ClinicFlow
What this is
Most data on missed and after-hours calls in healthcare is generic call-center benchmarking, not specific to orthopedic and surgical practices. The Orthopedic After-Hours Index is ClinicFlow's attempt to close that gap with first-party data: calling the publicly listed after-hours line of a defined set of independent and mid-size orthopedic and surgical practices and recording, plainly, what actually happens when the phone rings after the front desk has gone home.
This is designed as an annual study, not a one-time report. The intent is for this page to be the permanent home of the Index: each year's edition replaces the findings below, the methodology stays consistent enough to compare year over year, and the URL never changes, so a citation to the 2026 edition still resolves correctly when the 2027 edition is published.
Current status: 2026 edition
ClinicFlow is in the process of calling a defined set of independent and mid-size orthopedic and surgical practices after standard business hours, using a consistent, disclosed methodology, to measure how those calls are actually handled: answered live, routed to an answering service, sent to voicemail, or unanswered entirely.
The full methodology for this study, including what is and is not recorded, is documented on a separate page: Methodology: The Orthopedic After-Hours Phone Audit. No patient data or protected health information is collected at any point in this study.
Findings from the 2026 edition have not yet been published. They will appear directly on this page, with a link to a companion write-up, once data collection and internal review are complete.
What's already known about the problem
While ClinicFlow's own first-party findings are still being finalized, the general scale of the problem is already documented in published industry benchmarking:
Industry call-center benchmarks generally indicate that 20–35% of calls are missed during business hours at a typical medical practice, and that figure climbs toward nearly 100% after hours at practices without dedicated after-hours coverage. After-hours call volume itself commonly represents a third or more of a practice's total monthly call volume.
Cited as general industry benchmarking, not a ClinicFlow-specific finding. See the study methodology page for how the Index's own first-party data will be measured and reported once published.The Index exists because no comparable, disclosed, first-party dataset previously existed specifically for independent and mid-size orthopedic and surgical practices, tested directly on their own published phone lines, rather than inferred from general call-center statistics.
Get notified when the 2026 findings publish
Leave your email and we'll send you the full 2026 edition the day it publishes, plus the methodology and underlying data summary.
For journalists and researchers
Citing this page
This URL (clinicflowai.com/after-hours-index) is the permanent, stable home of the Index. Please cite this page directly rather than a specific findings post, since findings will be updated here annually.
Requesting the underlying data
For questions about methodology, or to request additional detail beyond what's published, contact management@clinicflowai.com.
Want to know how your own practice's after-hours line performs?
ClinicFlow offers a free, no-obligation after-hours phone audit for individual practices, separate from this industry-wide Index.