Who PatientCalls is best for
PatientCalls is a HIPAA-focused telephone answering service that works only with healthcare organizations, from small doctors' offices to hospitals and homecare agencies. Live agents answer calls 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. They screen and document each call, schedule appointments, take messages for providers, and route urgent calls to on-call staff according to the practice's protocol. Messages reach clinicians through PatientNote, its own secure messaging app, which is included with service.
Best for
- Practices that want a live person to answer every after-hours, weekend and holiday call
- Busy offices that need daytime overflow coverage during peak hours
- Practices that want messages and on-call alerts delivered by secure text rather than pager or plain SMS
Not ideal for
- Practices that want a published price before speaking to sales
- Practices looking for an AI assistant with a flat monthly fee
- Very small practices that only need a basic message-taking line
PatientCalls pros and cons
Pros
- Medical-only service with more than 20 years in healthcare and over 60 employees
- Live agents 24/7/365, with English and Spanish-speaking agents
- Every client signs a BAA, and the vendor names operational and technical HIPAA compliance officers
- PatientNote secure messaging app is included at no extra charge
- Custom EMR integration through an API, with named support for eClinicalWorks and Intergy
- Month-to-month contracts with no cancellation fee on 30 days' notice
Cons
- No published rates; pricing is quote-only
- One-time $75 setup fee
- Live-agent pricing per minute or per call is usually higher than a flat AI subscription at high volume
- No AI option for practices that want automated answering
PatientCalls pricing
As of November 2026, PatientCalls does not publish rates. It offers per-minute or per-call (per-unit) pricing depending on the scope of work, and recommends per-unit pricing for most healthcare clients. Coverage options are daily overflow, after-hours, and weekend and holiday answering. There is a one-time $75 setup fee on the first invoice. Contracts are typically 30-day, month-to-month, and there is no cancellation fee with 30 days' notice. A service agreement and a business associate agreement are required to start. The PatientNote secure messaging app is included at no extra cost.
Key features
- Live answering 24/7/365 for after-hours, daytime overflow, weekends and holidays
- Call triage and on-call routing: agents screen calls, separate non-emergencies, and alert on-call staff by call or secure text according to your protocol
- Appointment scheduling and patient information gathering during the call
- Bilingual agents for English and Spanish callers
- PatientNote secure messaging app for doctors and staff, plus encrypted email delivered as password-protected PDFs
- Custom message routing so each message reaches the right person or system without duplication
- EMR integration through an API, including eClinicalWorks and Intergy
- Insurance verification as an added service
- Dedicated account manager and a 24/7 shift supervisor
HIPAA, security and integrations
PatientCalls says it has BAAs in place with all clients and subcontractors and posts its BAA on a secure link in monthly invoices. It names an operational and a technical HIPAA compliance officer who run internal audits. It describes proprietary encryption for PHI access, storage and transmission, access restrictions, two-factor authentication, and audit reports that include message delivery status, PHI access logs and quarterly risk assessments. Agent workstations do not store PHI; agents work through an encrypted remote connection into a private cloud hosted in an SSAE 16 Type II data center. The certification applies to the facility, not to PatientCalls as a company.
EMR integration is custom. PatientCalls agents can connect through an API to retrieve data from the EMR, and the vendor names eClinicalWorks and Intergy. PatientNote also works with most third-party secure SMS and email apps, but PatientCalls will not send ePHI through a third-party tool without a signed BAA.
PatientCalls alternatives
- Ambs Call Center — live US medical answering service with published per-minute plans and an optional AI receptionist.
- Lydoh — AI phone assistant at a flat monthly price with after-hours on-call routing.
- Emitrr — AI agent that books appointments, bundled with texting, phones and fax.
- Spruce Health — shared phone line and secure messaging for care teams that answer their own calls.
