With six acute care hospitals, a seventh currently under construction, and more than 200 ambulatory sites, Community Health Network (CHN), a prominent central Indiana healthcare provider, is redefining patient access. CHN drives health and wellness initiatives for residents across Indianapolis and its surrounding counties, serving as a primary provider for the region. Managing the health needs of such a large population requires a high-velocity communication strategy, and as the organization grew, it faced the challenge of scaling its operations to manage over 1.2 million calls annually in its physician practices.
For years, Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) provided a stable and reliable foundation for CHN’s communications. As the network evolved, the leadership team sought to build upon that strong base by embracing a cloud-first strategy. By transitioning to Webex Contact Center, a cloud contact center solution, CHN gained the added agility and scalability needed to streamline administrative workflows, allowing their staff to dedicate even more time and focus to what matters most: the patient.
Addressing the challenges of legacy technology
For CHN, the stakes of an underperforming contact center are high. When systems face downtime or inefficiencies, it directly impacts a caregiver’s ability to serve patients. Before the transformation, the network relied on traditional IVR systems that acted primarily as routing tools. Patients often found themselves waiting for live agents to handle routine tasks like appointment confirmations or cancellations, creating unnecessary friction.
“We were managing a massive volume of calls, and our legacy setup made it difficult to innovate,” said Shane Woolf, Lead Unified Communications Engineer at Community Health Network. “We needed a platform that could keep up with our growth and allow us to integrate modern tools, like AI, to better serve our patients.”
The organization also faced challenges in hardware fragmentation and the manual overhead required to maintain physical data centers. To achieve their goal of a fully modernized, cloud-integrated infrastructure, CHN turned to Webex.
Migrating to the cloud with Webex Contact Center
The decision to move to Webex Contact Center was driven by CHN’s long-standing partnership with Cisco and the need for a seamless, secure transition. By leveraging Cisco Webex Edge Connect, CHN was able to bridge its existing CUCM investments with the power of the cloud, ensuring a flexible migration path that didn’t disrupt patient care.
To ensure a smooth implementation, CHN partnered with Cisco and Cisco Partner Presidio to deploy an AI-integrated infrastructure. A key component of this project was the integration of Webex AI Agent directly with the clinic’s Epic electronic health record (EHR) system. Webex Contact Center’s integration with Epic creates a seamless bridge between clinical data and patient communication, allowing AI agents and live representatives to securely access real-time patient records during every interaction. By automating routine workflows like appointment scheduling and patient authentication, the integration eliminates manual data entry and ensures that agents receive a comprehensive “transfer summary” to prevent patients from having to repeat their information. Community Health Network’s AI agents now handle patient authentication and manage complex appointment workflows—including confirming, canceling, and rescheduling—end-to-end, without human intervention. This would not have been possible with their traditional chatbot.
“The integration with our EHR was a game-changer,” Woolf noted. “It allowed us to automate the mundane, repetitive tasks that were previously tying up our human agents, freeing them up to handle the more complex, high-touch interactions that require empathy and clinical judgment.”
Measurable improvements to patient experience
Since deploying Webex Contact Center, the results have been transformative. The organization has successfully shifted its operational model, achieving a 40% containment rate for appointment-related calls through Webex AI Agent. Furthermore, the system has achieved a 95% success rate in patient matching, ensuring that data accuracy remains a priority.
The impact on the workforce has been equally impressive. By reducing the volume of repetitive calls, CHN has seen a 15% reduction in agent attrition. Staff members are now empowered to focus on high-value interactions, and the platform’s ease of use has allowed the organization to scale rapidly. In fact, Community Health Network successfully onboarded 43 additional medical practices to the new infrastructure in just four weeks post-pilot.
The patient experience has also seen a significant boost, as CHN has leveraged Webex Contact Center’s integrated Webex Connect capabilities to provide proactive, real-time, two-way text messaging directly within the platform. This seamless digital outreach reduced the patient “did not attend” (DNA) rate from 12% to 6%. Furthermore, agents are now working more efficiently than ever; by utilizing the Webex app to pull in subject matter experts mid-call, they have reduced the time required to resolve complex issues by 35%.
Standardizing 200+ Sites on Webex
Community Health Network also recognized that its collaboration technology needed to evolve to match its mission-driven, patient-first approach. With approximately 20,000 devices—ranging from Cisco Phones and Cisco Room Devices to networking gear—CHN’s infrastructure was deeply invested in the Cisco ecosystem. However, the network needed to move toward a more unified, modern collaboration model that could support its hybrid workforce and provide a consistent, high-tech environment across all its locations.
To modernize its workplace, CHN leveraged the full Webex Suite, including Meetings, Messaging, and Webinars. By standardizing on Cisco collaboration hardware — including Cisco Room Kits, Room Bars, Room Navigators and Desk Series devices—across its network, they created a consistent environment for hybrid collaboration. Whether in a personal office with a Desk Pro or a large boardroom with a Room Bar, employees now experience a uniform “one-button-to-join” workflow that eliminates technical friction and allows staff to focus on patient care rather than troubleshooting.
The impact of this standardization has been particularly notable in clinical settings. Nurse practitioners now utilize Cisco Desk Minis to record patient interactions, which has significantly improved the accuracy of clinical documentation and streamlined follow-up processes. Furthermore, the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) team uses Webex Webinars integrated with Slido to host organizational initiatives, reaching a broad audience across the network and fostering a culture of transparency and engagement.
A commitment to continuous innovation
By moving away from fragmented, multi-vendor AV setups, CHN has successfully simplified its IT administration while elevating the overall user experience inside and outside the organization. This transition to a unified platform has not only reduced the operational burden on the IT department but also significantly increased user confidence, as employees no longer need to navigate disparate interfaces to share content or start a meeting. As Shane Woolf noted, “The newer solutions of Webex devices have allowed us to roll all of our management and usability for our conference rooms into one device rather than having multiple devices having to interop with everything. The feedback has been very positive; they don’t have to go to different places to do different things, or go to different screens to accomplish making a phone call versus just wanting to share their device on the screen.”
With this scalable, future-ready foundation now firmly in place, CHN is exceptionally well-positioned to support its ongoing organizational growth. By standardizing on the comprehensive Webex Suite—including Meetings, Messaging, and Webinars—alongside Webex Contact Center and Webex Connect, the network has created a cohesive ecosystem that bridges clinical and administrative workflows. This foundation is already driving results, with roadmap plans to further expand AI capabilities into insurance verification, pre-registration, prescription refills, and “Find-a-Doc” dynamic provider matching. By prioritizing a consistent, high-quality collaboration experience, CHN ensures that its caregivers and administrative teams remain seamlessly connected, highly productive, and fully empowered to deliver the best possible care to the communities they serve.
Today, Community Health Network stands as a benchmark for how healthcare systems can leverage AI and cloud collaboration to elevate both the employee and the patient experience. This commitment to continuous innovation—spanning hardware, software, and intelligent patient engagement—ensures that CHN’s technology infrastructure remains as forward-thinking as the care they provide. By integrating these powerful tools into a single, cohesive strategy, CHN is setting the stage for even greater operational efficiency and improved health outcomes in the years to come.
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