Most healthcare executives track call center metrics: average handle time, service levels, maybe even abandonment rates. But they're not connecting those numbers to the P&L outside of the impact to direct labor in the actual contact center. And that disconnect—the failure to see how call abandonment bleeds revenue across the entire enterprise—is the most expensive blind spot in your operation.

Here's the benchmark: healthcare call centers should maintain an abandonment rate between 3% and 5%. But the average healthcare call center operates at approximately 7% abandonment.

For multi-practice healthcare centers handling an average of 2,000 calls daily, that's 140 callers giving up every single day. Using standard conversion estimates, approximately 55% of those abandoned calls represented a missed booking—77 patients who couldn't get through. This translates to $45,000 in daily lost revenue, or $16.4 million annually.

But here's where the pain compounds: 27% of total abandoned calls actively become patients at competing practices. That's 38 patients per day—nearly 14,000 patients annually—building their healthcare relationship with your competitor.

This isn't a technology failure. It's a strategic failure to architect your contact center as the revenue engine it's designed to be.

Ever feel like your tech stack is running you, not the other way around? Before you add another login to the chaos, check this out:

Remember when software made business simpler?

Today, the average company runs 100+ apps—each with its own logins, data, and headaches. HR can’t find employee info. IT fights security blind spots. Finance reconciles numbers instead of planning growth.

Our State of Software Sprawl report reveals the true cost of “Software as a Disservice” (SaaD)—and how much time, money, and sanity it’s draining from your teams.

Read the full report and see how your company stacks up→

The future of work is unified. Don’t get SaaD. Get Rippling.

Stop SaaD in its tracks

Most healthcare executives still operate under the old playbook, measuring Average Handle Time (AHT) and incentivizing agents to move faster. The industry average AHT in healthcare is 6.6 minutes, and operations directors everywhere are trying to push that number down.

Here's the problem: optimizing for speed is optimizing for failure.

When you pressure agents to minimize handle time, they rush interactions, provide incomplete information, and transfer calls they should resolve. Research shows that healthcare call centers experience internal transfer rates as high as 19%—nearly one in five calls bounced around because the first agent was too rushed to fully resolve the issue.

The hidden cost: your low AHT is creating high repeat call volume, consuming more total organizational time than the original "efficient" interaction saved.

The metric that matters isn't Average Handle Time. It's First Call Resolution (FCR)—the percentage of patient issues resolved completely during the initial contact, with no need to call back.

The average FCR rate in healthcare is a dismal 52%—fully half of all patients require multiple contacts to resolve their issue. Even organizations performing "well" only achieve around 71% FCR. But systems architected for excellence? They're hitting 80% FCR or higher.

Organizations that have made this shift are seeing 20-30% cost reductions while improving patient satisfaction by 15-25%.

Healthcare contact centers operate at 45-55% annual attrition—you're replacing nearly half your workforce every year. For a center with 100 agents, the annual turnover cost ranges between $1.6 million and $4.8 million.

This is the Attrition Paradox: You cannot hire your way out of agent burnout.

The root cause is cognitive overload. Agents handle emotionally demanding calls while navigating outdated technology, searching complex knowledge bases, and performing extensive data entry—all under pressure to keep AHT low. They're stressed-out data jugglers, and no amount of "resilience training" will fix a structural problem.

High attrition means constantly replacing experienced agents with inexperienced staff, keeping FCR low. You need technology that removes the cognitive burden so agents can do what humans do best: solve complex problems with empathy.

If you’re serious about culture, you know HR is the frontline. Here’s a resource I recommend for real-world, actionable people strategy:

The best HR advice comes from those in the trenches. That’s what this is: real-world HR insights delivered in a newsletter from Hebba Youssef, a Chief People Officer who’s been there. Practical, real strategies with a dash of humor. Because HR shouldn’t be thankless—and you shouldn’t be alone in it.

Sign Up Free

The solution is the Super Agent Model, where AI handles mechanical, repetitive work, freeing agents to deliver high-value human interaction.

Automated Documentation: AI records conversations and generates structured notes, eliminating post-call wrap-up. No wasted time on after-call work and fewer data integrity issues.

Real-Time Assistance: AI analyzes conversations, checks patient records, and provides context-aware responses instantly—search time drops to zero, human error drops dramatically.

Intelligent Routing: AI matches each caller to the right agent or resolution path on the first attempt, eliminating frustrating transfers.

Volume Deflection: AI systems can handle 50-70% of routine questions—appointment scheduling, prescription refills, basic FAQs—allowing human agents to focus on complex, emotionally sensitive calls.

This isn't about replacing agents. It's about empowering them. By offloading transactional noise to AI, you stabilize the workforce and create conditions for sustained FCR excellence. A 20% reduction in turnover can lower operational costs by $704,000 to $2.1 million annually for a 100-agent center.

Your contact center isn't a cost center. It's your Patient Access Center (PAC)—the primary engine for revenue capture.

C-suite decisions demand signal—not noise. Here’s a sharp daily read I trust to cut through the market hype:

Investing isn’t about chasing headlines — it’s about clarity. In a world of hype and hot takes, The Daily Upside delivers real value: sharp, trustworthy insights on markets, business, and the economy, written by former bankers and seasoned financial journalists.

That’s why over 1 million investors — from Wall Street pros to Main Street portfolio managers — start their day with The Daily Upside.

Invest better. Read The Daily Upside.

Subscribe free today.

The contemporary CFO operates under a dual mandate: enforce financial discipline and seize growth opportunities. To secure commitment for FCR infrastructure, you need the Value on Investment (VOI) framework.

VOI integrates intangible benefits that drive organizational resilience: employee morale, patient loyalty, brand reputation, workforce stability, and long-term health. These factors determine whether clinicians stay, patients engage, and your organization maintains market position.

The VOI business case for FCR infrastructure:

Revenue Capture: Recovery of 50% of abandonment loss = $8.2M annually; 5% patient retention improvement = $2-4M in recurring revenue

Cost Avoidance: 30% reduction in repeat calls plus 20% reduction in turnover = $3-5M savings annually (100-agent center)

Strategic Value: Superior FCR (80%+) creates competitive moat while competitors struggle at 52%; workforce stability protects market position; patient loyalty increases PLV by 15-25%

Right now, you're losing $45,000 per day—$16.4 million per year—because your contact center is architected for speed instead of resolution. You're measuring AHT when you should be measuring FCR. You're hiring to replace burned-out agents when you should be deploying AI to prevent burnout.

The systems that win in 2026 won't be the ones with the lowest AHT. They'll be the ones that pivoted from cost center to revenue engine—before their market position eroded.

If you're a CFO: The $16.4M annual loss from 7% abandonment isn't a rounding error—it's a material P&L impact. Build the VOI business case using Revenue Capture + Cost Avoidance + Strategic Value.

If you're a CEO: Systems achieving 80%+ FCR are building loyalty moats that will be impossible to overcome. Architect for FCR excellence now or accept that 27% of your abandoned calls are building your competitor's patient base.

If you're a COO or VP of Patient Experience: You have the data. Use the VOI framework to translate operational friction into CFO language: $45,000 daily losses, $2.1M in avoidable turnover costs, and $8M+ in recoverable revenue.

Your 7% abandonment rate is bleeding $45,000 per day and feeding 38 patients daily to your competitors. The shift from AHT to FCR is strategic transformation, and the Super Agent Model is the only path to sustainable FCR excellence.

The organizations that architect their Patient Access Centers as revenue engines—now—will capture market share in 2026.

What's your current call abandonment rate, and do you know how much revenue it's costing you per day? Reply to this email. I read every response, and I'll send you a custom calculation based on your volume.