How Affordable Care Uses AI Agents to Balance Empathy and Scale
Delivering empathy and efficiency in every patient interaction.
Affordable Care, the nation’s leading dental support organization (DSO) for tooth replacement, supports over 400 dental practices across the country through its patient services contact center. With a growing number of calls each day, especially from patients seeking urgent help, the team wanted an approach that delivered both efficiency and empathy. They needed to handle rising call volumes without sacrificing quality or compassion.. That’s where Observe.AI came in. Together, they set out to prove that empathy and efficiency can and should coexist in patient care.
By bringing AI "teammates" into the contact center, Affordable Care carefully redesigned its customer journey to balance technology with the human touch. The team identified which parts of a call could be automated or assisted by AI, ensuring those tools complemented their live agents at every step. For routine inquiries, they deployed a VoiceAI Agent to act as a friendly first line of support. And for the live agents handling complex calls, they implemented Agent Assist to provide on-screen guidance in real time. Today, both the AI voice agent and the real-time assist system are fully embedded across Affordable Care’s workflows. They help handle routine calls more efficiently and give agents instant support when they need it. The shift has reshaped training and operations, creating more confident agents and smoother patient experiences.
Meet Beth, the AI Agent That Always Delivers Exceptional Experiences
AI agents often sound robotic, making it obvious to patients that they’re speaking with a machine. That wasn’t going to cut it for Affordable Care’s patient population, many of whom are older and may be calling in pain or with uncertainty. The team knew their AI agent had to feel like talking to a caring human, not a robot.
So they didn't stop at choosing a pleasant voice, they gave their AI agent a defined personality and strict guardrails. They focused on voice selection, conversation design, and training to create an AI personality as warm and empathic as their best human representative.
“All the knowledge we have, we can feed it to her and she knows to stay within this box,” explained Bethany Eason, Affordable Care’s Training Manager.
“She's not gonna go off script… we know what to expect with an AI agent. With an AI agent, they're gonna always hit the mark. I love that consistency.”
Having an AI agent that consistently delivers the right information in a friendly tone means Affordable Care can trust it with a wide range of calls. Patients feel heard and helped by a competent, caring assistant.
Freeing Up Time for Complex Conversations
The contact center was handling hundreds of calls daily about routine topics; directions to a practice, hours of operation, accepted payment methods. These were easy to answer but time-consuming, often pulling skilled agents away from more critical interactions.
This is where the AI agent truly shines. For example, if a patient needed directions, the AI agent would capture the caller’s zip code and instantly map it to the nearest practice location, then provide step-by-step directions within seconds. What might have taken a human agent 15–20 minutes (especially if the caller wanted to write down each step) now takes the AI only moments.
“That can be three patients scheduled in the span of one direction call,” Eason noted.
This AI Agent-driven approach has opened up more time for agents to assist patients who needed treatment guidance, implant consultations, or follow-up appointments, interactions that directly affect patient outcomes.
Agent Copilots: Confidence and Knowledge on Every Call
With the AI agent now handling routine inquiries, Affordable Care next turned to empowering its human agents during the more complex interactions. Launching a new agent from the classroom into their first live call can be daunting; in training, new hires might feel prepared, but as soon as they hear a real patient on the line, nervousness and stress can set in. That’s where Observe.AI’s Real-time Agent Assist became a game-changer, acting like a coach on every call with on-screen prompts, verified answers, and reminders exactly when agents need them.
It also reduces after-call work (ACW) so agents don’t have to concern themselves with every detail or nuance of the conversation. They can solely focus on delivering a great experience, and then all relevant details are captured for updating systems after the call.
“They can talk to me all day, but when they take that first call, it’s like, oh my gosh, is this a person? This is not Bethany,” said Eason with a laugh.
“With Agent Assist, it gives them the support even though I can’t be there on every call. It’s like we are there but not there.”
Even for seasoned agents, the benefits are clear. Agent Assist monitors the conversation and automatically surfaces the right knowledge base articles or script reminders the moment they’re relevant. This ensures agents can stay empathetic while handling calls with maximum efficiency.
Smarter Training, Personalized Coaching That Scales
Before bringing Observe.AI into the picture, the QA process was entirely manual. Team leads had to select and review a few calls per agent each month, which left gaps in visibility and made consistent feedback difficult.
Now, with every call automatically scored, the training team can spot trends instantly. Rather than retraining everyone on a script or procedure, they can zero in on who actually needs help with a specific skill
“If Agent A said it the right way 20% of the time, we can see it. That person needs coaching,” said Eason.
This was a game-changer for the team. Instead of blanket retraining sessions that might frustrate seasoned agents, coaches can now provide personalized feedback to the individuals who need it and celebrate those who consistently hit the mark. This precision keeps training relevant, cuts ramp time, and reinforces Affordable Care’s goal of pairing human warmth with operational efficiency.
A Future Built on Balance, Not Replacement
Despite growing fears around AI replacing human jobs, Affordable Care takes a different view. For them, AI is a tool to support agents, not remove them from the process.
Agents focus on the more complex and emotional conversations. AI steps in for repetitive tasks, helping reduce stress and giving patients quicker responses. That shift leads to better outcomes across the board.
“Humans need AI in some ways. And humans are needed by humans. Finding the sweet spot is the perfect contact center,” Eason said.
In other words, when AI and people work hand in hand, everyone benefits—patients feel cared for, agents feel supported, and the business thrives.
Scaling Smarter with AI-Powered Teams
As Affordable Care continues to grow, this human + AI model is unlocking new ways to scale efficiently while staying nimble. With AI agents handling up to 300 calls a day, the team can flex to meet demand without overextending resources.
“If I’m growing from 100 agents to 200, I don’t need 10 more team leads for QA,” said Eason. “All I need is a small quality team to assess the scorecard that’s already provided to us.”
In the past, doubling the team might have meant doubling (or more) the overhead for monitoring calls, training new staff, and keeping service consistent. Now, Affordable Care can scale smarter without ever losing the personal touch patients expect.
A True Partnership with the Observe.AI Team
One of the first things that stood out to Affordable Care was the level of collaboration. The technology was strong, but the partnership with the Observe.AI team made an even bigger impression.
“Observe is like our genie. We say, ‘We need this,’ and they say, ‘Okay, let’s work on it,’” Eason said.
From hands-on training to ongoing support, the relationship has been built on shared goals and mutual growth.
“You might get a good technology, but what’s a good technology without a good team to support it and train you on it?” she added.
Curious how VoiceAI Agents or Agent Copilots can support your contact center? [Book a demo with Observe.AI].
