AI in healthcare: Delivering smarter care with a personal feel

The healthcare industry has traditionally been characterized by a cautious approach to new technology, largely driven by critical concerns around patient privacy, strict regulatory compliance, and the complexity of integrating new systems. Yet, the industry is simultaneously under immense pressure to deliver patient experiences that are seamless and personalized—on par with the best customer service available anywhere.

For healthcare CX leaders today, the prescription for success centers on artificial intelligence (AI), as revealed in Metrigy’s AI for Business Success: 2025-26 research study. Participating healthcare organizations are moving ahead with AI at a fast clip, ranking among the top five industries using AI extensively across their business. AI, specifically virtual agents, is proving to be a critical enabler, creating harmony between the need for scalable automation and the necessity of human empathy in care.

AI adoption is no longer theoretical in healthcare; it is operational. Three-quarters of healthcare companies report using AI for customer interactions today, and all others expect to be doing so by year’s end.

Furthermore, 55.1% are using AI extensively across all or most business units. Considering the financial and operational success metrics reported in our study, this widespread deployment is clearly netting positive results:

• 77.8% are measuring customer satisfaction (CSAT), with an average 27.7% improvement
• 60% are measuring employee efficiency, with an average 31.2% boost
• 57.8% are measuring operational costs, with an average decrease of 18.2%
• 46.7% are measuring sales, with an average gain of 23.7%

Clearly, where the use of AI really stands out for healthcare companies is in CSAT. Not only do more companies see improvements in CSAT, more so than other core metrics in general, but CSAT is the most-improved metric for nine of 13 types of AI studied.

The top two technologies for improving CSAT in healthcare are customer-facing AI voice agents, used by 75.0% of healthcare companies, and AI text agents, for 73.3% of healthcare companies. 

Healthcare organizations deploy AI voice and chat agents in two major areas: automating transactional tasks for patients and providing sophisticated support for healthcare professionals.

In serving patients, virtual AI agents can take ownership of time-consuming administrative tasks, providing 24/7 service and dramatically reducing the burden on human staff, which leads to greater operational efficiency. Examples include:

• Appointment management: Virtual agents handle scheduling, rescheduling, and cancellations around the clock, helping to minimize patient wait times.
• Automated reminders: Virtual agents send personalized reminders for appointments, medication, and prescription refills, reducing no-shows and improving adherence to care plans.
• Patient intake & FAQs: AI agents streamline the process of collecting patient data, performing eligibility checks, and handling consent forms prior to appointments. They also instantly answer routine questions regarding insurance coverage, office hours, and procedure preparation.

Already, virtual AI agents are enabling healthcare providers to resolve 32% of contact center interactions without live agent support. However, virtual agents don’t just serve patients through self-service; they also help providers work more efficiently, reducing administrative costs, lowering healthcare worker burnout, and improving employee productivity. Examples include:

• Symptom checking and triage: Virtual agents engage in conversational assessments to understand a patient’s symptoms, assess urgency, and recommend the appropriate next step, whether that's self-care, a telehealth visit, or emergency care.
• Clinical documentation: Virtual agents utilize speech recognition and natural language processing to transcribe doctor-patient conversations, automatically generating structured clinical notes and discharge summaries.
• Remote patient monitoring: AI agents track health data from patient wearables and home medical equipment, providing real-time alerts to providers if vital signs deviate from the norm.

Healthcare organizations largely view AI as a strategic necessity; 79.2% report that AI is helping them solve harder problems now than it did a year ago. As a sign of their strategic commitment, healthcare organizations report AI spending increases in the 17%-to-19% range for 2025 and 2026, with decision-making driven at the C-suite level for 40.8%.

However, the industry has work to do on centralized governance: only 26.5% of healthcare companies have an AI Center of Excellence (CoE) today, compared to 38% across all industries. Recognizing this gap, 57.1% of healthcare companies are planning to establish an AI CoE. Establishing a CoE is recommended to guide best practices, share innovations across the business, and support adherence to governance. 

The challenge for many remains data. While 42.2% of healthcare companies consider their data fully ready to leverage AI, the primary constraint is maintaining strict HIPAA compliance to protect patient privacy.

Looking ahead, the use of sophisticated AI in healthcare is on the rise. While most healthcare companies (66.7%) currently prioritize functional, task-specific AI, the industry is evolving toward an autonomous future via agentic AI-powered virtual agents. Agentic AI agents not only have the ability to remind patients about subscription renewals, but also place orders for them and schedule deliveries, for example.

The third of healthcare companies using agentic AI today is a testament to its potential for positively impacting business success metrics. For example, 44.4% of healthcare companies using agentic AI say its use has positively impacted CSAT scores. As AI continues to handle increasingly complex problems, agentic AI is designed to deliver even more autonomous and personalized support. 

By focusing on continuously evolving AI capabilities and refining their data infrastructure, healthcare can support technology that not only delivers impressive efficiency but also enhances the fundamental goal of medicine: enabling providers to deliver smarter care with a personal touch.

Interested in how AI is being implemented in other CX industries? Explore Beth Schultz's insights on AI in retail and AI in financial services. 

Zoom Virtual Agent, powered by agentic AI, can make every self-service interaction feel more personal, helpful, and natural, even without direct human intervention. Get a personalized Zoom Virtual Agent demo or another Zoom CX product demo and see how quickly you can go live.