Cedar Launches ‘Kora’ AI Voice Agent to Automate Patient Billing Calls

What You Should Know: 

– Cedar, a patient financial platform for healthcare providers announced the launch of Kora, its advanced AI voice agent designed to automate patient billing calls. 

– Developed in collaboration with communications platform Twilio and already being implemented at leading providers such as ApolloMD, Kora leverages Cedar’s deep healthcare expertise and proprietary billing data to deliver efficient and empathetic call resolution at scale.

Kora: An AI Voice Agent Purpose-Built for Healthcare Billing

Kora represents a significant advancement beyond traditional Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems. Available 24/7, the AI agent is designed to autonomously resolve common patient billing inquiries, often within the first interaction. It utilizes natural language processing to understand caller requests, identify underlying issues, and respond conversationally. 

The agent runs on Twilio’s ConversationRelay service, which provides the technical foundation for robust, natural voice interactions by integrating real-time streaming, speech recognition, and interruption handling capabilities. Key capabilities include clearly explaining charges, identifying suitable payment options, and connecting patients with relevant financial assistance programs. Built with compliance at its core, Kora incorporates HIPAA privacy and security safeguards. Future enhancements aim to include sentiment and tone detection and support for multiple languages.

Addressing Call Center Challenges and Enhancing Patient Experience

The launch of Kora directly addresses pressing challenges faced by healthcare providers, including rising labor costs, persistent staffing shortages, and the dual pressure to improve patient financial experiences while managing operational overhead. By automating a significant portion of inbound billing calls – Cedar projects Kora will handle 30% by the end of 2025 – the AI agent helps lower operational costs. 

This allows skilled human call center operators to dedicate their time to more complex patient interactions that benefit most from a human touch. Kora also improves patient access to support by providing real-time assistance without hold times, particularly outside standard business hours, and seamlessly escalating calls to live agents when necessary.

“We’ve heard enough about AI promises. What matters now is delivering real outcomes,” said Florian Otto, CEO and Co-Founder of Cedar. “By leveraging Cedar’s deep revenue cycle and patient billing expertise, we’ve built AI that patients trust and that works for providers. We’ve been deliberate in emphasizing privacy, safety, and empathy, so talking to our AI agent feels as reassuring as talking to a skilled billing specialist.”