With Retell, we’ve increased scheduling NPS by 38%, and filled underutilized provider capacity, allowing our team to focus on meaningful patient care instead of phone tag.
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AI Patient Referral Calls That Turn Referrals Into Booked Visits
5.0
ON G2
Referral calls for the patients your team can't reach fast enough. The agent calls each referred patient soon after the referral arrives, confirms they want the visit, books it or collects their availability, and texts the intake form. Inbound calls about referrals are sorted and transferred to the right desk. Start with one referral source and compare booked visits with the referrals you work by hand.
Trusted by over 4,000 businesses powering 100+ million calls per month.
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How It Works
Set up AI referral calls in four stages, from your referral list to booked visits on your calendar.
Write your referral call flow
Write what the agent says to a referred patient, what it confirms, and when it books or hands off, then connect your referral list, your calendar, and your EHR or scheduling system through native integrations or custom functions.
Test on real referral scenarios
Run simulated calls with a patient who forgot about the referral, one who wants a different day, a voicemail, and a caller who asks a clinical question, and grade every run before a patient is called.
Connect your list and numbers
Start calls from your referral list through the API or a batch upload, set the calling window, and forward your inbound referral line or import it over a SIP trunk.
Go live and track booked visits
Every call returns a transcript and the fields you define, such as reached, interested, booked, and passed to scheduling, so you can see which referrals still need a person.
Use Cases
Referred patients called, booked, and routed to the right team
Referred patients called while the referral is fresh
Need every referral worked, not just the ones staff reach first. When a referral lands in your list or system, an API trigger or a batch upload starts the call, with the patient's name, the referring provider, and the specialty passed in as variables. The agent explains why it is calling and confirms the patient still wants the visit.
Visits booked on the call, or availability collected
Need the call to end with a next step. With the native Cal.com or Calendly integration, or a custom function that reaches your scheduling system's API, the agent offers open times and books the visit. Practices that keep booking with staff have the agent collect the days and times that work, and the answers reach your scheduling team after the call.
Intake forms texted during the call
Need paperwork started before the first visit. The agent texts the link to your intake form while the patient is on the line, with variables such as their name filled in, so they can finish it on their phone. Texting from your own number needs it registered, and the agent can ask for consent first.
Inbound referral calls sorted and transferred
Need referral calls off the wrong desks. Instead of a press-1 menu, the agent asks what the caller needs, then tells apart a provider's office sending a referral, a patient asking about one, and a patient who needs a referral elsewhere. Each goes to the right team by warm transfer, with a private briefing so nobody asks the caller to start over.
Calls when patients can actually answer
Need to reach patients who are at work during the day. Set the calling window for each batch, including evenings, so the agent calls when patients are more likely to pick up. It detects voicemail and leaves a short message with no clinical details, or hangs up, by your rule, and your system decides who is called again.
Your EHR stays the record
Need the agent to work with the systems you already run. Many practices start with a referral list and a calendar, then add the EHR once the flow works. EHRs have no prebuilt connector, so a custom function reads or writes through your EHR's API where your vendor allows it. Read how to connect an AI voice agent to your EHR.
Built for Contact Centers, Not Demos
Retell is the AI Voice Platform Enterprise Contact Centers Run On
Retell lets you build, test and deploy AI phone agents that handle real call volume, so your team spends its time on the conversations that need a person.
Feature
Why specialty practices choose Retell AI for referral calls
Referral list, calendar, and EHR connected
A referral call needs the patient's details and open times. Variables carry the referral into each call, Cal.com and Calendly are native calendar integrations, and custom functions reach your EHR or scheduling system's API.
Scripts your intake team maintains
Specialties, forms, and booking rules change. Your team edits the call flow without a vendor ticket and publishes a new agent version once it passes your simulated calls.
Warm transfer to scheduling or intake
When a patient needs a person, a warm transfer briefs your team privately on who is calling and what the referral is for, then connects the patient.
Outbound lists and inbound lines on one platform
Upload a CSV for a batch, with the other columns as variables, or start calls from your system through the API, and set the calling window. Forward your referral line or import it over a SIP trunk, with 20 concurrent calls included on pay-as-you-go.
Reached, booked, or passed to scheduling
You need to know which referrals still need a person. Post-call extraction records the fields you define on every call, such as reached, interested, booked, and needs a callback. The batch report shows sent, picked up, and successful, and alerts notify you by email or webhook when results slip.
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Pricing
Cut Costs by 90% with AI phone Agents
Pay as you go
$0 to start.
$0.07–$0.31 per minute – Pay only for what you use.
60 mins of free access.
20 concurrent calls.
10 Free Knowledge Bases.
Enterprise Plan
For companies with large volumes, data or deployment requirements, or support needs.
White glove service for your use case.
Premium support with dedicated solution engineer teams.
Custom pricing and concurrent calls based on your needs
FAQ
Frequently asked questions.
Does Retell integrate with our EHR or scheduling system?
EHR and practice management systems, such as eClinicalWorks or SimplePractice, have no prebuilt connector. The agent reaches them through custom functions that call their API during the call, where your vendor gives that access, or through webhooks that send the call outcome to your system after the call. Cal.com and Calendly are native calendar integrations, and Salesforce and HubSpot are native CRM integrations.
Is AI referral calling HIPAA compliant?
Retell supports HIPAA workloads. Self-sign the BAA before any protected health information goes through the platform; there is no fee to sign it. Then choose per agent what is stored, scrub categories such as names, dates of birth, and medical IDs from transcripts and recordings, and set how long call data is kept, from one day to two years. Our HIPAA guide covers the details.
Can our staff keep the booking step?
Yes. You decide where the agent stops. It can book directly into a connected calendar, or confirm interest, collect the patient's availability, and text the intake form, then pass the details to your scheduling team. Many practices start with the second option and move to direct booking once they trust the calls.
What happens when the referred patient doesn't answer?
The agent detects voicemail and either leaves a short message you write, with no clinical details, or hangs up. You set the calling window for each batch, and your list or system decides when to call again, using the call result as the trigger.
How much do AI referral calls cost on Retell?
Retell voice agents are priced per minute of conversation, from $0.07 per minute, depending on the language model, voice, and telephony you choose. Pay-as-you-go needs no contract, and Enterprise plans have custom pricing for high volume or custom deployment needs. See pricing for your mix.
Can the agent speak Spanish with patients?
Yes, if the voice and speech recognition you choose both support the languages you need, and the dashboard shows which combinations are available. An agent can be set up for more than one language, such as English and Spanish, so patients can answer in either. Test pronunciation with native speakers before launch.
