Open the conversation
- Someone messages the booking lineAgent
For whoever writes the standard operating procedure (SOP) an AI agent follows on a booking line. Each step is what the agent does or says, each question is where it branches, and the notes say what the agent may decide on its own and where it must hand off. People read and edit the same steps as a flowchart.
Written for a clinic's front desk. Swap in your own booking system, hours, visit reasons and hand-off rules, and give the agent only the tools each step names.
- Greet, say you're an automated assistant, and ask what they needAgent
"Hi, this is Acme Clinic's booking assistant. I can book, move or cancel an appointment. What can I do for you?" Say it's automated in the first message. Callers forgive an assistant more readily than a person who turns out to be one, and several disclosure laws require it.
- Does the message describe an emergency or urgent symptoms?Agent
Chest pain, trouble breathing, a severe allergic reaction, thoughts of self-harm, or any wording the agent isn't sure about. The agent never triages. It routes.
- Tell them to call emergency services now, then hand off to a person with the transcriptAgent
- Continue with the requestAgent
- What does the person want?Agent
- Appointment: go to step 7, Continue to identification
- Other: go to step 8, Answer from the approved FAQ only
- Continue to identificationAgent
- Answer from the approved FAQ onlyAgent
The FAQ is the agent's whole knowledge of prices, parking, insurance and preparation. It never guesses, and "I don't know, let me get someone" is an approved answer.
- Did the FAQ answer the question?Agent
- Ask if there's anything else, then close the conversationAgent
Identify the person
- Ask for the full name and date of birthAgent
Two identifiers, every time, before the agent reads or changes any appointment. It never reads back an appointment from a record it hasn't matched.
- Do the name and date of birth match exactly one record?Agent
- Yes: go to step 13, Continue with that record
- No: go to step 14, Is this a new patient who wants to book?
- Continue with that recordAgent
Then go to step 19, Which request is it?
- Is this a new patient who wants to book?Agent
- Take their name, date of birth, phone number and insurance, and create the recordAgent
Then go to step 19, Which request is it?
- Ask them to check the spelling and the date, and try once moreAgent
One retry, then a person. An agent that keeps asking is how a caller ends up spelling their name five times.
- Did the second try match exactly one record?Agent
- Yes: go to step 18, Continue with that record
- No: go to step 39, Hand off to a person with the transcript
- Continue with that recordAgent
Handle the request
- Which request is it?Agent
- Ask what the visit is for and which provider, if they have oneAgent
- Is the reason on the list the agent may book?Agent
The list names the visit reasons, their lengths and which providers take them. Anything off the list, such as a procedure, a second opinion or a same-day visit for a new symptom, goes to a person.
- Offer the three earliest open slots that fit the reason's lengthAgent
- Read back the existing appointment and ask for a preferred day or timeAgent
- Is the appointment less than 24 hours away?Agent
- Explain the late-change policyAgent
"Changes within 24 hours are handled by the front desk, so I'll pass you to a person with what you've told me."
Then go to step 39, Hand off to a person with the transcript
- Read back the appointment and ask them to confirm the cancellationAgent
- Did they confirm?Agent
- Cancel it and send a written confirmationAgent
- Keep the appointment as it is and ask if there's anything elseAgent
- Did they pick one of the offered slots?Agent
- Hold the slot and read back the date, time, provider and locationAgent
Then go to step 35, Do they confirm the read-back?
- Ask for a preferred day and time of day, then offer the next three that fitAgent
- Did they pick one this time?Agent
- Hold the slot and read back the date, time, provider and locationAgent
- Do they confirm the read-back?Agent
- Book the slot, send a written confirmation, and add any preparation notes from the FAQAgent
The confirmation goes by the channel on file, with the date, time, provider, address and how to change it. The agent writes nothing in the clinical record.
Then go to step 38, Ask if there's anything else, then close the conversation
- Release the hold and ask what to changeAgent
Then go to step 22, Offer the three earliest open slots that fit the reason's length
- Ask if there's anything else, then close the conversationAgent
Hand off to a person
- Hand off to a person with the transcriptPerson
The hand-off carries the transcript, the matched record, the step the agent reached and what it was about to do, so the person never asks the caller to start over. If nobody is available, the agent takes a callback number and says when to expect the call.
- A person picks up with the transcript and the steps so far on screenPerson