Health & Safety
Removing one login barrier doubled member engagement with BeaconBot
The Challenge
The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) maintains one of medicine’s most authoritative clinical libraries: standards, statements, and practice guidelines that anesthesiologists rely on at the point of care. ASA had already launched BeaconBot, its Betty-powered clinical assistant, and it was answering member questions well.
The friction was access. BeaconBot sat behind the ASA member login, so a member who wanted a fast answer had to stop and authenticate first. That extra step quietly suppressed everyday use. ASA wanted its own guidance to be easier for members to reach, without giving away proprietary content or exclusive member benefits.
The Solution
In May 2026, ASA worked with Betty to move BeaconBot out from behind the member login, removing the authentication step between a member and an answer. The goal was simple: take friction out of members’ use of the tool.
BeaconBot stays grounded in ASA’s trusted standards, statements, and guidelines. Resources still prompt members to login or join to see their full contents. It surfaces ASA’s published guidance and information to support clinicians.
"We took BeaconBot out from behind the member login because we wanted to take friction out of our members’ use of it. It worked."
— Maureen Geoghegan, CAE, Chief Membership and Communications Officer, American Society of Anesthesiologist
Key Elements of Success
- Friction removed, value protected. Members reach BeaconBot without a login step, while full resources still route them to log in or join ASA.
- Grounded in ASA’s own authority. Answers come from ASA’s peer-reviewed journal, clinical standards, statements, and practice guidelines, not the open web.
- Quality held through the change. The no-answer rate stayed under 2 percent in both quarters (1.6 percent in Q1, 0.3 percent in Q2), even as volume climbed.
The Results
Removing the login barrier produced an immediate, sustained jump in engagement, and a clear window into what ASA members reach for most.
Engagement more than doubled
- Conversations grew from 220 in Q1 to 444 in Q2, up 102 percent.
- Members reached rose from roughly 180 to about 400.
- Daily activity climbed from about 2.5 conversations a day to 5.4.
A queryable index for ASA’s standards
- The top job in both quarters is pulling a specific ASA guideline or statement: preoperative fasting, moderate procedural sedation, basic anesthetic monitoring, and difficult airway management.
- Preoperative and perioperative assessment questions appear in over half of all activity, rising to two-thirds in Q2, the top clinical use case.
One standard stood out
- The Statement on the ASA Physical Status Classification System was referenced 113 times in Q2.
- Physical Status lookups grew from about 2 percent of activity in Q1 to 21 percent in Q2, tracking ASA’s April 2026 update to the statement.
Looking Ahead
With the barrier gone and usage climbing, ASA’s focus shifts to building on the momentum:
- Drive repeat usage. Turn BeaconBot into a habit for members who have already found it.
- Reach new users. Bring more members and first-time users to the tool now that the login step is gone.
- Refine the experience. Keep improving the interface so answers are even easier to get.
- Show it off at the annual meeting. Demonstrate BeaconBot on site through branded kiosks.
See what Betty can do with your Association knowledge.
Book a 22-minute call and we'll build a live demo using your association's own content.
Book a Call →