Was kostet das wirklich, und welche versteckten Kosten gibt es?

Drei Festpakete: Starter 140 €, Classic 225 € und Professional 385 € pro Monat (zzgl. MwSt.). Einmalig 89 € Implementierungsgebühr. Mindestlaufzeit 3 Monate, danach Verlängerung um jeweils 12 Monate, Kündigungsfrist 30 Tage vor Ablauf.

Wer haftet, wenn die KI eine falsche Auskunft gibt?

Wir bauen unsere Systeme so, dass sie eher zugeben, etwas nicht zu wissen, als zu erfinden. Wenn eine Frage zu wichtig wird, eskaliert das System an einen Menschen in Ihrem Haus. Wir nehmen Verantwortung vertraglich und technisch in der Bauweise verankert.

Wie lange dauert die Implementierung?

In der Regel zwei bis vier Wochen vom Vertragsschluss bis Live-Gang. Aufwand auf Ihrer Seite: ein Termin mit Ihrer Telefonanlage, ein bis zwei Sessions mit dem Team und ein kurzer Testlauf.

Was passiert mit unseren Mitarbeitenden, sparen wir Stellen ein?

Die meisten unserer Kunden sparen keine Stellen ein. Sie schaffen Luft. Wenn das Telefon ruhiger wird, hat Ihr Team mehr Kapazität für die Menschen vor Ort. Wir verkaufen keine Personalreduktion.

Bekommen wir Auswertungen?

Ja. Monatlich, auf Wunsch in Echtzeit: Anzahl Anrufe, Eskalationsquote, häufige Themen, Gesprächsdauer, Anteil erfolgreich abgewickelter Anliegen. Nicht zur Überwachung des Teams, sondern zum Verstehen, wo Ihr Haus Zeit verliert.

Können wir leicht wieder kündigen?

Mindestlaufzeit 3 Monate, danach Verlängerung um jeweils 12 Monate, Kündigungsfrist 30 Tage vor Ablauf. Wir geben Konfiguration und Daten in offener Form zurück.

Können wir mit mehreren Standorten oder als Verbund einsteigen?

Ja. Die drei Festpakete gelten für einzelne Apotheken, Praxen und MVZ. Für mehrere Standorte gibt es ein individuelles Paket mit einem Vertrag, zentraler Auswertung und einheitlichem Roll-out.

Wie passt das zu unseren bestehenden Systemen?

Häufig direkt. Standardanbindungen an die gängigen Praxis-Verwaltungssysteme und Apotheken-Warenwirtschaft. Wo etwas Neues nötig ist, prüfen wir das im Vorgespräch und kalkulieren transparent.

Ella Healthcare · AI phone assistant for pharmacies, practices, MVZ and clinics

For your industry

What Ella takes
off your hands.

How it works

From the call
to the dashboard.

1

Ready to go in a few days

You decide what your phone assistant is allowed to do and say. Then you point your phone system to forward calls to your Ella number, and you are live. No expensive IT project, no switching systems.

2

Ella answers and responds

In over 20 languages, around the clock. Drawing on your one-time initial setup and any connected systems, Ella typically handles around 60 % of all enquiries in full, on the spot.

3

Everything lands in the dashboard

Every request is captured cleanly, contact details included. In the dashboard you filter freely for whatever can be dealt with right now.

4

Your team works through it at its own pace

Your team decides what to handle when: complex requests when there is time for them, urgent ones in a quick break.

Staff member sees with satisfaction on the Ella dashboard that all requests are sorted — Your team stays on top of everything: every request in one place, structured and concise, ready to work on.

From the field

What our
customers say.

Pharmacie du Cerf On working with Ella

Big changes on the way

Three shifts.
One answer.

Healthcare is about to change a great deal. Here is what is coming, and how Ella helps you meet it.

EU AI Act from August 2026

New binding requirements for AI systems come into force.

Ella is prepared for the EU AI Act: EU hosting, transparent data flows, traceable logs.

GP reform / GVSG

Fee budgets removed, ePA and eMP required for billing. More anxious patients, more questions on the phone.

Ella takes the calls, so your team has capacity for the extra patients.

Pharmacy reform

The percentage margin drops to 2 %, with the difference moving into the fixed fee (from 1 January 2027).

Technology becomes the key to cost efficiency. Ella pays for itself from the first month.

100 % EU-hosted · GDPR-compliant · certified & independently audited · independent risk assessment: LOW

Packages

Three packages.
Transparent pricing.

The same prices for pharmacies, practices, MVZ and clinics, priced fairly around how much you use.

Starter

Small package

€140 per month, plus VAT

375 included minutes
≈ 6.25 hours per month
Effectively €0.37/min.

For small pharmacies, single practices and MVZ with a manageable call volume.

Enquire about Starter

Recommended

Medium package

€225 per month, plus VAT

800 included minutes
≈ 13.3 hours per month
Effectively €0.28/min.

Our most popular choice. Enough for most single pharmacies, practices and MVZ.

Enquire about Classic

Professional

Large package

€385 per month, plus VAT

1,600 included minutes
≈ 26.7 hours per month
Effectively €0.24/min.

For busy pharmacies, practices and MVZ: city-centre locations, sites with heavy out-of-hours duty, high call volume.

Enquire about Professional

Implementation €89 one-off · Minimum term 3 months, then renewing for 12 months at a time, with 30 days' notice before expiry · You set up your own phone system. We are happy to look at interfaces to your practice or clinic software, or to your inventory management, together with you.

Multiple locations? A pharmacy chain? A physicians' network?
We put together a package that fits.

If you run multiple locations or manage larger structures, you need something tailored. We map how your network is set up and price it transparently by location, team and minute volume. Many locations, one contract: we can do it!

Enquire about a custom package

Calculator

What fits your setup?
Run the numbers.

Move three sliders to see what Ella would take on in your pharmacy, practice or MVZ, and which package fits.

Your inputs

Tip: click the values directly and enter your own numbers.

Calls per day:

Avg. call duration in min.:

Hourly wage of skilled staff (gross in €):

Your result

What does this cost at the moment?

€660 per month

At 15 calls a day of 4 minutes each, and an hourly wage of €30 for the trained staff member on the phone, you tie up around €660 a month on phone calls alone.

Which Ella package fits?

Professional · €385 per month

Your estimated 1,320 minutes per month fall within the Professional package (801–1,600 min/mo).

What do you save with Ella?

€275 per month

That is €275 less every month, and probably less stress too.

Request a quote

* Indicative figures, assuming 22 working days a month. We work out your exact needs together in a personal, no-obligation conversation.

Integration

Into your existing
systems.

Ella adapts to your IT, not the other way around. You decide how deeply it is integrated.

Standalone

Call forwarding set up in your phone system. Every call documented in a web dashboard. No further interfaces.

Live in less than two weeks.

Integration with read access

Through defined interfaces, Ella can read data such as calendars or inventory management at any time. Many requests can be settled fully this way. Ella has no write access.

2–4 weeks.

Full integration

Through an interface, Ella can work fully with further IT systems, for example booking appointments directly, reserving products, or writing entries into digital records.

4–8 weeks.

Want a deeper integration than standalone? Get in touch, we are glad to advise you.

Frequently asked questions

Every question
deserves an answer from the right perspective.

Four perspectives, four sets of the questions we hear most often, with the answers to match.

What does this really cost, and what hidden costs are there?

Three fixed packages: Starter €140, Classic €225 and Professional €385 per month (plus VAT). A one-off implementation fee of €89. Minimum term 3 months, then renewing for 12 months at a time, with 30 days' notice before expiry. Depending on complexity, connecting to your phone system or practice/pharmacy software is either included in the package or priced transparently as a one-off service. We settle all of this before you sign, with no surprises.

Who is liable if the AI gives incorrect information?

We build our systems to admit they do not know something rather than make it up. When a question becomes too important or too specific, the system escalates to someone on your team. This is not caution out of nervousness, but a design principle. In May 2026 the Higher Regional Court of Hamm made it clear: whoever deploys an AI service is responsible for what it says. We take that responsibility seriously, secured in the contract and, above all, built into how the system works.

How long does the implementation take and how much effort does it mean for us?

Usually two to four weeks from signing to going live. What it takes on your side: one session on your phone system (the technical setup), one or two sessions with the team (request lists, escalation rules, tone of voice) and a short test run. We do most of the work. You set the direction.

What happens to our employees? Are we cutting positions?

Honest answer: most of our customers do not cut positions. They create breathing room. The phone is one of the biggest sources of stress in pharmacies, practices and MVZ, and the place where mistakes most easily creep in. When it gets quieter, your team has more capacity for what it does best: caring for people in person. If you still want to trim staff, you can. But that is not what we sell.

Do we get reports on what happens on our phone?

Yes. Monthly, and in real time if you want it: number of calls, escalation rate, common topics, average call duration, and the share of requests handled successfully. This is not there to monitor the team, but to show you where your practice is actually losing time.

What if we do not like it, can we get out again easily?

The minimum term is 3 months, after which the contract renews for 12 months at a time, cancellable with 30 days' notice before expiry. We hand your configuration and your data back to you in an open format. We want you to stay because you are happy, not because leaving is hard.

Can we start with multiple locations or as a group?

Yes. The three fixed packages apply to single pharmacies, practices and MVZ. If you are responsible for multiple locations, a pharmacy chain or a physicians' network, you get a custom package. One contract, one roll-out, central reporting. Get in touch through the custom package section above or simply by email.

How does this fit with our existing systems (practice software, inventory management)?

Often directly. We have standard connections to the common practice management systems and to pharmacy inventory management. Where something new is needed, we look at it in an initial call and price it transparently. You are not buying a system that sits apart from everything else. You are buying something that fits into your existing setup.

Does my working day change? Do I have to learn new software?

Yes, but less than you think. You get a simple dashboard that shows which requests Ella has taken and which are passed to you, sorted by type of task. You no longer jump back and forth between all sorts of calls. You can work through ten prescription requests in one go, for example. It takes some getting used to, but for most people it is a relief: less switching between things in your head.

Do I end up with more work because nothing gets lost any more?

Honest answer: it can feel that way. There are visibly more tasks on the table, because nothing gets lost on the answering machine or forgotten. Realistically, the total amount of work stays about the same, it just becomes more visible and better grouped. Most people find after three weeks that they are less worn out, because the phone is no longer interrupting them all the time. And you lose fewer patients and customers, which saves you bigger problems down the line.

Are we being monitored? Is someone listening in?

No. The dashboard shows aggregated figures (how many calls, which topics come up often, average handling time), never a judgement of individual people. Individual call recordings are only made for quality assurance, and only if your practice has agreed to it. You are not being assessed. You are using a tool.

What if the AI does not know something or makes a mistake?

Ella is deliberately built to say “I do not know that” rather than guess. When that happens, the call is passed to your team along with a short summary of what has been said so far. That way you do not start from scratch: you know straight away what the call is about. And if the AI does get something wrong at some point, that is logged in the system, reviewed by us and put right in the next update. We are liable for what our systems say.

Does this mean I will eventually be replaced?

Honestly? In our experience, no. What you do in person, reading people, picking up on worries, weighing things up, carrying responsibility, no AI does that. What Ella takes on is what you are overqualified for: routine calls, repeat questions, appointment coordination. If anything, the demographics point the other way: the EU is short of 1.2 million trained staff. You are needed, just somewhere other than the phone.

Can I switch Ella off when I want to answer myself?

Yes. There are modes: “Ella only answers when I cannot get to the phone”, “Ella answers everything and I get the summaries”, “peak times only, Ella steps in when it gets busy”. You set this up yourselves, and you can change it from day to day if you need to.

Who teaches me how to work with the system?

We do. Onboarding happens online (or in person, if you prefer) and we take the time your team needs. It is not a lecture, more sitting side by side: you show us how you work, we show you how the system fits in. After that you get a few days of hands-on support and a phone number for any questions. No one is thrown in at the deep end.

Am I talking to a person or a machine right now?

You are speaking to a voice that helps out on the phone at the pharmacy or MVZ. We call her Ella. She is not a person. She can deal with many requests directly, and for anything that is not clear-cut she passes it on to a human. You can also ask for a person at any time, just say “I would like to speak to someone”, and you will be put through.

Can I still reach my usual team at the pharmacy or MVZ?

Of course. Ella is only the voice on the phone that steps in when no one can pick up, because the queue at the counter is long, because the team is with patients in person, because someone rings outside opening hours. The pharmacist, the pharmacy technician, the medical and nursing teams, they are still your people to talk to. Ella takes pressure off them so they have time for you.

What happens to the data I share on the phone?

Your details are processed in line with GDPR, and only for the purpose of your request. What you say stays between you, Ella and your pharmacy or practice. We at Ella Media do not use the content of your calls for anything else. You will find the technical details on processing and data flow in the privacy policy.

Are my calls recorded?

Only if your pharmacy or MVZ has set this up, and you will be told at the start of the call. By default, only what the call was about is kept as a short note (for example “Ms Schmidt is asking about her prescription for medication X”), with no voice recording.

What if I have an urgent question, will I get through to a person then?

Yes. In a medical emergency, Ella points you straight to 112 or the medical on-call service on 116 117. For requests that are urgent but not acute, a prescription for tomorrow, an appointment you need soon, she puts you straight through to a person. She never just hangs up because you are upset.

What if I do not get along with Ella or do not feel comfortable?

Just say so. Something like “I would like to speak to someone” is enough. We take your scepticism seriously, and we do not assume everyone is happy talking to an AI. Some are, some are not. Both are fine.

Does Ella also understand older people, people with an accent, people with speech impediments?

We built the system for exactly this, trained on a wide range of voices. Older voices, regional accents, the slower speech of many older people: that is the norm, not the exception. With very pronounced speech difficulties or unusual accents, Ella notices when she is not sure she has understood, and hands over to a person sooner. We do not want anyone who used to manage phone calls to be left behind.

Where does the system run and where is data processed?

Ella processes data in line with GDPR. Audio is processed through EU data processors under the appropriate data processing agreements. The AI components we use are documented and curated for the medical and pharmaceutical context. For specific architecture details (model providers, data flow, region), we provide a technical overview on request during the initial call.

What interfaces are there to our practice or pharmacy software?

Standard connections to the common practice management systems (appointments, patient master data, medication plans) and to pharmacy inventory management (availability, prescription identifiers). Depending on the provider, interfaces can be API-based, via HL7/FHIR or via structured export formats. For specific or older systems, we assess them case by case and price the work transparently.

How are audit trails structured? GDPR-compliant?

Every system access and every request is logged with a timestamp, request type and result. Your data protection officers can view the log. It is GDPR-compliant and, if required, configured to account for §203 StGB (the duty of confidentiality). We are happy to show you the audit log specification before you sign.

How are you positioned regarding the EU AI Act?

Depending on the configuration, our systems fall between “limited risk” (standard cases) and “high risk” (where medical decisions are being prepared). We run our models with full, traceable documentation, human-in-the-loop escalation and a declaration of conformity. For more critical applications, we produce a separate risk assessment before go-live.

What happens in the event of an internet outage?

If the connection drops briefly, calls are forwarded under our fallback rule (for example to your answering machine, or diverted to your team). We agree your specific fallback setup in the initial call. In a power outage, your normal phone emergency arrangement takes over.

How are the models built, what runs technically under the hood?

Domain-adapted language models (LLMs), curated for the medical and pharmaceutical context, combined with Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) over your own knowledge base (active ingredients, indications, in-house rules). Before every answer, the system checks whether the model is confident enough; if not, it escalates. We document the components we use transparently in the initial call.

What does the update strategy look like? Do we have to take care of security patches?

No. We manage your setup remotely, roll out security updates and model improvements automatically (and let you know), and handle patch management entirely. You can pause or roll back updates at any time. For CISO requirements, we provide a full SBOM (Software Bill of Materials) on request.

So your team can be
where it matters most.

What Ella takes
off your hands.

Around the clock, in over 20 languages

What is urgent gets put through

Every request neatly filed

Around the clock, in over 20 languages

What is urgent gets put through

Appointments and prescriptions cleanly documented

Around the clock, in over 20 languages

What is urgent gets put through

Every request neatly filed