The Integrated Appointment and Call Centre workgroup under the Appointment Access Task Force, made up of members from eight SingHealth institutions, was formed.
"On average, our call centres across SingHealth receive 8,000 calls every day. Out of these, 60% were general queries and not appointment related, and 34% had to be re-directed to other departments as they involved billing and requests for medical records. As a result, callers had to wait an average of 82 seconds before they could speak to an Appointment Officer to make an appointment. More than a quarter of calls were abandoned.
To tackle the problem, the Integrated Appointment and Call Centre workgroup under the Appointment Access Task Force, made up of members from eight SingHealth institutions, was formed. We implemented an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system, which allows patients to check or cancel their appointments 24/7 without having to speak to an Appointment Officer. The system also automatically transfers calls to the relevant departments, freeing up officers to serve patients who need more help. As such, the average waiting time for callers halved from 82 to 41 seconds and abandoned call rate dropped from 25 to 6%."
AATF-IACC
Singapore General Hospital, KK Women's and Children's Hospital, Sengkang Health, National Cancer Centre Singapore,
National Dental Centre Singapore, National Heart Centre Singapore, Singapore National Eye Centre, SingHealth Polyclinics
Winner of the Best Team–Service Initiative Improvement Award, Singapore Health Quality Service Award 2016. Click here to view their video.
Tags: SHQSA2016
