How NextGen Healthcare's Closed Loop Experience Saved 700 Staff Hours and Improved Access

Healthcare IT Today
Healthcare IT TodayMar 3, 2026

Why It Matters

By automating routine access points, Closed Loop delivers measurable cost savings and improves patient experience, giving providers a competitive edge in an increasingly digital health market.

Key Takeaways

  • Closed loop AI saved 700 staff hours in six months
  • Call wait times dropped below 90 seconds, improving patient access
  • AI agents handle 90% of inbound scheduling inquiries autonomously
  • Referral processing and OCR automation target major revenue leakage
  • NextGen AI usage grew 25x year‑over‑year, driving platform expansion

Summary

The video spotlights NextGen Healthcare’s Closed Loop platform, an AI‑driven suite that automates scheduling, referrals and data analytics across the patient journey. Jenna Hogan, head of the Closed Loop platform, explains how the solution has begun to reshape access to care for both patients and practice staff.

In the first six months of deployment at a single organization, the system reclaimed roughly 700 staff hours, while average call‑wait times fell below 90 seconds. AI agents now resolve about 90 % of inbound scheduling requests, and NextGen reports a 25‑fold year‑over‑year increase in AI usage. The platform also targets referral bottlenecks through OCR scanning, a known source of revenue leakage.

Hogan cites an AMA study confirming sub‑minute wait times and shares patient recordings where callers remark, "You called me already—awesome." She notes that half of interactions go unnoticed as AI, underscoring the technology’s natural language capabilities. The discussion also highlights provider resistance rooted in workflow changes rather than the technology itself.

For health systems, the gains translate into higher patient satisfaction, reduced no‑show rates and reclaimed staff capacity for higher‑value tasks. The roadmap includes extending AI to revenue and operations teams, embedding analytics that cut insight‑to‑action time by up to 60 %, and further reducing paper‑based referrals. Adoption will hinge on change‑management, but the demonstrated efficiencies make a compelling business case.

Original Description

[SPONSORED] If your patient access team feels stretched thin, you’re not imagining it. Most organizations are carrying more demand than their current workflows can handle.
In this interview, Jenna Hagan, Vice President of Product Marketing at NextGen Healthcare (NextGen), breaks down what happens when AI starts handling the routine work that slows practices down. She shares how one organization saved more than 700 staff hours in six months, why patients often don’t realize they’re talking to AI, and how smarter data signals can flag burnout risk and reduce no-shows. It’s a clear look at what practices are gaining from the Closed Loop solution right now.
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Learn more about NextGen Healthcare at https://www.nextgen.com
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⏰ Jump to the Moments That Matter
0:00 - How One Practice Saved 700 Staff Hours
1:11 - Why Access Teams Feel Stretched Thin
3:16 - The 90-Second Rule That Drives Patient Behavior
4:00 - What Clinicians Are Really Worried About With AI
5:03 - Patients Who Don’t Realize They’re Talking to AI
7:10 - The KPI That Flags Burnout and Reduces No-Shows
#HealthIT #DigitalHealth #PatientAccess #AIinHealthcare #EHR #HITsm
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