Kora, Cedar’s AI voice agent – now live with ApolloMD – enables Revenue Cycle teams to resolve billing inquiries instantly, reducing costs and manual workload for provider organizations
Cedar, the leading patient financial platform for healthcare providers, announced the launch of Kora, its AI voice agent, to automate patient billing calls at leading providers, such as ApolloMD. Developed in collaboration with Twilio, the solution is unique in that it’s trained on Cedar’s proprietary healthcare billing data, seamlessly merging advanced technology with deep healthcare expertise. Kora represents a major leap forward in delivering high-quality, efficient, and empathetic call resolution at scale.
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Kora is at the heart of Cedar’s modern solution for patient collections and call center operations. Available 24/7, the agent can autonomously resolve common billing inquiries on the first interaction, going beyond traditional IVR tools by clearly explaining charges, identifying payment options, and connecting patients with financial assistance. Kora understands natural language, identifies underlying issues, and responds conversationally, much like a human agent. It’s designed to be compliant from the ground up, including HIPAA privacy and security safeguards. The agent will be able to detect sentiment and tone, support multiple languages, and provide empathetic, real-time support without hold times, escalating to a live agent whenever necessary.
Cedar projects that Kora will automate 30% of inbound calls by the end of 2025, helping providers lower costs while allowing skilled operators to focus on complex interactions that benefit from a human touch.
“From spiraling costs and resource shortages to escalating patient expectations, clinicians are facing immense pressure from all directions,” said Dr. Yogin Patel, CEO of ApolloMD, a longstanding partner of Cedar. “The integrated voice agent is an incredible technology already creating a meaningful, measurable impact for our support staff and our patients. By providing fast, comprehensive responses without long wait times, Kora enables our teams to dedicate more time to complex patient needs. This powerful blend of efficiency and empathy is transforming the way we deliver care.”
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Kora addresses urgent challenges facing health systems: rising labor costs, staffing shortages, and pressure to improve patient experience while managing operational overhead. Purpose-built for healthcare billing, the agent leverages Cedar’s healthcare ecosystem and real-time data integrations to comprehensively and securely answer patient questions and offer personalized financial pathways. Kora will deliver intelligent outcomes and trust at every step while deflecting a significant portion of inbound calls, reducing the reliance on call center staff while improving access to customer support, particularly outside business hours.
“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.”
Kora runs on Twilio’s ConversationRelay service, which enables developers to create robust natural voice AI agents by seamlessly integrating real-time streaming, speech recognition, and interruption handling. And, because empathy is crucial in patient communications, Cedar selected a warm, natural-sounding voice for the agent, enabled by advanced speech synthesis technology.
“Conversational AI, especially when leveraging contextual data, is revolutionizing the way organizations and their end users can communicate across channels – making the experience better for all parties,” said Andy O’Dower, Vice President of Product Voice and Video at Twilio. “Cedar’s solution combines Twilio’s leading communications platform, data, and AI to enable providers to offer personalized, efficient, and empathetic patient experiences at scale.”
This launch of Kora reflects the next evolution in Cedar’s broader AI strategy to transform the patient financial experience through intelligent, action-oriented technology.
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Source – PR Newswire
