What a physician's answering service costs
A doctor's office pays from the same rate cards as every other business. PATLive starts at $99 for 50 minutes, Posh at $65 plus $2.30 a minute, Abby Connect at $165 for 50 and Ruby at $250 for 50. None of them publishes a separate medical price list. We read each one on the vendor's own page in September 2026.
What changes for a practice is how fast the minutes go. A refill request is quick, but a new patient asking about insurance and availability can run six minutes or more. On a per-minute plan, those long first calls are the ones that cost you most, and they're also the calls you most want answered.
Published rate cards a practice is quoted from
| Service | Entry | At 500 minutes | Per minute past the plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| PATLive | $99 / 50 min | $759 | $2.29 falling to $1.49 |
| Posh | $65 / 0 min | $975 | $2.30 falling to $1.90 |
| Abby Connect | $165 / 50 Abby Minutes | $1,380 | Not published |
| Ruby | $250 / 50 min | $1,725 | Not published |
| GreetKeeper | $49 / 200 calls | Counts calls, not minutes | $0.45 per call on Starter |
Read on each vendor's own pricing page, September 2026. None of these prices is medical-specific; the vertical has no rate card of its own.
What makes a practice's phone bill different
- Long first calls. New-patient questions about insurance, referrals and the first opening run well past a quick reschedule, and a minute meter charges for every one.
- Urgent calls after hours. A caller who needs the on-call clinician has to reach them fast, so the routing rule matters as much as the rate.
- Seasonal spikes. A bad flu week is a busy phone week, and a minute bundle sized for an average month runs out.
- Rounding and notes. Live services round each call up to the minute and count the receptionist's after-call notes as billed time.
- Your own scope. Keep the answering service on enquiries and scheduling, and your clinical detail in your practice system.
Worked example
A family medicine practice takes 300 calls a month. About 250 are refills and appointment changes at two minutes each, and 50 are new patients at six minutes. That's 800 minutes.
PATLive
the $759 plan covers 500 minutes, then 300 at $1.79. $759 + $537 = $1,296. The $1,499 plan covers all 800.
Posh
the $975 Lavish plan covers 500 minutes, then 300 at $1.95. $975 + $585 = $1,560.
Ruby
the $1,725 plan covers 500 minutes, and the other 300 are billed at an overage rate Ruby's page doesn't print.
GreetKeeper
300 answered calls is Starter's 200 plus 100 at $0.45. $49 + $45 = $94.
The 50 new-patient calls use 300 of the practice's 800 minutes. Priced by the call, those same 50 calls cost what 50 refill calls do.
Where our own price sits
GreetKeeper is $49 for 200 answered calls, $149 for 750 and $349 for 2,000, with the overage rate printed on the pricing page. A six-minute new-patient call costs the same as a two-minute reschedule.
For a practice, GreetKeeper handles enquiries and scheduling: who called, why, and whether they're booked. Urgent callers are transferred to the number you choose, and the on-call person gets a text with the caller's details. Clinical records stay in your practice system. GreetKeeper does not make a HIPAA claim.
| Plan | Monthly | Calls included | After that |
|---|---|---|---|
| StarterFor a single location taking calls one line at a time. | $49 | 200 | $0.45 per call |
| ProfessionalBooking, routing and transfers included, not an add-on. | $149 | 750 | $0.35 per call |
| ScaleFor busy phones and longer opening hours. | $349 | 2,000 | $0.25 per call |
Pricing a practice line well
Split last month's calls into quick ones and new-patient ones, and time each group. That split decides your minute count.
Write the urgent-call rule before you compare prices: which symptoms go straight to a person, and to which number.
Price your worst week of the year as well as your average month.
Every competitor figure on this page was read on that vendor's own pricing page in September 2026. Prices change. Check before you buy.
Questions people ask
How much does a physician answering service cost?
From $99 a month for 50 minutes at PATLive to $250 for 50 at Ruby, read on each vendor's page in September 2026. A busy practice using 800 minutes pays $1,296 at PATLive and $1,560 at Posh. GreetKeeper counts calls instead: $49 covers 200.
Do medical answering services cost more than general ones?
Not on the rate card. The services above quote a practice from the same published tiers as everyone else. A practice pays more because its calls run longer, and that pushes it up the minute bundles faster.
Can an urgent call reach our on-call doctor straight away?
Yes. Set a transfer rule for callers describing urgent symptoms, and GreetKeeper puts them through to the number you choose. The on-call person also gets a text with the caller's details, and a missed transfer tries a second number.
Does an AI answering our practice's phone have to say it's an AI?
In Utah, yes. Its AI Policy Act requires regulated occupations, medicine included, to disclose clearly at the start of a spoken call. GreetKeeper's disclosure is a setting: with it on, every caller hears at the start that they're speaking with an AI.
Price the new-patient calls first
They're your longest calls and the ones you most want answered. Count them, then compare a minute meter with a per-call plan.