Compassus Cuts Home Health Intake Time From an Hour to 10 Minutes With AI
Compassus, a Tennessee-based home health and hospice provider, has deployed an AI platform that processes patient referrals in under 10 minutes - down from roughly an hour of manual work. The tool consolidates referrals from faxes, emails and disconnected platforms into a single system, then automatically checks eligibility factors like zip code and insurance coverage.
The company built the platform with an AI developer and began rolling it out across its organization after a pilot program in early 2026. Evan Kramer, senior vice president of innovation and operational excellence at Compassus, said the system addresses a critical problem in home health: accepting referrals only to discover later that patients fall outside the service area.
"We're seeing the number of missed referrals drop down quite a bit in our pilot markets," Kramer said. In those markets, missed referrals fell by about 22%, and timely care initiation increased by roughly 6%.
How the system works
The AI platform monitors all referral sources and compiles them into one location, eliminating the need for staff to check 10 different channels. AI agents then review 60 to 80 pages of referral documents simultaneously, performing eligibility checks that would otherwise require an hour of administrative work.
A workflow tool coordinates other intake tasks. Hospital systems benefit from faster and more reliable responses - patients no longer sit in hospitals waiting for home health agencies to verify capacity.
About 80% of users reported high satisfaction with the intake tool.
Shifting work to higher-value tasks
Much of the manual intake work fell to clinicians doing data entry and zip code verification - tasks below their skill level. The AI system frees these staff members to spend more time on patient care and clinical work.
"Our nurses are able to spend more time with patients than they were before because they have less of a documentation burden," Kramer said. "We're capturing more referrals than we were before."
The time savings also represent a growth opportunity. Compassus operates more than 300 programs across the country and employs over 10,000 people.
The development approach
Building the platform required integrating with each referral source - from fax systems to email portals - and connecting everything to the electronic medical record system. The development process was iterative, with the team planning for rapid refinement based on user feedback.
Work began in summer 2025. Over three months, the team made 25 to 30 enhancements, including a mobile application for the growth team. Kramer said no comparable tool exists on the market and that existing intake products lack enterprise-scale capability.
What's next
Compassus has mapped out an AI roadmap through the end of 2027 focused on administrative tasks. Beyond intake, the company is exploring AI agents and automation in scheduling and patient engagement.
"There are all of these things that the whole industry can be moving towards, and I think we're very early in that journey right now," Kramer said.
For healthcare professionals managing operations or considering AI for healthcare, Compassus's approach demonstrates how automation can reduce administrative burden while improving patient outcomes and staff satisfaction.
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