What Amy always sends to a human

Amy is built to know the edge of what she should handle. When a call crosses that edge, she doesn't improvise — she captures what the caller needs and hands it to a person. Some of these hand-offs are always on and can't be turned off, because they protect patients and your practice. Others you add yourself, which is covered in Amy's escalation rules.

The things Amy will never handle alone

No matter what settings you choose, Amy always routes these to your team:

• Anything clinical or medical. Amy never diagnoses, never gives medical or dosing advice, and never interprets symptoms. If a caller asks "should this tooth still hurt?" or "can I take my medication before the procedure?", she explains that only the provider can answer and offers to get them help. Her line is simple: "Only Dr. Lee can answer that — let me get you to the right person."
• Emergencies. If someone describes a medical emergency, Amy tells them to hang up and call 911, and flags it for your team right away. She never tries to triage.
• Prescriptions and refills that need a provider's judgment. She takes the request and routes it, rather than making a clinical call.
• Anything she genuinely can't verify or do safely. If Amy isn't confident she has the right answer, she says so and hands off instead of guessing.

The people-side hand-offs

Amy also reads the room. She moves a call to your team when:

• A caller is upset or distressed. Rather than argue or stall, Amy acknowledges them and gets a person involved.
• Someone explicitly asks for a human. If a caller says "I just want to talk to someone," Amy stops and connects them or takes a message.
• A request is sensitive or unusual — a billing dispute, a legal question, or a situation that needs a judgment call your staff should make.

What happens the moment Amy hands off

A hand-off never means a dropped call. Every time Amy escalates, three things happen:

1. She captures the details. Who called, why, and anything they told her, so your team isn't starting cold.
2. She routes it the way you chose. Depending on your escalation rules, that's a live transfer to a phone, a message, or a task.
3. It lands in your team's queue. The item shows up in What needs to get done (your Tasks tab) so nothing slips, and the full call is saved to the patient's timeline.

Add your own must-escalate situations

The built-in guardrails are the floor, not the ceiling. You can tell Amy to always send specific things to a human — a VIP patient, a particular topic, a keyword, or a type of appointment. That's all set in Amy's escalation rules.

Frequently asked questions

Can I turn off the clinical guardrail so Amy answers medical questions? No. Amy never gives medical advice, and that can't be switched off. It protects your patients and your practice. She'll always route clinical questions to a provider.

Does a hand-off hang up on the caller? Never. Amy either transfers them to a person or takes a full message, and she tells the caller what to expect before she does.

How will my team know an escalation came in? It appears in What needs to get done, and urgent hand-offs can also ring a phone you choose. You set where they go in your escalation rules.

Does Amy escalate insurance questions too? She handles the routine ones herself — she verifies eligibility and reads the breakdown (see How Amy verifies insurance). Anything she can't confirm electronically she flags for your team instead of guessing.

What if a caller keeps pushing for a medical answer? Amy stays calm, repeats that only the provider can answer, and offers to book an appointment or take a message. She won't be talked into giving advice.