Reduction in call abandonment
Of appointments rescheduled automatically
Attrition absorbed without backfill
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Boston Bone & Joint Institute (BBJI) is a multi-location orthopedic practice in the Boston area, serving patients across 41 providers, including physicians and advanced practice providers. With high patient volumes and complex orthopedic scheduling needs, BBJI depends on a highly coordinated patient access function to manage every touchpoint of the patient journey: inbound call handling, referrals, remote scheduling, and front-desk operations.
Before implementing Assort, BBJI's patient access team was stretched thin. Front desk staff were simultaneously managing check-in and fielding patient calls, while a dedicated scheduling team handled nearly 100 scheduling calls per day each. The sheer volume of inbound patient interactions led to staff frustration and burnout, with the team feeling like they couldn't catch a breath. Hold times reflected the strain: average wait times ranged from 8 to 25 minutes depending on the phone line. With a 9% call abandonment rate, patients who couldn't get through were simply leaving.
Outreach to patients was equally frustrating. When coordinators needed to cancel, reschedule, or follow up, the process was a lot of manual back-and-forth: leaving messages for patients, manual notes scattered across charts, and staff spending time trying to piece together context. It was challenging to efficiently notify and reschedule patients at scale. When a provider called out sick or a building had to close, it could take six or more staff members hours of calling to manage the change.
BBJI evaluated several vendors before choosing Assort. What set Assort apart was its deep understanding of orthopedic scheduling complexity. "Orthopedics isn't easy," Katie noted, with the right answer depending heavily on clinical context. Most AI solutions felt disconnected from that reality. Assort's AI agent, from the very first demo, already had BBJI's scheduling protocols built in and handled specialty nuances fluently. Implementation was fast and organized: the team at Assort partnering closely with Katie to tailor the AI agents’ workflows to BBJI’s scheduling rules, SOPs, and provider preferences. "It was seamless," she said. "I've had implementations that were long and tiresome. This was not that."
Today, BBJI uses Assort across both inbound and outbound patient access. Assort Concierge AI agents handle inbound patient calls and inquiries around the clock so patients can schedule, ask questions, or submit requests whenever they are available. On the outbound side, BBJI uses Assort Activate to proactively notify and reschedule patients across multiple channels when providers schedules shift or offices close.
Since going live with Assort, BBJI has seen measurable improvements in patient access, staff experience, and operational efficiency while continuing to grow the practice:
With patient access transformed, BBJI was also able to expand their practice in a way that wasn’t previously possible. They launched a same-day acute injury care line (BBJI Now), added a direct-to-PT scheduling line, and expanded into new clinical workflows with the ability to handle higher call volume and re-allocate some of their staff to supporting these new ventures.
