How a Pharmacy Went From First Call to 5 Automated Workflows, Each Faster Than the Last
How TJM Labs Voice AI went live at a fast-growing nationwide compounding pharmacy in about two weeks, then added each new call workflow faster than the last, until it was handling over 70% of total call volume without adding headcount.
Results at a glance
Growing faster than they could hire
Demand surged at this fast-growing nationwide compounding pharmacy, and the team was hiring as fast as they could, but they still could not keep pace. The phones were the bottleneck:
- Staff spent entire days fielding calls, unable to help with processing or filling
- Patients waited on hold, or went unanswered
- Every new hire meant weeks of onboarding and months of reinforcement
- A single workflow change meant retraining the entire team
- Calls interrupted compounding work constantly
At a pharmacy conference, the executive team saw a live TJM Labs Voice AI demo and chose it for a few reasons: the team understood both pharmacy operations and AI, the platform integrated directly with their pharmacy management system, and the conversation sounded natural.
"I listened to a recording and could tell right away: OK, that sounds real. The response time wasn't five minutes of silence wondering if I got hung up on. And the team behind it clearly understood pharmacy. If the people building it know what they're talking about, the AI is going to know what it's talking about."
Assistant Office Manager
One call type at a time, live in weeks
Implementation followed a building-blocks approach, one workflow at a time:
- First workflow, inbound refills: about 2 weeks from completing scoping to going live. TJM Labs mapped the pharmacy’s processes, tested after hours to avoid disruption, and launched.
- Second workflow: about 1 week, building on what the agent learned from the first, with adjustments for the new call type.
- Subsequent workflows: some launched in days. Pickup reminders, prescription clarification, each built on what the Voice AI agent already knew.
- Today: multiple call types automated across inbound and outbound, handling over 70% of the pharmacy’s total call volume.
Because the Voice AI agent already understands how a pharmacy operates, including typical prescription processing and the scenarios that come up, the pharmacy did not have to spend time on basic onboarding, and each new workflow went live faster than the one before it.
"It takes a meeting or two for us to go through what we're going to do. We test it, and you test a lot after hours, so it doesn't impact us. We've been able to build off each previous workflow we've done, and that has been really great, because I don't have to sit there and explain the same thing 800 times."
Assistant Office Manager
The business impact
Results
| Total call volume handled by the agent | 70%+ |
| First workflow, scoping to live | ~2 weeks |
| Each additional workflow | A week, then days |
| Additional hires despite growth | Zero |
Speed to competency
The Voice AI agent reached competency on the first call type in about two weeks, versus the one to two months it takes a new hire to get there. When a workflow changes, it is updated once in the system rather than retrained across the whole staff, and execution stays consistent every time, with no ongoing retraining.
Staff redeployed from phones to higher-value work
With the agent handling over 70% of monthly call volume, team members moved off phone duty and onto filling, processing, and patient-facing work. The pharmacy kept growing without adding headcount just to answer the phones.
A true operating partner
Before automating a workflow, the TJM Labs team flagged inefficiencies and suggested improvements. The pharmacy streamlined its internal processes as a result, with benefits well beyond the automated calls.
"Even outside of the AI, your input into our workflow helped us independently. It was like a free consult on workflow. We always say this was one of the best decisions we've made, one of our best vendors, one of our best partners."
Assistant Office Manager
Why this matters
Most pharmacies hesitate on AI because they picture a long, painful implementation. But when the platform already understands pharmacy operations and integrates directly with your management system, the learning curve compresses fast. Unlike a new hire, each new workflow builds on the last, so the pharmacy gets faster at expanding automation, not slower.
The first workflow took weeks. The next took one. After that, days. That is what it looks like when a tool learns your pharmacy instead of making you start over every time.
Want automation that gets faster the more you use it?
See how TJM Labs Voice AI goes live on your existing phone system and PMS, one workflow at a time, and takes on more of your call volume without adding headcount.
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