Hey there, Chris here founder of Aeva.
There’s one particular question that comes up again and again when I speak with clinic owners.
It usually appears somewhere towards the end of the conversation once they’ve understood how Aeva works.
They pause for a second and ask:
“Should I actually tell my patients it’s an AI receptionist?”
It’s a fair question.
A lot of people assume the best approach is to keep it quiet. Let patients believe they’re speaking with a human receptionist. Almost like the AI is operating behind a curtain.
But after more than 260,000 calls handled by Aeva, we’ve learnt something very clear.
You should tell them.
And surprisingly, it actually makes the experience better.
Why it works
When patients know they’re speaking with an AI assistant, expectations are set immediately. The interaction feels clearer. People are more direct about what they need. The conversation flows better.
But the most interesting thing is what often happens next.
Even when patients know it’s AI… they still walk away thinking it felt incredibly human.
One of our customers, Scott, a physio clinic owner from Australia, told me a story a couple of days ago that perfectly sums this up.
One of his patients was running late to her appointment. She was in the car and quickly called the clinic to let them know she’d be about ten minutes behind schedule.
The call was answered by the clinic’s receptionist, Aeva AI.
Aeva introduced herself as AI, but the patient must have missed it.
She left a message explaining the situation and carried on driving.
Later when she arrived at the clinic she asked the owner,
“Did you get my message? I called earlier because I’m running late.”
He told her yes, the message came through.
Then she added something interesting.
“Your receptionist was extremely friendly and professional by the way.”
Scott smiled.
And said, “That’s great to hear… but just so you know, that was actually AI.”
She stopped for a second.
“Wait… really?”
Completely blown away.
This moment happens far more often than you might think.
People expect AI on the phone to feel robotic, awkward, or frustrating. We’ve all experienced those terrible automated systems that make you press numbers and repeat yourself five times.
That’s the mental model people walk in with.
So when they have a conversation that actually flows naturally… where they’re understood, helped quickly, and treated politely… it breaks that expectation.
And suddenly AI doesn’t feel like technology anymore.
It just feels like good service.
The real goal of AI reception
That’s something we think about a lot while building Aeva.
The goal isn’t to trick anyone into believing they’re speaking with a human.
The goal is something much simpler.
Every single call that comes into your clinic should be answered.
Every patient should feel listened to.
And no one should be sent to voicemail when they need help.
Clinics miss calls for completely understandable reasons. Reception teams are busy. Patients are checking in. Phones ring while staff are already on another call.
But from the patient’s perspective, that missed call can feel like the clinic simply isn’t available.
Anyway, that’s a little behind-the-scenes insight from this week.
And if you’ve been wondering whether you should tell patients it’s AI or not human…
The answer is yes.
Every call counts,
Chris Baxter
founder, Aeva AI Receptionist for healthcare
P.S. If you’ve got a fun story about your AI receptionist, I’d love to hear about it. Hit reply below.
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