A considered decision with a short follow-up window
Nobody books refractive surgery on a whim. Prospects read, compare practices, and sit on the decision for weeks. But when they finally want to ask a question, they want it answered now, and that moment tends to arrive in the evening, on a weekend, or during your coordinator's busiest hour.
Your patient coordinator is often in a pre-operative visit, walking someone through paperwork, or on another line. The phone rings out. Some callers leave a message. Others simply call the next practice on their list.
An AI chatbot on your website and an AI receptionist on your phone line do not replace your coordinator or your surgeons. They cover the gap between "someone reached out" and "someone on your team called back."
What the chatbot does on your website
Anchor Co AI trains a chatbot on your own website. It answers from the pages you have already written, so it only repeats what your practice has said. When it is unsure, it says so and takes a message instead of guessing.
For a LASIK or refractive surgery clinic, that usually means a chat that can help with:
- How the consultation works. If your site describes what happens at the first visit, how long it takes and what to bring, the chat can walk a visitor through it in plain language.
- Preparing for the visit. If you publish guidance such as when to stop wearing contact lenses before an evaluation, the chat repeats your wording.
- Where you are and when to reach you. Locations, hours and how to request a consultation callback.
- Financing, as published. If your website lists payment options or financing partners, the chat shares that. If it does not, the chat says it cannot confirm and takes a message for your team.
- Who the surgeons are. Biographies and credentials that already appear on your site.
A visitor who asks "am I a good candidate?" gets an honest answer: that only the surgeon can determine that after an examination, and that the next step is to request a consultation.
What the AI receptionist does on the phone
The Front Office plan adds an AI phone receptionist. When your coordinator is busy or the office is closed, the receptionist answers missed and overflow calls, tells the caller it is an AI, and collects their name, number and reason for calling. A summary is emailed to you.
Your coordinator opens the email in the morning, sees who called and why, and returns the call. The first conversation then starts from the facts, not from a blank voicemail.
What it will not do
This section matters more for a surgical practice than anything else here, so we state it plainly.
- It does not collect or handle patient health information. It is not the place for histories, prescriptions, or anything clinical.
- It gives no medical advice. It does not decide candidacy, interpret symptoms, or recommend a procedure.
- It makes no promises about outcomes. It does not guarantee results and does not compare surgeons or practices.
- It is not HIPAA-compliant, and we do not sign BAAs. Treat it as a tool for general website questions and callback requests, not for protected health information.
- It is not for emergencies. Anyone describing an urgent eye problem is told to call 911 or seek emergency care.
If you need a system that handles patient records or signs a BAA, this is not that system, and we would rather say so now.
Objections we hear
"Callers want a person." Many do, and they get one. The receptionist exists to answer quickly, set expectations, and get the details to your team so the callback is faster. It says it is an AI.
"Our consultation process is nuanced." Then your website should say what you want prospects to hear, and the chat will repeat it. The chat adds no claims of its own.
"We already use a call center." Many practices do. The difference is cost and where the information goes: Front Office is month to month, with no overage fees on its 300 answered phone minutes, and the details come to you as an email.
What it costs
Anchor Co AI is free to start: 1 bot and 20 messages a month. Starter is $29 a month for 2 bots and 1,000 messages a month. Growth is $49 a month for 5 bots and 5,000 messages a month.
Front Office adds a website, the AI chat and the AI phone receptionist. It is $297 one-time setup and then $249 a month, with 300 answered phone minutes included and no overage fees. It is month to month with no contract. There are no partial-month refunds, so if you cancel, you cancel for the following month.
We do not promise leads, bookings or revenue. The chat and receptionist can answer and capture details. What the clinic does with the callback is up to you.
Setting it up
You give us your website. The chatbot reads it and answers from it, so the quality of the answers depends on the quality of your pages.
Before you turn anything on, check that your site clearly covers the basics: what happens at a consultation, how long it takes, where you are, how to request a callback, and any financing information you want shared. These are the pages the chat leans on most. If your site is thin on any of them, fix that first, since the chat can only repeat what it can read.
Then test it the way a prospect would. Ask it the five questions your front desk hears most. Ask it whether someone is a candidate and confirm that it defers to the surgeon. Ask it something your site does not cover and confirm that it says so and takes a message.