HIT Consultant January 7, 2026
For all the hype about AI “replacing therapists,” the more immediate and profound shift is happening somewhere far less glamorous: the intake process.
Across health systems, primary care physicians, insurers, and community providers are still funnelling patients into behavioural health through faxed referrals, phone tag, and unstructured web forms. Patients finally find the courage to ask for help, then hit voicemail, long waits, and confusing eligibility rules. In many organisations, no one can even answer a basic question: “How many people quietly give up before their first appointment?”
Generative AI and conversational interfaces will not solve the workforce shortage in mental health. But they are about to rewrite the front door: how demand is captured, triaged, and matched to scarce...
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