The data: Healthcare calls are the single largest category of legitimate calls Americans dismiss as spam. Phone calls from doctors or medical providers account for 45% of the legitimate calls US adults miss after mistaking them for spam, according to a recent Cloaked survey.

Two-thirds (66%) of adults admit they have already ignored an important call because they assumed it was spam, and they have some anxiety about doing it again. Of these people, most are worried they might silence a call from a healthcare provider. Caregivers also expressed high levels of concern: 51% report constant worry about accidentally silencing a critical call compared with 42% of non-caregivers.

Why it matters: When provider calls are mistaken for spam, patients may miss important follow-up outreach related to appointments, test results, treatment updates, billing issues, and other time-sensitive information. Nearly nine in 10 physicians (87%) say follow-up calls improve patient outcomes, according to an October Sermo report. Physicians cited stronger patient trust (21%), higher patient satisfaction (21%), and better medication adherence (14%) as key benefits of follow-up.

Implications for healthcare systems and providers: Phone outreach remains the core method of patient communications, even as text and patient portals gain ground. The high-volume outbound calling that healthcare systems rely on is what trains people to treat unknown numbers as spam.

During appointments, providers should set expectations during appointments about when follow-up calls will arrive, and if possible, share the number they’ll be calling from. They can also implement text-and-call systems, asking patients and caregivers to opt in to text messages that alert them immediately before a call to assure them that the incoming number is legitimate.

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