Small Steps so AI doesn’t fail Optometry

RingIQ.ai has supported optometry offices with over 300,000 patient calls and exam requests. While online scheduling and forms are effective, only about 10% of exam requests come through form submissions, as 90% of patients prefer calling.
The phone is still your main communication for patient exam requests.

When you’re ready to leverage AI for patient calls, RingIQ.ai is here to assist—one step at a time.
Our AI call assistant, Iris, needs to learn from your existing phone calls. It’s not hard. The first step is to use marketing-sourced phone calls via a special phone number on your website. We tell patients the call is recorded for training, connect to the call, and pass the call very quickly to your public phone number. Iris can learn about your practice the way patients talk to you. She learns quickly and always remembers.

Second, Iris will scan your website and patient management system. She will learn everything: your location details, your doctors and staff, your appointment schedule, appointment types, insurance benefits, pricing, merchandise selection, and vision care services.

Next, with your approval, Iris will start handling night and weekend calls, as well as missed calls during business hours when lines are busy or your receptionist is unavailable. The dashboard will log every call, categorizing, summarizing, and reviewing them for follow-ups to recover unbooked appointment requests.

When everyone is ready, Iris will start handling regular business calls, writing appointments back into your EHR/PMS, and managing follow-up tasks. Ultimately, your primary public phone line will receive full support from Iris for all incoming calls.

What can you expect? Significant payroll savings, more booked appointments from your existing marketing and patient calls, and happier patients who no longer wait on hold.

Are you ready to get started?

Small Steps to Ensure AI Success in Optometry: How RingIQ.ai Can Revolutionize Your Practice

As in any healthcare vertical, patient communication remains a cornerstone of success. With the rise of digital tools, many practices are integrating artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline operations and enhance patient experiences. Yet, as promising as AI may be, its implementation requires careful planning and gradual integration. At RingIQ.ai, we understand that the path to AI success in optometry isn’t a giant leap but a series of small, deliberate steps. Here’s how our AI call assistant, Iris, can help your practice improve efficiency, patient satisfaction, and profitability without disruption.

The Critical Role of AI in Optometry

Despite the digital revolution, the humble phone call remains the primary method for patients to request eye exams. While online scheduling and form requests have their place, the reality is that only about 10% of exam requests come through these channels. In contrast, a staggering 90% of patients still prefer to pick up the phone when booking their appointments.
This preference underscores the importance of managing phone communications effectively. Missed calls, long hold times, and unproductive conversations can lead to lost appointments and dissatisfied patients. Therefore, enhancing phone communication is a crucial step toward optimizing patient engagement and practice efficiency. This is where AI can play a transformative role.

Introducing Iris: Your Optometry AI Receptionist

When your practice is ready to incorporate AI into patient phone communications, RingIQ.ai offers a powerful yet user-friendly solution: Iris, the AI call assistant. Iris is designed to enhance, not replace, your current systems and staff. However, as with any technology, the key to success lies in the implementation process. Here’s how Iris can be seamlessly integrated into your practice, ensuring that AI enhances your operations without causing disruption.

Step 1: Learning from Existing Phone Calls

The journey begins with Iris learning from your existing phone communications. This isn’t as complicated as it might sound. We start by directing marketing-sourced phone calls through a special phone number on your website. Patients are informed that their calls will be recorded for training purposes, ensuring transparency and compliance with privacy regulations.
These calls are quickly routed to your public phone number, allowing Iris to observe and learn from real interactions. By listening to how your staff communicates with patients, Iris gains valuable insights into the nuances of your practice. She learns fast and, importantly, retains this knowledge, which becomes the foundation for her future interactions.

Step 2: Scanning Your Practice’s Digital Ecosystem

With a solid understanding of patient interactions, Iris moves on to the next phase: scanning your website and patient management system (PMS). This step is crucial for ensuring that Iris is fully informed about every aspect of your practice.

During this phase, Iris learns key details such as your practice’s location, staff members, appointment schedules, and types of services offered. She also familiarizes herself with insurance plans, pricing, merchandise options, and vision care services. By integrating this information, Iris becomes a well-rounded assistant capable of handling a wide range of inquiries with accuracy and confidence.

Step 3: Handling Night and Weekend Calls

Once Iris has absorbed the necessary knowledge, she begins taking on more responsibilities, starting with after-hours calls. Night and weekend calls are often missed opportunities for practices that don’t have the resources to staff these hours. Iris fills this gap by answering calls during these off-peak times, ensuring that potential appointments aren’t lost simply because no one was available to answer the phone.

This phase also serves as a testing ground for Iris, allowing your team to monitor her performance and make any necessary adjustments before she takes on more responsibilities.

Step 4: Assisting During Business Hours

With night and weekend calls under control, Iris gradually begins to assist during regular business hours. She steps in when lines are busy or when staff are unable to answer calls, effectively reducing wait times and improving patient satisfaction. Each call handled by Iris is documented on the RingIQ.ai dashboard, where it is classified, summarized, and available for review. This feature is invaluable for recapturing not-booked appointment requests, ensuring that no opportunity slips through the cracks.

Step 5: Full Integration with Your Practice

Finally, when your team is comfortable and confident with Iris’s capabilities, she begins handling all incoming calls on your primary public phone number. By this stage, Iris is not just a call assistant but a fully integrated part of your practice. She can write appointments directly into your Electronic Health Record (EHR) or Patient Management System (PMS) and follow up on tasks, freeing your staff to focus on in-person patient care.

The Benefits of a Virtual Receptionist AI

Integrating AI into your practice through small, manageable steps offers several benefits. First and foremost, you can expect to see an increase in booked appointments, as Iris ensures that no patient inquiry goes unanswered. By reducing the time patients spend on hold and improving the overall efficiency of your communication systems, patient satisfaction is likely to improve.
Moreover, by automating routine tasks, Iris can help reduce payroll costs. Your staff will have more time to focus on high-value tasks, such as patient care and in-office consultations, rather than being tied up with phone calls. The combination of improved efficiency, higher patient satisfaction, and cost savings can significantly boost your practice’s bottom line.

Virtual Optometry Jobs

The future of optometry lies in the seamless integration of AI into everyday operations. With Iris, the AI call assistant from RingIQ.ai, your practice can take these small but powerful steps toward a more efficient, patient-centered approach to care. The process is gradual, ensuring that both your team and your patients adjust smoothly to the new technology.
Are you ready to enhance your practice with AI? With RingIQ.ai, the journey begins with just one step. Let Iris learn from your practice, and together, we’ll build a more efficient, patient-friendly future.