Patient inquiry triage in healthcare administration

PCF hierarchy	Element ID	Process
6.2.2	10388	Manage customer service problems, requests, and inquiries
6.2.2.1	10394	Receive customer problems, requests, and inquiries
6.2.2.2	13482	Analyze problems, requests, and inquiries
6.2.2.3	10395	Resolve customer problems, requests, and inquiries
6.2.2.4	10396	Respond to customer problems, requests, and inquiries

IDs are from the APQC PCF Cross-Industry v7.4. Check them against the current v8.0 at apqc.org/pcf.

Who does this work today

Occupation (SOC)	Median $/h	Mean $/h	O*NET core tasks
43-4171 Receptionists and Information Clerks	$19.54	$20.36	Operate telephone switchboard to answer, screen, or forward calls, providing information, taking messages, or scheduling appointments. Greet persons entering establishment, determine nature and purpose of visit, and direct or escort them to specific destinations. Receive payment and record receipts for services.
43-4051 Customer Service Representatives	$21.29	$21.61	Confer with customers by telephone or in person to provide information about products or services, take or enter orders, cancel accounts, or obtain details of complaints. Keep records of customer interactions or transactions, recording details of inquiries, complaints, or comments, as well as actions taken. Check to ensure that appropriate changes were made to resolve customers' problems.

BLS OEWS May 2025, NAICS 621000 Ambulatory Health Care Services, U.S. national. EU/CZ wages aren't included yet: Eurostat and Czech ISPV figures by occupation × industry need a separate licence and data check.

Worked scenario estimate

2500 tasks/month × 3 min × $19.54/h = $2,442.50 manual (wages only).
Agent: 2500 × ($0.48 model + $0.0000 infra) = $1,200.00, + review 25% × 1 min × $19.54/h = $203.54 → $1,403.54/month. Difference $1,038.96.

Calculator (prefilled)

FAQ

How much does patient inquiry triage cost to do manually in healthcare administration?

In the worked scenario (2500 tasks/month at 3 min each) at the BLS May 2025 median hourly wage of $19.54 for Receptionists and Information Clerks in NAICS 621000 (Ambulatory Health Care Services), the labour cost is $2,442.50/month. That is wages only: no benefits or overhead. Volumes and times are editorial estimates.

What would AI agents cost for the same work?

With Claude Sonnet 5.5 (XHigh) at $0.48/task (Zapier AutomationBench cost per task) plus infrastructure and human review of 25% of tasks, the scenario is $1,403.54/month. That excludes build, integration and platform fees.

How reliable is this estimate?

The wages are sourced (BLS). Task volumes, minutes per task and review rates are estimates, not measured data. Benchmark cost per task is a proxy from generic business tasks, not this exact process. Treat it as an order of magnitude.

Sources (retrieved 2026-10-16)

APQC’s Process Classification Framework® (PCF) is an open standard developed by APQC, a nonprofit that promotes benchmarking and best practices worldwide. The PCF is intended to facilitate organizational improvement through process management and benchmarking, regardless of industry, size, or geography. To download the full PCF or industry-specific versions of the PCF, as well as associated measures and benchmarking, please visit www.apqc.org/pcf.

This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Cost to Automate has modified all or some of this information (selected Core task statements only; text unchanged). USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

Wages: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025, national industry-specific estimates (public domain). Retrieved 2026-10-16.