours. Then, they had to manually cancel appointments,” said Winfield-Hanrahan. “We had to try to backfill those appointments or lose the revenue.” 

UAMS needed healthcare call center automation to improve the patient experience, save time for staff, and avoid this lost revenue.

The AI-powered healthcare call center agent that cleared 800+ hours of work overnight

Luma’s Navigator AI concierge was the solution. With HIPAA-compliant, zero-retention agentic AI that integrated with UAMS’ Epic EHR, patients easily cancel their appointments after hours. The next day, staff simply see an up-to-date schedule – no manual follow-up required.

“We were looking for efficiency — and we found it with Navigator,” said Winfield-Hanrahan. “Navigator completely took that manual work off our plates.”

Winfield-Hanrahan cites Epic integration, a quick implementation time, and minimal change management as benefits that encouraged her to use Navigator. “Implementation took just three weeks from start to finish,” she said.

UAMS also chose Luma’s AI concierge because it complemented and expanded on the patient access options UAMS already offered with the contact center and MyChart. “Navigator sounds and acts like a human, and it’s so helpful,” said Winfield-Hanrahan.

With Navigator, UAMS has seen results including:

Results at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) using Luma’s Navigator

To hear more about UAMS’ story and their results from Navigator, check out the following resources:

To learn more about Navigator and how it could help your organization, check out these resources:

In this webinar, Michelle Winfield-Hanrahan dives deep into how she chose and implemented Luma’s AI concierge in UAMS’ call center.

AI that works with Epic (not against it)

Today, your staff might be dealing with overwhelming call volumes – and many of these calls are for simple needs, such as a cancellation or an FAQ, that don’t require the experience and knowledge of a dedicated staff member.

But calling a business or health system and reaching an AI agent is no longer in the far-off future. Organizations like UAMS are using them every day to provide a better patient and staff experience, and ultimately serve more patients with fewer resources.

An AI concierge allows you to decant, or deflect, simple calls to an AI agent while your staff handle higher-complexity calls and patient needs. Worried that patients won’t want to use AI, or that AI lacks a personal touch? This strategy gives you the best of both worlds. Patients who are comfortable with self-service can quickly meet their own needs using AI, while those who need to reach a staff member can stay on the line. 

Here are some of the benefits of AI in healthcare call centers:

Legacy workflows and the potential for problems in healthcare call centers

Maybe your organization doesn’t struggle with an overloaded after-hours phone line, like UAMS did. But don’t discount the value that AI might bring to other challenges your call center is facing. Winfield-Hanrahan, an experienced access leader who has consulted with many health systems to improve their call center workflows, encourages fellow leaders to consider other legacy workflows that might create problems in healthcare call centers and impact your patients and staff.

Call centers are costly to staff, and agents can be difficult to retain, said Winfield-Hanrahan. “It’s a challenging job, and we want to make sure that our agents are spending time on ‘true-to-task’ work helping patients – not on hours of administrative tasks,” she said. 

Research backs up this challenge. Contact center attrition rates are anywhere from 30% to 60%, with one poll of 400 contact center employees placing it at 42%. And the attrition rate for agents is about 1.3x higher than the average annual attrition rate in the US. Another recent study reported that more than half of contact center agents are on the verge of burnout.

If your organization is experiencing any of the following challenges, you might have legacy or manual workflows that AI could help automate with minimal process changes or change management:

Think AI isn’t for you? Here are an access leader’s tips for evaluating and choosing an AI concierge

Not sure whether AI is the right fit for you, or how to go about evaluating and selecting the right AI concierge? The benefits of AI in healthcare call centers don’t require you to reinvent all of your workflows – a smart application of AI automation, like UAMS’, can make a big difference overnight.

Winfield-Hanrahan offers these tips for fellow access leaders:

Ready to see Navigator in action?

We’re here if you want to chat about Navigator, how UAMS is using it, or creative ideas for how it could solve inefficiencies in your call center. See Navigator in action here. 

Ready to learn more? Schedule a meeting today!

Want to join the conversation with other healthcare leaders talking about the latest technology, challenges and opportunities, and creative ways to improve healthcare delivery? Tune in to Digital Health: On Air, our podcast discussing pressing healthcare topics with experts and leaders like you. You can find it on Spotify or YouTube, too!


You might be especially interested in episodes featuring CHIME’s Keith Fraidenburg (AI in Action: How Health Systems are Approaching the AI Boom) or Ardent Health Services’ Anika Gardenhire (Innovating with Purpose: Strategies for Meaningful Investment in AI).

Insights from CHIME Fall Forum Focus Group show common trends

Ask two different CIOs what they’re focused on for 2025, and you might get very different answers. But when we asked in the context of an “EHR-first” approach that many CIOs say they adopt, we uncovered several similarities. 

A group of CIOs came to our CHIME Fall Forum focus group specifically focused on maximizing their EHR investments and the rest of their tech stack. They were asked what they loved – and what they didn’t. From academic medical centers to regional health systems to behavioral health, from the Midwest to the coasts, they pinpointed three similar themes. Here’s what they said:

  1. An EHR-First Approach is Working – Mostly

It’s no secret that Epic is much beloved among its customers, especially CIOs. Several CIOs using Epic said it was a great investment. Epic’s integration and interoperability capabilities in particular got shout-outs:

But Epic wasn’t the only EHR with devoted customer advocates – MEDITECH received high marks for its collaboration and ability to support co-development with its customers. 

Investing in the EHR was consistently highlighted as a priority, with the EHR driving many strategic investments and programs. But these pain points were common, even among EHR advocates:

  1. The Brightest Spots: Co-Creating Clinical Innovations

Focus group attendees often called out clinical workflow improvements co-created with their EHR vendor as a source of pride. Examples included:

However, these workflows might not be perceived as bright spots for the EHR vendor as much as organizational points of pride. Several attendees called out their organization’s own reputation for high-quality clinical care as a driving factor in their technology strategy, and many of the same clinical workflows that were highlighted as co-innovations came with their own EHR challenges like speed of deployment. 

  1. No-Shows Remain a Persistent Challenge

When asked what they’d most like to change, or what would be their top priority for improvement, the leaders were unanimous. No-shows and related schedule utilization challenges, like filling the open slots and getting patients who missed appointments back on the schedule, were the top answer across the board. 

Even CIOs at organizations with robust EHR tools for schedule management and patient self-service called out no-shows as the biggest challenge that technology could solve. Some highlighted the significant revenue losses when slots aren’t filled or the heavy staff lift to fill last-minute openings.

The no-show challenge fit into the larger theme of CIOs’ EHR wish lists: they wanted less maintenance, less manual work, and less starting from scratch to solve the same problems as peers – with great results for basic workflows, plus the opportunity to innovate.

—

At the 2024 CHIME Fall Forum, attendees had begun looking ahead. They looked to 2025 and to ways to solve pain points while remaining EHR-first (or, in some cases, switching EHRs to begin building an EHR-first strategy). 


For the most part, they felt they were on the right track. An EHR-first strategy unified the technology stack, enabled innovation, and facilitated core workflows well for the majority of attendees. Efficiency was the main pain point, with maintenance, training, and support coming up frequently. No-shows united the entire group as a common and persistent challenge. 

Based on the feedback, in 2025, we can expect to see leaders like these focusing on efficiency. Innovative clinical care is a bright spot, but enterprise-wide efficiency and access will likely drive strategy. 

This article was originally published in Becker’s Hospital Review.

Across the health IT industry, leaders are balancing pressing concerns like increasing call volume and the need to maximize revenue with limited resources. And nice-to-have initiatives just don’t cut it anymore, with those that don’t drive revenue left on the cutting room floor. So how do you balance building for the long term with the pressures you’re managing right now? 

In the webcast Digital Health: On Air, leaders in a variety of roles have shared the challenges they’re facing – and the strategies they use to achieve success in spite of them. Here are some of their takeaways: 

Take an incremental approach 

In healthcare, “change can be very, very challenging,” says Arz Raheem, Sr. Director of Digital Transformation at Montefiore Health System. “[But] I think, after many years, healthcare is open to the change that is needed. And even if that’s iterative, that’s fine.” 

Investing in a large-scale transformation project might be off the table for your organization right now. That’s okay, according to Raheem and Tarun Kapoor, MD, Chief Digital Transformation Officer at Virtua Health. And it can even be an asset. 

“In our hypercompetitive market, speed to impact is worth a lot,” says Kapoor. “And so you have to think about, ‘What is the problem that the consumer is facing in this specific situation? How can I make them successful?’” 

At Virtua Health, Kapoor’s iterative approach created real clinical impact. Realizing that some patients weren’t responding to colonoscopy reminder outreach, he took a step back. “Traditionally, we say, ‘you have a care gap. Come into the office so we can talk to you about this care gap.’ Instead, we said, ‘we know you might not have time to come in right now. Can you do a Cologuard® test at home?” After this more tailored outreach to a specific subset of patients, Virtua Health got thousands of home tests back and found nearly 300 patients with positive results. 

Instead of taking months to work toward a larger project and hit a number of defined milestones, Raheem says, he’s also seen results from an agile approach where projects are smaller-scale and can be expanded later, if they’re successful. An important caveat: “Be brave enough to kill it if there’s no value.” 

Bring varied stakeholders to the table 

So, what’s the most important ingredient in this iterative approach?

“We try and find people from operations; finance; security; compliance and legal; who are open to change, who can be our champions,” says Raheem. “[Then] we can take good ideas from ideation to implementation and make sure that we’re creating value,” he says. 

Gathering this multi-stakeholder group and approaching challenges from this lens requires a culture shift, says Raheem, from the traditional health IT implementation model. 

“Technology has had, in my opinion, a culture of more preservation and maintenance. I say, ‘I’m going to try small things. I think I’m onto something and want to show you what I’ve got.’ But if you don’t have the right support, great ideas will die on the vine.” 

At the same time, this “coalition of the willing” across different areas of expertise is especially important for Raheem, who serves one of the country’s leading academic medical centers, to avoid introducing risk with an agile approach. 

“We’re agile, but we have to be extremely careful about how we implement change and how we’re introducing new technologies because we’re in an environment that is heavily regulated,” he says. So, “if you don’t have that support, then speed to impact doesn’t really happen.” 

Pinpoint your pain points 

Another way to create outsize success? Pinpoint very specific use cases for new technology, like Main Line Health. 

First, Main Line Health identified that their call volume was too high for staff to handle. Having already successfully transitioned to a centralized call center and offloaded some calls to an external resource, they needed another lever to help patients get to the right place without waiting on hold. 

Next, they identified that a majority of incoming calls were to schedule mammograms and DEXA scans. “The largest service line supported by central scheduling is radiology and imaging,” said Noreen Friel, Director of Call Center Operations. “And we’ve been trying to increase access to our digital front door and enable patients to schedule themselves.” With a defined scope of the types of calls they wanted to assist with self-service, they were able to quickly add a call-to-self service workflow for patients that would allow scheduling for mammograms and DEXA scans by SMS if the patient desired. 

Since adding in the self-service option for these types of calls, Main Line Health has saved 900+ hours in a single year while still getting patients what they need. Pointing to the success of the project, Friel says: “We already had self-scheduling, and we kept it pretty simple. So it was implemented very fast.” 

Look for hidden barriers

As your health system is evaluating what’s necessary for the short-term and where to focus for the long term, Elizabeth Woodcock, DrPH, MBA, FACMPE, CPC, founder and executive director of the Patient Access Collaborative, encourages looking for hidden access barriers. 

Hidden barriers, says Woodcock, exist throughout the patient experience and can often be resolved to create more equitable and smooth access to care. These barriers could include:

Better patient access or transformation of the experience doesn’t have to be out of reach if your health system is focused on containing costs through this year and next. Consider low-cost changes that could address these hidden barriers, such as: 

Woodcock says that the number one best tool leaders can have for transforming patient access is to “really, really listen.” And as part of this listening, understand that finding hidden barriers requires more creative thinking than simply consulting patient feedback surveys, as these are often a “biased sample” of only patients who have been reached in the right way and in the right language, Woodcock says. 

Ultimately, Woodcock points out, searching for and addressing hidden barriers is worth it. “Our most vulnerable patients’ voices are not being heard. And because of that, they’re fighting to get in our system.” 

Take a look at cybersecurity basics 

The rising threat of cyberattacks means it’s impossible to focus on iterative, impactful changes without a strong security infrastructure. And the very digital transformation that helps create these changes creates more risk, according to security expert Brent Williams. 

“Healthcare is a target-rich environment,” he says. “Think about the datasets that are out there – it’s really powerful in terms of stealing identities. In the last 10 years, malicious actors have definitely noticed that, as the digital aspect of the healthcare business continues to grow.”

A core component of a secure health system, according to Williams, is a company culture of security. “The term I use is ‘business as usual.’ Security, when it’s done well, should just be part of the fabric of your processes, your technology, your business,” he says. To enable this culture, he recommends: 

“It’s the same weaknesses over and over,” like unprotected VPN endpoints or login pages, that lead to significant cyberattacks, says Williams. “So I keep coming back to the basics.” And over time, Williams says, “the team starts to get a bias toward, ‘oh, this is working well.’” 

While the added scrutiny needed for cybersecurity at today’s health systems can be stressful, says Williams, this basic hygiene can protect against costly and disruptive cyberattacks and allow your health system to focus on other impactful initiatives. 

Conclusions 

The CIO is at the center of a number of challenges, from serving more patients with fewer staff to remaining competitive without overspending on expensive digital tools. But amidst these challenges, you’re still responsible for directing your organization toward long-term success. 

The experts featured in season 1 of Digital Health: On Air are creating immediate impact with long-term potential with: 

If you’re interested in topics like these or would like to hear more from these speakers, follow Digital Health: On Air on Spotify or subscribe for a monthly episode digest.

Tarun Kapoor, Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Transformation Officer at Virtua Health, sees patients not just as receivers of care but as active partners in their healthcare journey. To him, true patient empowerment means more than meeting requests—it’s about proactively understanding patient needs. 

Traditionally, patients were left on the sidelines, overloaded with information.“The goal is not just a transformative solution, but a mechanism where patients can be empowered,” emphasized Dr. Kapoor. His approach at Virtua Health centers on collaborating with patients as active participants in their care, because engaging patients directly leads to better outcomes for both the patient and the organization.

Empowering patients through consumer choice 

“I’ve heard some people say patients are less loyal these days. The way I look at it, you can’t assume people were previously loyal if they didn’t previously have choices,” said Kapoor.

“Today’s patients have choices and they’re exercising those choices, which now makes them consumers. Health systems need to think more like retailers in meeting patient needs with just-in-time information through convenient modalities (like SMS), and that’s where we are having great success with Luma,” said Kapoor. 

Empowering patients through personal customization

Through partnering with Luma, the Virtua Health team ensures patients receive tailored, relevant information before appointments. Automated appointment reminders engage patients in a friendly and accessible way, making healthcare feel less intimidating.This personal touch has streamlined visits and empowered patients with important knowledge about their health.

With now a 79.34% appointment confirmation rate, partnering with Luma has changed how Virtua Health optimizes appointments, making patient engagement efficient and impactful.

Empowering patients through larger system change

Dr. Kapoor advocates for patients playing an active and informed role in their care decisions, but the first move must be made by the larger healthcare industry: “Patients will not be able to empower themselves unless we create mechanisms to challenge our current system and ask ourselves, are we creating an ecosystem where patients can be empowered?” 

Fostering this kind of active patient participation is not just the future of healthcare – it’s the present, and it’s a journey that Virtua Health, with the help of partners like Luma, is eagerly embracing.


This blog was written based on Tarun Kapoor’s 2023 Lumanate keynote presentation. Watch it here.

Utilizing an enterprise EHR system is like traveling on a cruise ship. You and hundreds of fellow passengers are on the same journey, for better or worse. The ship is designed to keep everyone onboard happy. You know which destinations lie ahead, but the schedule may be impacted due to weather.

 But what if you want to stay a little longer in one port? What if you need to hurry up and meet friends at a different destination? What if you’re a little seasick and want to slow down? You’re out of luck. There’s no diverting the cruise ship from its set route, even when passengers aren’t on board.

We often observe this in healthcare. Many complex organizations benefit from the immense scope and scale of an enterprise EHR to care for a broad patient population, but one size does not fit all. Patient experience and engagement varies widely. Healthcare is a competitive market. In many regions, patients have a choice about where to seek care. Without IT tools in place to smooth the patient journey, this looks like:

Patients’ unique needs would benefit from speedboat flexibility to react to market conditions as they change. Enter patient engagement platforms: a solution that natively integrates with your EHR can implement new outreach strategies and realize results now. 

In competitive marketplaces, this is not a luxury but a necessity. If you don’t have the ability to reach patients now, you risk losing them to a facility that can. How do we know? Because 87% of surveyed healthcare decision-makers agree that ability to compete in a marketplace is a driver for implementing patient engagement solutions (source). Fortunately, you don’t have to lag behind.

Fill the Cracks, Fast

What if your organization could start seeing changes in a matter of weeks?

Most systems are designed to work when everything is going right: when patients are fully engaged with all of their tools. In an enterprise health system, the multitude of available tools can flow through a patient portal for a streamlined patient experience. But data shows that more than half of patients aren’t using patient portals, even after receiving opportunities to register.

A platform approach to patient engagement can integrate into the native EHR and bridge some of the cracks with a medium that everyone uses: SMS text messaging.

Unlike enterprise EHR modules, API-integrated platform solutions can be implemented and launched within 45 days – enabling your organization to not just keep up with the Joneses, but surpass their assets.

Break Free from Boilerplate

Why are 89% of patients between the ages of 17-74 reluctant to use online scheduling options? Reasons include lack of access to internet, lack of awareness that options exist, low computer skills, and resistance to changing habits (source). It can be challenging to change their ways when limited to boilerplate messaging options and a set number of scenarios. To activate these patients and keep them within a healthcare network, organizations must be able to think outside the box – and step outside of boxes, too.

Partnership with a flexible patient success platform keeps patients on that journey.  Over 1,000 messaging scenarios, and the ability to develop more, will accommodate your unique organization – and your patients – right from implementation.

Don’t Despair: Automate

When complexity abounds, organizations hesitate to adopt patient engagement technologies because their processes can vary wildly across the system. Specialities following different workflows keeps organizational knowledge siloed and ensures that valuable staff time is required to keep patients in-network. Many are surprised to learn that complexity doesn’t have to be a barrier to modernization. In fact, implementation of a platform is often an opportunity to simplify workflows and identify streamlined ways to automate tired processes. Administrators and staff alike are often pleasantly surprised to learn that people don’t have to manually undertake every step of the scheduling and intake processes.

The perfect mix

Automation is a hot topic right now, but it’s important to deploy a strategy that keeps humans involved when necessary. Sometimes it’s best to simplify the easy stuff and leave the personal touch for when it’s needed most. Main Line Health saved 15,000 minutes of human time per month when they implemented Digital Call Deflection. Inbound calls could be diverted to conversational SMS text messaging, enabling the call center to focus on patient interactions that benefited from a human touch.

What next?

Learn how an out-of-box solution can reach and activate the 40% of patients who aren’t using your organization’s patient portal. Request a demo here.

Patient care extends well beyond the minutes that a clinician and patient pass in an exam room together. The ensuing visit notes are just one piece of the continuum. Healthcare systems have long integrated selections from a smorgasbord of technology tools to document care, optimize practice operations, and integrate patients’ financial journeys…with varying degrees of interoperability and success. 

Moving into 2024, healthcare providers report momentum towards consolidating tech stacks, looking to existing solutions for add-on capabilities before evaluating new vendors. Many EHR vendors are expanding beyond their core functionality of care documentation with solutions across the patient care journey. But organizations should tread with care.

Enterprise EHR is not one-size-fits-all

Every organization has unique aspects that influence operation. The gap between patient expectations and system capabilities can be massive, presenting many opportunities for patients to fall into the chasm between.

What’s holding patients back? Research indicates that barriers to self-service include access to the internet, lack of awareness of services, low computer skills, and change in the habit of making appointments over the phone or face-to-face. But even for patients who engage with technology, a challenging process is likely to disenchant and deter. Patients expect a frictionless experience. Anything less will stand between them and a completed appointment. No pressure, right?

The good news is, in a competitive marketplace, healthcare systems have a huge opportunity to deliver a seamless experience to keep patients coming back.

Most systems are designed to work when everything is going right: when patients are fully engaged with all of their tools. But data shows that only about 20-30% of patients make it through a manual scheduling process to a completed appointment. In their wake, they leave the debris of administrative burden, network leakage, missed appointments, and ultimately: lost revenue.

To capture maximum value from an enterprise EHR, you will need supplemental capabilities and patient engagement guardrails designed to keep the other 70 – 80% of patients in network.

10 Ways that Patient Engagement Platforms Support Patient Retention

  1. End-to-end SMS capabilities: Patient portals can be limiting – many features hide behind walls of clicks and require a patient’s full, unsustained attention. Text message outreach can go beyond directing patients to their portal. Reach more patients by enabling them to make an appointment or complete pre-visit paperwork by way of text messages, start-to-finish.
  2. Smart Waitlist Management: Automate the patient-cancel-staff-scramble with a graceful pivot to an integrated process, filling newly-emptied appointment slots as they arise via automated text outreach.
  3. Streamlined Appointment Management: Enable patients to schedule, reschedule, or cancel appointments through the platform, reducing no-shows and optimizing scheduling efficiency.
  4. Automated Appointment Reminders from a Recognized Phone Number: Text blasts are often ignored or filtered as spam. When patients receive reminders via a trusted organization’s phone number, practices realize improved appointment attendance rates and reduce administrative burdens.
  5. Secure Communication Channels: Stay HIPAA-compliant. Secure communication between patients and healthcare providers can be integrated within the platform.
  6. Health Risk Assessments: Administer and analyze health risk assessments through the platform, aiding in early identification of potential health risks and preventive interventions.
  7. Feedback and Satisfaction Surveys: Collect patient feedback and satisfaction surveys through the platform to gauge the quality of care and identify areas for improvement. Automate post-visit follow-ups and surveys to gather insights into patient experiences and monitor recovery progress.
  8. Pre-Visit Questionnaires: Collect relevant patient information before visits through digital questionnaires, optimizing visit efficiency and information accuracy.
  9. Remote Check-Ins: The digital front door is in patients’ fingertips. Conduct virtual check-ins through the platform, allowing healthcare providers to focus on what’s important and keep schedules on pace  patient well-being between scheduled appointments.
  10. Billing and Payment Integration: Streamline billing processes by integrating payment functionalities within the platform, enhancing the financial aspects of healthcare service delivery.

Simple, right?

Having all of these in place is great, but if they don’t integrate deeply with your EHR, your organization won’t reap maximum returns. Overworked staff can’t spend time tracking these things down manually. For true Patient Success, these workflows must be deeply embedded in a native EHR, automating processes with closed-loop referrals and EHR writebacks.

Navigating the happy path in the complex landscape of enterprise EHRs requires a thoughtful approach to patient engagement. By addressing gaps with personalized strategies, proactive waitlist management, and consideration of generational nuances, healthcare providers can guide patients seamlessly through their journey, leading to improved outcomes and increased value from their EHR investments.

RESOURCE: Learn more about how Luma integrates with EHRs like Epic to support patient retention.

With fewer staff and more revenue challenges, healthcare organizations need to quickly reach their patients and keep schedules full. 

Integrating Luma with their Epic EHRs helps Luma community members superpower their patient outreach. Using patients’ preferred messaging channels makes outreach more effective, while API-based EHR integration means no double-documentation or manual work. 

Here are some ways the Luma community gets more out of their workflows. 

With Luma integrated with Epic, Luma community members’ outreach is:

Customized 

At Franciscan Health, reminders are customized to each patient and appointment type, making them more relevant and actionable.

Details already documented about the patient in Franciscan’s Epic system – from appointment details to preferred contact method – drive the outreach.

For example, patients who have a follow-up appointment the same day or who have previously been seen at Franciscan see different reminders than someone being seen for a new patient appointment.

With these text reminders, Franciscan Health sees a 70% click-through rate – about 50% more than with their previous email reminders.  

Text-First

By switching to text-first outreach, Columbus Regional Health immediately saw results. Before implementing Luma, Columbus Regional Health reminded patients about their appointments by automated call, which patients were less likely to pick up or respond to.

“We often have patients make appointments six months out, so it’s important that we provide them with reminders,” said Gayle Wilson, Senior Systems Analyst at CRH. 

Luma reminders are automatically sent to patients on CRH’s schedule in Epic. To get even more out of the switch, they made the decision to move from text opt-in to text opt-out, where communication preferences in the EHR use text by default. Now, CRH is sending SMS reminders to more than 80% of their patient population. 

Since delivering most reminders via text, CRH has seen no-shows drop by more than 40%. 

Actionable 

Montefiore Health System in New York sees many of its patients via referral. To ensure as many referred patients get through their doors as possible, Montefiore sends Epic-integrated Luma messages reminding those patients to schedule. 

From the message, patients can schedule with just a few taps.

The referral in the EHR is linked to the reminders to keep them up-to-date and actionable. so if a patient hasn’t scheduled, they’ll receive another nudge to schedule. When the patient schedules, the referral is closed automatically and the patient no longer receives reminders. 

Want to learn more? Book a quick call with a Luma + Epic expert.