Automate document intake, filing, and follow-up — from fax to chart.
1. What Inbox Agent Does
Inbox Agent is the heart of Phelix’s automation platform.
It takes every fax your clinic receives, classifies it, extracts key details, and files or routes it into your EMR with minimal staff input.
Whether it’s a referral, consult note, lab reports, imaging results, prescriptions, insurance, or any other document types. Inbox Agent ensures each document reaches the correct patient chart and provider quickly and accurately.
2. How Inbox Agent Works
Every document follows a consistent, AI-driven path:
| Step | Description | Example |
| 1. Classify the document | Determines whether the fax is a Referral, Lab, Consult Note, or Imaging Report. | A fax is identified as a “Imaging Report.” |
| 2. Extract key information | Pulls patient, provider, referral reason, date, priority etc. | Extracts “Sara Ben,” “Dr. Ramji,” “Chest X-Ray,” and “Oct 21 2025.” |
| 3. Match or create the patient | Links to an existing EMR chart, or creates a new one if none exists. | Finds “Sara Ben (DOB 01-02-1980)” or creates a new chart. |
| 4. Capture the date | Extracts and validates the fax or service date for record-keeping. | Records “Service Date: Oct 21.” |
| 7. Route or file | Files directly into the patient chart in the EMR or holds for manual review based on confidence. | Imaging report appears in Sara Ben’s EMR chart and provider inbox. |
| 5. Assign the provider | Determines who should review it. | Routes to Dr. Ramji, the ordering physician. |
| 6. Create or update tasks | Adds follow-up actions for admins or providers automatically. | Creates a task: “Review X-Ray report and contact patient.” |
This full cycle — from classification to filing to assigning tasks — is what allows Inbox Agent to replace repetitive admin steps with reliable automation.
3. Getting Started with Inbox Agent
Setting up Inbox Agent is a guided, step-by-step process inside your Phelix dashboard.
Each stage builds on the previous one, preparing your clinic for live fax automation.
Step 1: Complete General Clinic Setup
Before Inbox Agent can process faxes, confirm your clinic’s core configuration is complete:
- Add Clinic Locations
- Add Providers
- Add Users
- Connect Your EMR
📘 Learn more: Account Setup & Settings Guide
Step 2: Configure Inbox Settings
Next, define how documents will move within your clinic.
The guided wizard walks you through key configuration areas so every incoming fax is routed, filed, and assigned correctly.
Inbox Settings include:
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Assignment Rules – Auto-assign providers and follow-up tasks based on document type or sender.
Example: All “Lab Results” go to Dr. Nguyen; “Imaging” to the admin queue. -
Document Types – Import or create the list your EMR uses.
A clean, consolidated list ensures Inbox Agent can accurately classify and file each document. - Document Settings – Control defaults for saving, naming, and tagging when documents are filed into the EMR.
-
Specialty Settings (for referral-based clinics):
- Procedures & Referral Setup – Map incoming referrals (e.g., Cardiology, Orthopedics) to the correct queue, provider, or procedure code.
- Referring Providers – Add external physicians or clinics for better matching and referral tracking.
- Referral Waitlist (Accuro only) – Automatically populate the Accuro waitlist when a new referral is received.
📘 Learn more: Inbox Agent Settings Guide
Step 3: Deploy Your AI Models
Before moving your fax lines, Phelix AI first deploys the models that power Inbox Agent.
This ensures your documents are being read and classified correctly before anything goes live.
What happens at this stage:
-
Extraction Models (Ready on Day One):
Inbox Agent can immediately read and extract key fields such as patient, provider, and date — no setup needed.
These extractions appear in your Worklist as soon as faxes start flowing in. -
Classification Models (Custom to Your Clinic):
Every clinic names and structures document types differently.
If your EMR has a clean, concise list (under ~50–100 types), Inbox Agent can classify accurately from day one.
If you have a larger or inconsistent list, document training helps improve accuracy over time.
⚙️ Think of this step as your system “boot-up.”
You’re confirming that the AI can understand and sort your faxes before the real ones start flowing.
📘 Learn more: Document Training Overview
Step 4: Cut Over Your Fax Lines
Once your AI models are deployed and tested, redirect your clinic’s fax lines to Phelix.
From that point onward, all new faxes appear directly in your Inbox Agent Worklist for processing.
Existing EMR faxes remain untouched — only new incoming documents flow through Phelix.
📘 Learn more: Fax Line Setup Guide
Step 5: Enable Auto-Processing
When document recognition is stable, you can turn on automation features.
Auto-processing uses confidence thresholds to decide which documents can file automatically versus which stay in the Worklist for review.
Automation options include:
- Auto-Save – Files documents directly into patient charts when confidence is high.
- Auto-Referral – Creates and routes referral records to the correct queue or provider.
- Auto-Chart – Builds new patient charts when no existing record is found.
💡 Start small: Enable automation first for consistent, high-volume document types like labs or imaging, then expand as confidence grows.
📘 Learn more: Auto-Processing Guide
Step 6: Ongoing Improvements
Once your clinic is live, Inbox Agent continues learning from every document you review, edit, or file.
This usage-based training helps the system adapt to your clinic’s unique patterns and steadily boost accuracy.
- Accuracy improves most in high-volume categories (e.g., labs, consults).
- You can upload example sets to speed up learning for rarer types.
- Retraining can be scheduled periodically for continued performance gains.
📘 Learn more: Document Training Guide
Step 7: Daily Use — Worklists
Your team manages daily fax workflows through the Worklist.
Here, staff can search, filter, and review documents that need manual action — such as low-confidence files, unmatched patients, or new referrals.
📘 Learn more: Worklists Guide
4. Need Help?
If you need assistance during setup or migration, reach out to your Implementation Manager or open a support ticket directly through your Phelix dashboard.