# Home Health AI Answering Service & Receptionist Source: https://insertchat.com/industries/home-health-care > Answer families looking for care, log caregiver call-outs for schedulers, and flag client emergencies for on-call staff. An AI receptionist for home health and home care agencies answers calls and texts around the clock, using your services, service area, payer list, and intake process. InsertChat’s assistant answers families’ questions, books in-home assessments or care consultations, records caregiver call-outs and referral details for your office, and flags falls, emergencies, and clinical questions for your on-call team. ## Turn a hospital-discharge call into an in-home assessment Example workflow: Phone call. Illustrative scenario. Answers depend on your sources; actions depend on your connected tools and permissions. This is not a customer testimonial or measured result. A daughter calls at 8:15 p.m. on a Wednesday, after your office has closed. > My mom is being discharged from the hospital on Friday and can’t be alone yet. Do you cover our town, and can someone come out this weekend? ## Check the service area Confirm the town is in your service area and explain the care types you offer, from companion care to skilled nursing, as you describe them. ## Collect the intake details Ask about the discharge date, the help needed at home, and how care will be paid for, such as Medicare, Medicaid, long-term care insurance, or private pay. ## Book the assessment Offer in-home assessment times from your intake coordinator’s calendar and book one, with the address and discharge date on the appointment. ## Your team sets the boundaries Falls, a client who won’t wake up, and anyone describing a medical emergency hear your instruction to call 911, and the call is flagged for your on-call staff. Medication and care-plan questions wait for a clinician. ## What it handles for home health and home care agencies Handled by your assistant: - Care types you offer, explained from your service descriptions - Service area checks by town or ZIP code - Payer questions, answered from the plans and programs you list - In-home assessments and care consultations booked on your calendar - Caregiver job inquiries, with your application steps Sent straight to your team: - A fall, injury, or medical emergency, answered with your 911 instruction - Caregiver call-outs and late arrivals for today’s visits - A change in a client’s condition reported by family - Medication, wound care, and care-plan questions - Complaints about a caregiver or a missed visit ## What it asks and what it needs to know Details it collects: - Caller’s name, relationship to the client, and phone number - Client’s name and address, including town or ZIP code - Help needed, such as bathing, meals, nursing, or therapy - Hospital or rehab discharge date, if any - Payer, such as Medicare, Medicaid, long-term care insurance, or private pay - Referring doctor, hospital, or case manager - Hours or days of care they’re hoping for What to add to its knowledge: - Services you offer, from companion and personal care to skilled nursing and therapy - Towns, counties, or ZIP codes you serve - Payers and programs you accept, and the private-pay rates you share - How assessments and start of care work at your agency - Call-out steps for caregivers and who covers scheduling after hours - Job openings, the pay ranges you publish, and how to apply ## Can caregivers call out through the assistant? Yes, and your schedulers are alerted. The assistant records the caregiver’s name, the client visit they’ll miss, and the reason, then marks the conversation urgent so the teammates you choose get an email. If you’d rather caregivers reach a person directly, save them as contacts and set the assistant to answer only callers who aren’t saved. Their calls then ring the scheduling line you choose. ## How is it different from a home health answering service? A live answering service takes messages from the script you give its operators. InsertChat’s assistant answers families from your service area, payer list, and care descriptions, books assessments on your calendar, and saves each call’s transcript and AI summary in a shared inbox. Urgent calls are flagged and emailed to your on-call staff with your instructions. It doesn’t transfer live calls, so put your on-call number in those instructions. ## Does InsertChat sign a BAA with home health agencies? Yes, on Enterprise. A client’s diagnosis, discharge details, medications, and Medicare or Medicaid information can be protected health information, so choose Enterprise and sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) before the assistant collects them. Agencies on other plans should keep protected health information out of the assistant, for example by limiting it to job inquiries, service area questions, and office hours. ## How much does an AI receptionist for home health agencies cost? Home health agencies that handle protected health information with the assistant need Enterprise, which starts at $998 a month, can sign a BAA, and includes 100 AI assistants for branch offices. On other plans, starting with Pro at $98 a month, keep protected health information out of the assistant. Overnight and weekend calls draw on the same monthly credits as daytime calls, billed in whole minutes. ## Can families text the agency? Yes. Families can text your InsertChat number to ask about services, your service area, or an upcoming assessment, and the assistant replies from the same knowledge as your phone line. Photos sent by text go to a person on your team. A family member who asks for a callback gets a text or email confirming the request. ## Can it answer caregiver job inquiries? Yes, and your recruiters make the decisions. The assistant shares the openings, pay ranges, and requirements you publish, explains how to apply, and records the applicant’s name, location, and availability on a contact. Hiring decisions and background checks stay with your team. ## Will the number on our referral materials keep working? Yes, in the US and Canada. Forward that number to InsertChat, and a verification call confirms the forwarding works. Calls can ring your office first during business hours and go to the assistant after hours and on weekends. Outside the US and Canada, use a local or toll-free InsertChat number where one is available. ## Related features - [After-hours answering](https://insertchat.com/product/after-hours) - [AI receptionist](https://insertchat.com/product/phone) - [Shared inbox](https://insertchat.com/product/inbox) ## Broader industry - [Healthcare](https://insertchat.com/industries/healthcare): Answer the phone while your team is with patients.