Across health care, the integration of artificial intelligence has been transforming how people work — not just in clinical settings, but also within administrative functions. At Stanford Health Care (SHC), a new technology is reshaping how billing inquiries are handled. The billing team now has access to an AI tool that creates a draft response for incoming patient billing questions. Nearly three months since the pilot launched, the model has already proven to save time and streamline workflows.
Every day, SHC billing representatives respond to hundreds of inquiries from patients regarding their statements. Depending on the question, staff used to manually sift through a list of 25 templates and choose the most appropriate response, then amend and personalize the message. This time-consuming and repetitive process is mentally taxing and a potential contribution to staff burnout, said Aditya Bhasin, vice president of software, Technology and Digital Solutions at SHC. Recognizing this pain point, SHC piloted and then fully implemented an AI-driven solution that automates the generation of draft responses that can be edited by billing representatives to ensure they are providing accurate responses.
“We’ve had focused efforts to promote the wellness of our physicians, but there are new technologies that can also help improve wellness for our staff,” Bhasin said. “One of the ideas was to use AI for day-to-day tasks. By alleviating some of the cognitive burden associated with billing inquiries, we are not only improving operational efficiency but also fostering a healthier work environment for our administrative staff.”
The AI tool developed for this purpose analyzes incoming messages for such factors as insurance type, payment history and previous interactions with the patient. It then automatically generates a draft response that reflects Stanford Medicine’s empathetic and caring tone. Billing representatives are able to respond to patient inquiries more quickly and accurately, ultimately enhancing the patient experience.
Bhasin and the Technology and Digital Solutions team launched the pilot in January with 10 billing representatives. Using the AI model, they processed 1,000 patient billing messages and provided feedback, making adjustments. The results were overwhelmingly positive: All the participants used the tool, which saved them about one minute per message. That amounted to roughly 17 hours saved in the pilot phase, during which representatives responded to 1,000 messages.
The program expanded to all billing staff in early March, and the time savings is expected to be significant.
“Stanford Health Care is leading the way in this space,” said Michael Pfeffer, MD, chief information and digital officer at Stanford Medicine. “By integrating AI into our billing processes, we are not just enhancing efficiency, we’re also empowering our staff to provide a more compassionate and responsive experience for our patients. This technology allows us to maintain the human connection that is essential in health care while making our operations more efficient.”
