EliseAI partners with Nextech to embed voice AI in specialty clinics
EliseAI, a New York-based AI automation company, has been named co-development partner for patient access by Nextech, a practice management and electronic health record (EHR) software provider serving ophthalmology, dermatology, orthopaedics, and related specialties. The partnership deepens an existing commercial relationship: EliseAI's voice agents were already handling inbound patient calls within the Nextech environment before the formal arrangement was announced.
Under the new agreement, the two companies are building enhanced API integrations that allow EliseAI's agents to read and write directly into the Nextech platform. The goal is to allow specialty practices to reduce no-show rates, eliminate abandoned calls, and free clinical staff from routine front-desk work without adding operational complexity.
What the technology does
EliseAI positions its platform as a continuous, end-to-end patient engagement layer rather than a collection of single-task tools. Its voice agents handle scheduling, rescheduling, cancellations, intake forms, benefits verification, payment, and follow-up recall in more than 30 languages, around the clock. Each agent retains a full conversation history so patients are not required to repeat information across interactions.
The company cited outcome data from existing specialty-practice customers: on average, 12% more patients booked, 8% fewer no-shows, and more than 40% of lapsed patients reached through recall outreach going on to book an appointment. A referral automation product, launched more recently, converts incoming faxes into scheduled appointments within minutes.
Minna Song, co-founder and chief executive of EliseAI, said the company's agents handle more than 20 million conversations per month across thousands of providers. "That volume is why we handle the complexity of healthcare calls better than anyone, whether it's a glaucoma patient on a multi-visit monitoring schedule or a post-op cataract patient with urgent symptoms," she said.
John Beck, SVP of Strategy at Nextech, framed the partnership as part of a broader ambition to build a connected ecosystem for specialty practices, noting that customers want to grow access and reduce front-desk burden without adding complexity.
Market context and competitive landscape
The front-office automation market for ambulatory and specialty healthcare has grown substantially over the past three years, driven by persistent staffing shortages and patient expectations shaped by consumer-grade digital experiences. EliseAI competes in a segment that now includes purpose-built healthcare AI vendors as well as general-purpose conversational AI platforms being adapted for clinical workflows. Differentiators typically centre on depth of EHR integration, accuracy in navigating insurance and scheduling logic, and the ability to operate across multilingual patient populations.
Nextech's decision to formalise a co-development arrangement, rather than simply listing EliseAI as a marketplace integration, signals a move toward tighter platform consolidation. For specialty groups already running on Nextech, the key commercial proposition is a single-vendor onboarding path and a unified support model, which reduces the integration burden that has historically slowed AI adoption in smaller practice environments.
EliseAI disclosed it crossed $200 million in annual recurring revenue in 2026, representing its fifth consecutive year of 100% year-on-year growth. Both companies were due to appear at the American Academy of Ophthalmology Annual Meeting in New Orleans shortly after the announcement, where the partnership is likely to receive further exposure among potential customers in the ophthalmology segment.