Find doctors accepting new patients with an AI call-around

By the CallForMe team at Great Work LLC · Updated Oct 7, 2026 · 4 min read

Short answer: Give your agent your zip, the kind of doctor, and your plan name exactly as it appears on your card. CallForMe calls several practices, asks which doctors are taking new patients, whether that plan is in network, and how soon a new patient visit is. You get one table and can book the best fit. Each answered call costs $1.

Finding a new primary care doctor or specialist is a search problem, and the search runs on phone calls. The online listings lag behind, so the only reliable answer to "are you taking new patients, and do you take my plan" comes from the front desk. That's the same two questions, asked of a lot of offices. Your agent can ask them all at once.

This page is about comparing practices. To book with one office you've already chosen, see book a visit with the doctor you picked.

What your agent does

1. call_around with the kind of practice and your zip finds the offices and calls them, 5 at a time.
2. Every office hears the same goal and the same questions, so the answers line up in one table.
3. Your agent reads the results with get_batch, then books the best one with a single place_call.

{
  "query": "family medicine",
  "near": "75024",
  "count": 6,
  "min_rating": 4,
  "goal": "Find out which doctors at the practice are accepting new adult patients and whether they are in network for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas Blue Choice PPO. Don't book anything.",
  "details": "New adult patient. Plan name on the card: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, Blue Choice PPO. Weekday mornings work best. Open to telehealth for follow-ups.",
  "questions": [
    "Which doctors are accepting new patients?",
    "Are they in network for Blue Choice PPO specifically, not just Blue Cross?",
    "How soon is the first new patient visit?",
    "Do they offer telehealth visits for established patients?"
  ],
  "on_behalf_of": "Maria Lopez",
  "callback_number": "+19725550142",
  "constraints": "Information only. Do not book or give a date of birth or member ID."
}

What plan_call will flag

plan_call reads the words in the goal and questions. A few behaviors to know before you send this:

• "Doctor" or "clinic" flags a date of birth (the medical category) and a date and time (the appointment category). For an information-only call-around you can skip both: the front desk doesn't need them to answer whether they take a plan. They are not blocking items.
• The word "insurance" adds two more flags: a member or policy number, and a tip to use transfer_to because "insurers verify the account holder." That tip is written for calls to the insurance company itself. A doctor's front desk answering "do you take this plan" doesn't verify you, so you can ignore it here. Writing "in network for" plus the plan name, as in the example above, avoids the flags entirely.

Questions worth asking

• Which doctors are taking new patients? (Panels close per doctor, not per practice.)
• Are you in network for this exact plan name, not only the carrier?
• How far out is the first new patient visit?
• Is there a waitlist or cancellation list for new patients?
• Do you need records from a previous doctor before the first visit?
• For HMO plans: can this doctor be listed as my primary care provider, and do specialists need a referral?

Example result

Illustrative example: names, prices and times are made up. Transcript excerpt:

Assistant: Hi, this is an AI assistant calling for Maria Lopez, on a recorded line. She's looking for a new primary care doctor and wanted to ask which of your doctors are taking new patients. Front desk: Dr. Okafor and our nurse practitioner are. Dr. Haines is full. Assistant: Thanks. Are you in network for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, Blue Choice PPO? Front desk: We take Blue Cross, let me check that plan... yes, Blue Choice PPO is in network. Assistant: And how soon is the first new patient visit with Dr. Okafor? Front desk: November 18th is the first one.

What your agent tells you:

Two practices sent the call to voicemail, which cost nothing. Your agent's summary: "Legacy Park is the safest pick: confirmed in network, and the nurse practitioner can see you October 29. Coit Road is sooner but couldn't confirm your plan; call your insurer to check before booking there."

What trips these calls up

• "We take Blue Cross." Carriers sell many networks, and a practice can be in one and out of another. The question has to name the plan the way your card does. If the front desk can't confirm it, treat it as unconfirmed and check with your insurer.
• Doctor by doctor panels. "We're accepting new patients" can mean only the newest doctor or a nurse practitioner. Asking which doctors gets the real answer.
• Phone trees in large groups. Hospital-owned practices often route through a central scheduling line. The assistant works the menu and waits on hold, which makes those calls run longer.
• Lunch closures. Many small offices close the phones over lunch. A batch started at noon gets more voicemail than one started at 9:30.

What it costs

Six practices, four answer, three calls under 5 minutes and one at 8 minutes on hold with central scheduling: $1 + $1 + $1 + $1.75 = $4.75. The two voicemails are free. The booking call afterward is usually one more $1.

Related

• Book a new patient appointment
• Call around: one goal, many businesses
• Call dentists
• Get on a dentist's cancellation list

Questions