Kirby Medical Center Partners with Switchboard, MD to Automate Patient Communication Workflows

ATLANTA, Dec. 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Switchboard, MD is proud to announce a new enterprise partnership with Kirby Medical Center, a nationally-recognized critical access hospital based in Piatt County, Illinois. The organization selected Switchboard, MD to preserve and strengthen its service standards for care delivery and help advance the vision for greater access to care, operational excellence, and care coordination.

“In the critical access hospital world, teams are accustomed to wearing many hats,” explained Mark Fred, RN, BSN, MCP, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Information Officer of Kirby Medical Center. “Switchboard, MD will enable us to reduce unnecessary administrative burden while preserving the level of care our patients deserve. This partnership will help ensure that our patient communications and EHR work as hard as our talented people do.”

Earlier this year, Kirby engaged Switchboard, MD’s Contact Center solution in a focused assessment centered on prescription refill intake. By routing recorded calls to an AI voice agent, the team evaluated how transcription, classification, and sentiment analysis could reduce manual effort and streamline communication. The assessment highlighted opportunities to shorten response times, reduce repeat calls, and surface clinical urgency.

Under this partnership, Kirby Medical Center will deploy Switchboard, MD’s platform to streamline patient communication and improve access to care. The solution includes conversational AI and multi-agent orchestration to guide callers, route requests, and support self-service for routine needs such as scheduling. Additional functionality, including autonomous scheduling for high-volume visit types, appointment reminders and confirmations, and wayfinding assistance, will extend automation across workflows while preserving Kirby’s standard of care.

Kirby’s selection of Switchboard, MD reflects its longstanding commitment to protecting the extraordinary patient experience that has earned the organization repeated national recognition, including multiple Press Ganey Guardian of Excellence Awards, a Top 20 Critical Access Hospital-Patient Satisfaction distinction from the National Rural Health Association, and a recognition by Modern Healthcare as one of the Best Places to Work in Healthcare.

“The past several months collaborating with Kirby have shown us how extraordinary their team truly is,” said Ankit Tiwari, Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer of Switchboard, MD. “Their deep sense of mission and commitment to patients make this partnership especially meaningful.”

As the program expands, the partnership will focus on improving throughput, unlocking staff capacity, and building sustainable automation that supports Kirby’s mission while keeping patient experience front and center.

About Kirby Medical Center
Kirby Medical Center is an independent, not-for-profit hospital located in Monticello, Illinois, that has been serving the healthcare needs of Piatt County and surrounding areas since 1941. They are committed and proud to provide high-quality, compassionate healthcare services to all people in need.

About Switchboard, MD
Switchboard, MD is a physician-led artificial intelligence and data science company with a mission to prioritize the human connection in medicine. Its HIPAA-compliant, SOC 2 Type 2-certified platform improves patient engagement and outcomes, while reducing inefficiency and burnout.

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SOURCE Switchboard, MD