How Raleigh Ophthalmology Boosted Productivity by 108% and Captured $129K in Extra Monthly Revenue with Promptly
Meet the practice
For high-volume, multi-specialty practices, the referral pipeline is the lifeblood of growth. But when that pipeline relies on manual data entry, scattered faxes, and disjointed scheduling systems, it inevitably creates a bottleneck. Patients face delayed outreach, staff burn out on tedious administrative tasks, and practices leave significant revenue on the table.
Raleigh Ophthalmology, a premier 10-physician multi-specialty practice and EyeSouth partner with four locations across North Carolina, knew this bottleneck all too well. Founded in 1972, the practice has a rich 50-plus-year history of providing continuous, unsurpassed eye care to the Raleigh community. However, preserving that legacy of rapid, patient-first care required an operational overhaul. Processing an estimated 1,200 to 1,300 referrals a month, their dedicated team of three full-time staff was operating at maximum capacity.
As a Promptly client since 2022, Raleigh Ophthalmology was already familiar with leveraging technology to improve the patient experience, actively using the full suite of Promptly tools including Payments, Branded Calling, IVR, Real-Time Eligibility Checks, and Reputation Management. By taking the next step to recently implement Promptly’s Referral Portal and AI Fax capabilities, they completely transformed their intake operations, driving a 108% increase in staff productivity, processing 600 additional patients a month, and unlocking $129,000 in extra monthly revenue.
The Challenge: Drowning in Manual Data Entry
Before adding AI Fax to their existing Promptly integration, managing traditional faxed referrals at Raleigh Ophthalmology was still a labor-intensive web of paper faxes, shared email inboxes, and manual entry into their practice management system.
Staff had to manually separate multi-page faxes, input patient data, and manage temporary "placeholder schedules" to initiate automated patient messaging. Because documents were scattered, remote team members struggled with accessibility, and phone hub staff faced software delays when trying to load patient documents during live calls.
Most critically, the administrative burden meant patients weren't being contacted as quickly as possible. "We know that previously we were losing patients because we were not reaching out to them quickly enough. They were going elsewhere," noted Shelley Averette, Practice Administrator at Raleigh Ophthalmology.
The Solution: Intelligent Automation and Centralization
When Raleigh Ophthalmology integrated the Promptly Referral Portal and the AI Fax tool, the goal was simple: eliminate manual entry and centralize the referral process. The Promptly platform immediately began paying dividends by automating the heaviest administrative lifts:
Smart Document Processing:
AI Fax effortlessly separated complex multi-patient faxes and accurately read handwritten notes via OCR from physical referral pads, completely eliminating the need to print and rescan documents.
Centralized Medical Records:
Triage reports, prescription refills, and referral notes were centralized into one easily accessible portal connected to the practice management system, allowing doctors to review charts faster and enabling remote staff to work seamlessly.
The 80/20 Automation Rule:
By enabling auto-approval for appointment linking, the practice automated the routine 80% of referrals, leaving staff to manually intervene only for the 20% of complex, multi-specialty cases.
Measurable Business Impact
The operational and financial metrics following the Promptly implementation speak for themselves.
Unprecedented Throughput and Revenue Gains
By removing the manual entry bottleneck, Raleigh Ophthalmology's monthly referral volume surged by 38%, jumping from 1,200 to an average of 1,700–1,900 referrals per month. By calculating the 600 more patients processed multiplied by $215 (Google's average Ophthalmology Encounter Value), the practice yields a concrete $129,000 per month in extra revenue. The practice is now confidently sustaining a highly competitive 30% new patient ratio.
Staffing Efficiency and Reallocation
The AI Fax tool brought such immense operational leverage that when one of the three full-time referral coordinators left the practice, Raleigh Ophthalmology didn't need to backfill the role. Instead, they reduced dedicated headcount by 33%, operating with just two full-time staff members whose individual productivity skyrocketed by over 108%. The saved labor resources were successfully reallocated to support complex surgery scheduling.
Empowering External Providers and Internal Teams
Technology should bridge the gap between referring providers and specialists. With Promptly, Raleigh Ophthalmology successfully transitioned their network to a self-service model. Today, an impressive 80% of referring providers utilizing the portal book appointments directly while the patient is still in their office.
Internally, the phone hub has seen massive efficiency gains. Because referral visibility is integrated directly into their workflow, staff no longer face long software loading times, allowing them to schedule new patients swiftly and accurately. Freed from data entry, the referral team now actively focuses on high-value patient engagement, co-management, and compliance—personally reaching out to fill available schedule gaps.
A Partnership Built for Growth
For Raleigh Ophthalmology, adopting Promptly wasn't just a software upgrade; it was an extension of a partnership that began in 2022. By expanding their use of the full Promptly patient experience suite to include the Referral Portal and AI Fax, Raleigh Ophthalmology has proven that modernizing the administrative backend directly elevates patient access, honors their 50-year legacy of quality care, and significantly boosts the bottom line.
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