Relatient aims to expand patient engagement

As health systems look for ways to make it easier for patients to get the care they need, Relatient sees the potential for more growth.

A healthcare technology company based in Atlanta, Relatient offers a patient engagement platform to help health systems and medical practices.

The company’s AI agents can help patients make appointments, reschedule visits, and handle other needs.

About 50,000 providers use Relatient’s patient engagement solutions, and the company helped facilitate about 150 million appointments in 2025, says Jonathan Shivers, vice president of partnerships at Relatient. Shivers spoke with Chief Healthcare Executive® in an interview at the HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition.

“We're in almost every specialty, all across the country, everywhere, in every state,” Shivers says.

Relatient has focused heavily in specialties such as cardiology, dermatology and orthopedics, but the company is pushing more into physical therapy and behavioral health. The company has clients in those areas now, but there is growing demand, he says.

“Those are two where we see a need exploding,” Shivers says.

Relatient’s voice AI is dubbed “Dash,” which stands for “dynamic application for scheduling healthcare,” Shivers says. Patients can call and be directed by Dash to set up appointments and fill out forms online, and pay bills after the appointment.

Shivers touts the added convenience for patients in handling their needs.

“You don't have to log into a patient portal,” he says. “You don't have to remember a username and password. You don't have to wait on hold for someone to book your appointment.”

Using the AI agents, Shivers says the average time to book an appointment is about two minutes, well below the time it takes to deal with calling a practice, being placed on hold and waiting several minutes to talk to a human for scheduling.

“The results we're seeing are great,” Shivers says.

The AI agent’s speech can be slowed down for older patients, he says. The AI agent can also be offered in different dialects. A patient calling from Georgia may hear the AI agent with a southern accent, he says.

“Over time, we've realized that we have to offer certain dialects in certain parts of the country,” Shivers says.

Relatient’s platform is designed to help reduce the number of calls requiring staff time, but the platform offers the ability to make a “smart handoff” for patients who need to speak to a person. If a patient calls with a billing question, the AI agent will begin the exchange by saying the patient has a question about a bill for a recent appointment.

Shivers says the company’s solutions go beyond simply automatic calls and scheduling. Relatient works with clients to make sure they address scheduling preferences and rules, so patients are getting services they need and providers are offering better services.

Without those steps, Shivers says all that is accomplished is automating chaos.

“A patient can't book the wrong appointment. They can't see the wrong provider, they can't go in until their insurance has been verified,” Shivers says. “Because when any of those things happen, not only does the provider not get to see you, but you've also blocked the spot of someone the provider can see.”

With the growing use of AI technology in handling patient calls and scheduling, some healthcare leaders have asked about the long-term use of call centers and whether they will one day simply be replaced.

Shivers sees call centers changing, but he suggests that they aren’t going to disappear.

“I see them being a lot more optimized,” he says. “I don't see them needing as many humans making the calls, but they still will have to have that oversight.”