# How did an orthopedic practice clear a 1,000-voicemail backlog with an AI agent?

> South Shore Orthopedics (Hingham, MA; 15 physicians) deployed an Assort Health voice agent named "Oscar" to answer calls 24/7. The vendor reports end-of-day voicemails falling to zero from a 600-1,000 backlog, a 100% provider schedule fill rate maintained, and a 4.4/5 patient satisfaction rating.

- **Evidence grade:** B — Named organization with a quantified outcome, from the vendor or the organization's own announcement.
- **Organization:** South Shore Orthopedics (private orthopedic practice)
- **Industry:** Hospitals & Health Systems — Orthopedics (private practice)
- **Roles:** Patient Access & Outreach
- **Tools:** AI patient access agent ("Oscar") (Assort Health)
- **Status:** production · **Agent pattern:** voice-agent · **Autonomy:** 3/4
- **Last verified:** 2026-10-17

## Reported outcomes
- voicemail backlog: end-of-day voicemails down from 600-1,000 backlog to 0 [1] (self-reported)
- schedule fill rate: 100% maintained [1] (self-reported)
- patient satisfaction: 4.4/5 [1] (self-reported)

## How it works
1. Voice agent answers inbound calls and resolves scheduling requests.
2. Provides after-hours access instead of an answering service.
3. Hands off complex calls to front-office staff.

## Risks & compliance
- Mis-scheduling or mis-routing of patients with clinical urgency; escalation rules required
- PHI handled in calls (HIPAA); EHR write access
- Vendor-published results; not independently audited

## MedTech angle
Orthopedic practices are core accounts for ortho device reps; faster patient access upstream means faster time to surgical consults and procedures.

## Sources
1. Assort Health, "South Shore Orthopedics Clears Its Voicemail Backlog and Keeps Schedules Full" (undated; accessed 2026-10-17) <https://www.assorthealth.com/customers/south-shore-orthopedics-eliminates-its-voicemail-backlog-keeps-schedules-full-with-assort-health>
   > "For weeks at a stretch, the practice had 600 to 1,000 voicemails sitting in its box that staff simply couldn't get to."

Canonical: https://agentcasefile.com/cases/south-shore-orthopedics-assort-voicemail-backlog/ · License: CC BY 4.0 (summary) · Source: Agent Casefile