Healthcare Call Center Services:
HIPAA-Compliant Medical Call Center, 24/7/365
HIPAA-compliant medical call center services, 24/7/365
Callzilla is a HIPAA-compliant healthcare call center that provides outsourced medical call center services for health plans, providers and healthcare technology companies. Our agents handle appointment scheduling and reminders, patient access, member services and eligibility, billing questions and outbound outreach, in English and Spanish, 24/7/365.
Every program runs inside a SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, ISO 9001 and PCI DSS certified operation with HIPAA and CCPA compliant processes. Callzilla has run contact centers since 2005 from its headquarters in Miramar, Florida, with its own contact center in Bogotá, Colombia.
Key facts at a glance
- Who we serve: health plans, hospitals and health systems, physician groups, clinics, telehealth and healthtech companies
- Call types: scheduling and reminders, patient access, member services, eligibility, billing and outreach
- Clinical scope: non-clinical support; clinical questions route to your licensed staff
- Coverage: 24/7/365, including after hours, weekends and open enrollment peaks
- Languages: English and Spanish from the same agents
- Channels: phone, live chat, email, SMS, WhatsApp, IVR and AI assistants
- Compliance: HIPAA compliant, SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, ISO 9001:2015, PCI DSS, CCPA compliant
- Go-live: about 22 business days from a signed pre-agreement
What is a healthcare call center?
A healthcare call center, also called a medical call center, handles the conversations between a healthcare organization and its patients or members: booking and moving appointments, reminders, registration, insurance and eligibility questions, billing and general support. Healthcare call center outsourcing means a specialized, HIPAA-compliant partner runs those conversations with trained agents who follow your protocols, scripts and systems.
Providers and plans outsource because front desks and in-house teams are overloaded. The AAMC projects a shortage of up to 86,000 physicians in the US by 2036, so every clinical hour freed from the phone matters. Outsourcing adds trained capacity for peaks, nights and weekends, and Spanish-speaking patients, without hiring spikes.
Medical call center vs answering service
An answering service takes messages. A healthcare call center resolves the request: it books the visit, answers the eligibility or billing question and follows up.
Clinical vs non-clinical
Callzilla agents handle non-clinical support and route clinical questions and urgent symptoms to your licensed staff by protocol.
Language access
More than 1 in 5 US residents age 5 and older speak a language other than English at home, and Spanish is by far the most common (US Census Bureau).
Healthcare call center services we provide
Appointment scheduling and reminders
Booking, rescheduling, cancellations, waitlists and reminder calls and texts that cut no-shows. See appointment scheduling.
Patient access and registration
New patient intake, demographic and insurance capture, referral coordination and pre-visit instructions.
Health plan member services
Eligibility, benefits and ID card questions, provider search and open enrollment support. Plans and insurers can also see our insurance call center.
Patient billing and payments
Statement questions, payment plans and card payments handled inside a PCI DSS certified environment.
Outbound patient outreach
Recall and preventive care campaigns, care-gap closure, post-discharge follow-up and satisfaction surveys. See outbound messaging.
After-hours and overflow
Nights, weekends, holidays and peak days covered by the same trained team, not a message-only service.
Patient portal and telehealth support
Log-in help, app and device troubleshooting and visit set-up for digital health. See technical support.
Transportation coordination
Arranging and confirming patient transport for clinics and plans that offer rides to appointments.
AI self-service with human handoff
IVR and AI assistants answer simple questions and pass full context to a live agent. See self-service IVR and intelligent routing.
How a regional health plan cut no-shows from 20% to 6%
A regional health plan had a 20% primary-care no-show rate and could not add staff fast enough to fix it. Callzilla introduced native bilingual support and smarter scheduling outreach.
- No-show rate: down from 20% to 6% in 90 days
- Repeat eligibility calls: down 58%
- Member satisfaction: up from 68% to 92%
"When we talk about call centers for healthcare, we talk about empathy. We practice extensively and hire the most suitable people to maintain meaningful conversations. Think about the elderly: they need to feel accompanied, and efficiency isn't measured by short calls but by the quality of care."
Neal Topf, President, Callzilla
A HIPAA-compliant call center for protected health information
Patient conversations carry protected health information (PHI). Callzilla is HIPAA compliant under the HIPAA Privacy Rule and Security Rule, and the operation is independently certified for security and quality.
Details on each standard are on our certifications page.
What to require from any healthcare call center
- A signed Business Associate Agreement (BAA) before any PHI is shared
- Minimum necessary, role-based access to your EHR and scheduling systems
- HIPAA and privacy training for every agent, refreshed regularly
- Secured call recordings, audit logs and breach response procedures
- Independent audits such as SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001
- Clear protocols for clinical questions and emergencies
Bilingual English and Spanish patient support
Patients who cannot get help in their own language miss appointments, call back more and struggle with billing and coverage. Callzilla agents in Bogotá support patients and members in English and Spanish on the same call, on US time all year, and calls can be routed by language through your phone menu or a known patient preference. See our bilingual call center.
Phone remains the preferred channel for many older patients, while younger patients often choose chat, text or email, so every program covers the channels your patients actually use.
Built for plans, providers and healthtech
- Health plans and payers: member services, eligibility and open enrollment
- Hospitals and health systems: central scheduling, patient access and overflow
- Physician groups and clinics: scheduling, reminders and after-hours coverage
- Dental and specialty practices: new patient intake, recalls and billing
- Telehealth and digital health: visit set-up and portal and app support
- Labs and healthcare technology: results routing, account and product support
Regulated financial clients can see our financial services call center.
In-house vs outsourced healthcare call center
| Factor | In-house team | Outsourced with Callzilla |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per agent | About $45 to $65 an hour fully loaded in the US | About $14 an hour fully loaded for a nearshore agent in Colombia |
| Hours | Usually clinic hours | 24/7/365 including nights, weekends and holidays |
| Peaks | Hire and train for flu season and open enrollment | Trained capacity added for each peak |
| Languages | Limited to who you can hire | English and Spanish from the same agents |
| Compliance | Your own HIPAA program and audits | HIPAA compliant, SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 certified operation |
| Time to launch | Months to recruit and train | About 22 business days |
In-house figure from Outsource Accelerator (2026); outsourced rate from rethinkCX's BPO Cost Index (May 2026). Both are fully loaded: wages, benefits, management, tools and facilities.
How much does a healthcare call center cost?
Outsourced healthcare call center pricing is usually quoted per agent hour or per full-time agent per month. Message-only answering services often price per minute or per call instead, which suits low volumes but does not resolve the request. A fully loaded in-house US agent costs about $45 to $65 an hour (Outsource Accelerator), against about $14 an hour for a nearshore agent in Colombia (rethinkCX). Every Callzilla program is quoted for its exact scope.
- Hours of coverage (clinic hours vs. 24/7/365)
- Call volume and seasonal peaks
- Call types and system access (EHR, scheduling, billing)
- Channels and languages
- QA, reporting and compliance requirements
What you get on every program
- Dedicated team: agents trained on your protocols, scripts and systems
- Quality assurance: call scoring per agent and per shift
- KPIs: abandonment, speed to answer, first contact resolution, no-show rate and patient satisfaction
- Reporting: a satisfaction baseline from day one and regular KPI reviews
Launch a healthcare call center in about 22 business days
Once a pre-agreement is signed, work starts right away, even before the final contract.
Scope
Call types, volumes, hours, languages, systems and clinical routing rules.
BAA and pre-agreement
Privacy terms in place, recruiting and setup begin.
Recruit and train
HIPAA, empathy and protocol training on your services and systems.
Systems and security
EHR and scheduling access, telephony, recording and data controls.
Test and go live
Live in about 22 business days, then KPIs reviewed and capacity scaled.
How to choose a healthcare call center
HIPAA and audits
HIPAA compliance plus independent audits such as SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001, and a signed BAA.
Patient experience
Empathy-first hiring and training, with satisfaction measured after contacts, not just call length.
Language and hours
Spanish and English from the same agents, and real 24/7 coverage rather than message taking.
Works in your systems
Access to your EHR, scheduling and billing tools so agents resolve requests on the first contact.
Healthcare results
Case studies with numbers such as no-show rate, repeat calls and member satisfaction.
Speed to launch
A clear plan to go live in weeks, with surge capacity for flu season and open enrollment.
Recognized for contact center excellence
ICMI Global Contact Center Awards, Best Outsourcing Provider (2017)
Stevie Awards, Contact Center or Customer Service Outsourcing Provider of the Year (Bronze 2021, Silver 2022, Bronze 2023)
President Neal Topf named one of ICMI's Top 25 Thought Leaders of 2025
Frequently asked questions
What is a healthcare call center?
A healthcare call center, also called a medical call center, is a contact center that handles patient and member conversations for healthcare organizations: appointment scheduling and reminders, registration, insurance and eligibility questions, billing, referrals and general patient support, by phone, chat, email and text. Clinical questions are routed to licensed staff.
What services does a medical call center provide?
Typical services are appointment scheduling, rescheduling and reminders, patient access and registration, health plan member services, eligibility and benefits questions, billing and payment support, outbound outreach such as recalls and care-gap campaigns, after-hours coverage and technical support for patient portals and telehealth.
Is Callzilla HIPAA compliant?
Yes. Callzilla is HIPAA compliant under the HIPAA Privacy Rule and Security Rule, and its operation is also SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, ISO 9001 and PCI DSS certified, with CCPA compliant processes.
What is the difference between a medical answering service and a healthcare call center?
A medical answering service mostly takes messages and passes them on, often after hours. A healthcare call center resolves the request: it books or moves the appointment, answers the billing or eligibility question, updates the record and follows up, around the clock.
Do your healthcare agents speak Spanish?
Yes. Agents in Callzilla's Bogotá contact center support patients and members in English and Spanish, with professional English at CEFR B2+ or C1, on US time all year.
How much does healthcare call center outsourcing cost?
It is usually priced per agent hour or per full-time agent per month, and depends on hours, volume, call types, channels, languages and systems. A fully loaded in-house US agent costs about $45 to $65 an hour, a US onshore vendor about $35 and a nearshore agent in Colombia about $14. Callzilla quotes each program for its exact scope.
Can an outsourced call center reduce patient no-shows?
Yes. With native bilingual support and smarter scheduling outreach, a regional health plan working with Callzilla cut primary-care no-shows from 20% to 6% in 90 days, reduced repeat eligibility calls by 58% and raised member satisfaction from 68% to 92%.
Do healthcare call center agents give medical advice?
No. Callzilla agents handle non-clinical patient support such as scheduling, access, eligibility, billing and service questions, and follow your protocols to route clinical questions and urgent symptoms to your licensed staff.
How long does it take to launch a healthcare call center?
About 22 business days from a signed pre-agreement, covering recruiting, HIPAA and protocol training, EHR and scheduling system access, telephony and security setup, testing and go-live.
Who uses an outsourced healthcare call center?
Health plans and payers, hospitals and health systems, physician groups and clinics, dental and specialty practices, telehealth and digital health companies, labs and diagnostics providers, and healthcare technology vendors.
