Remote Helpdesk Seva at SSSIHMS (080-4710-4600)

Genesis: 

• Initiated in May, 2020, in response to Covid Pandemic, to enable easier communications for Patients and to expand the base of volunteers who could respond to patient queries in the highly uncertain period of Covid pandemic, using the cloud telephony technology.
• In June, 2021, with a view to reduce waiting time and crowding at the gate and inside the hospital, an advance gate entry appointments system was introduced to enable a staggered arrival and entry of patients into the hospital from 7am to 10am.

Current status:

• Average calls Handled per day: 800 calls (including General Queries and Gate entry appointments)
• Average appointments created per day: 300 patients

Key Benefits for Patients: 

• Reducing waiting time at Gate
• Reduce cost of stay at Bengaluru, as the patients can plan their travel and arrival based on the confirmed gate entry appointments
• Ability to get responses in multiple languages, based on the wide base of alumni volunteers speaking multiple languages.

Resources:

• Initiative supported by Alumni of SSSIHL and implemented in coordination with the Hospital Team.
• 150 volunteers participate actively every week in specific time slots to receive and respond to patient queries
• All volunteers are put through a formal training process before attending calls. Quality of calls is also reviewed by listening to calls by a volunteer team, as all calls are recorded. 
• Enabled through the Exotel Cloud Telephony solutions integrated with Health4All, a free and open source software supported by UCDS.

 Going Forward:

• Call volume to this helpline set to increase with SSSIHMS-PG also implementing this facility from July 2022
• Encourage more volunteers from Samithis to participate in this Remote Seva opportunity as outlined in the SSSSO Saminthi Convenors Conference in June, 2022