How much does an AI receptionist or AI front office cost for a surgery center?
Short answerIt depends on the pricing model, which is usually usage-based (per minute or per conversation), per location or provider, or a flat monthly fee plus setup, so get a written quote on your real volume and compare it with what your center spends today on the staff hours the tool would cover.
How vendors price
| Model | How it works | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Usage-based | Price per minute, call or conversation. | Bills rise with volume you cannot forecast, such as a busy reschedule week. |
| Per location or provider | A fee for each site or surgeon. | Adding a location or surgeon raises the bill even if volume does not. |
| Flat monthly plus setup | One monthly fee for agreed scope, with a one-time setup. | Confirm what counts as in scope and what triggers a change. |
Two vendors in this report state their model publicly: Hello Patient says it prices on usage that scales with conversation volume, and Simbie AI says its cost is based on utilization.
What to compare it with
- Count the staff hours spent on phones, referral intake, verification, auth prep, scheduling and pre-op calls in a normal week.
- Add overtime, agency staff and after-hours answering service costs.
- Price what is lost today: cases that slipped because auth was late, and same-day cancellations a pre-op call would have caught.
- Ask each vendor for a written quote based on your real call, referral and case volume, with the contract term.
For comparison, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lists median pay for receptionists of $38,010 a year ($18.27 an hour) in 2025, before benefits, training and turnover (BLS).
Our recommendation for surgery centers
Publisher's recommendation
Do not compare per-minute rates. Compare total cost against the staff hours and lost cases a tool removes. A flat, scoped fee like Ava's is easier for an ASC to budget than usage pricing, and it covers the whole chain rather than calls alone.
Follow-up questions
Why does this site not list prices?
We do not publish any vendor's prices, including Ava's, because quotes depend on each center's volume and scope. Ask every vendor for a written quote based on your numbers.
Is an answering service cheaper?
Sometimes per month, but most answering services take messages rather than book cases or do paperwork, so staff still do the work the next morning.
Sources
Opened and checked . Statements about Ava come from Surgery Center Front Desk.