Phone Availability in Sweden
St. Eriks Eye Hospital, Stockholm
Callback enabled tele-counselling, improved working environment and phone availability
St. Eriks eye hospital is one of the largest eye specialist centers in the world. Gunilla Wallin is responsible for telecommunications at the hospital. When she started working at St Erik’s, the hospital suffered from a lack of an organized way to handle the many inbound calls. Both the nurses and office assistants were stretched thinly for time to document the patients’ data in the medical record systems. The patients had trouble getting in touch with the staff, and had to call several times to get through.
In 2006, Gunilla Wallin decided to introduce “time scheduled callback” at the hospital. The departments subsequently organized their schedule for handling calls according to their work schedules, and now they can provide both tele-counselling and tele-rehabilitation through the call back system. The nurses can review the patient’s file before they call and be better prepared, which makes their calls more effective and professional. The schedule leaves time for the nurses to document the conversation in the patient record system before the next call. Since introducing the system call time are able to be determined by the needs of the patients and are continually optimized to improve accessibility. Today, St. Erik’s Eye Hospital has reached an accessibility rate (by telephone) of 99%. This is in sharp contrast to accessibility rate of 84% when the service first began.
The technology behind the Callback System
St. Erik’s Hospital’s callback system uses Aurora’s TeleQ and CallControl technology, allowing the organization to handle more calls with the same or less number of operators. All of Aurora Innovation’s services are cloud based and can be used with or without a switch board.
Quick Facts:
- Number of County councils using the call back system: 16 (out of a total of 21 councils in Sweden)
- Phone availability among regions using the call back system: 94%
- Overall phone availability in Sweden: 90%
- 69% of the Swedish population reaches health care through a call back system
Outcomes of the Callback System in a hospital setting
There have been immediate benefits for the overall efficiency and cohesiveness of the working environment at the hospital for the staff and their interaction with the patients. Increasing the availability to get in contact with health care contributes to a more cost efficient health care, more efficient use of public resources and in the end, a healthier population.
Better cohesion in the work place
Head Nurse Monika Lundell sees big advantages with time scheduled call back. “The system has reduced the stress level in our workplace and I think everyone feels better. Before the phone rang all the time but now we have a quiet working environment. Scheduling is also an important function. Today, we can take our breaks together, an important contributor to cohesion in the workplace. Many of today’s issues are discussed in the lunch room. And having the opportunity to see each other and socialize with colleagues is important.
More satisfied patients
Hedda Karlen, who works as an office assistant, says she feels that her work flow is much improved now that the hospital uses callback. Instead of the patient waiting in a phone queue, Hedda now calls the patients herself which puts her in control of the conversation. “Patients are really happy with the time scheduled callback. They don’t have to wait on the phone any more, which puts them in a better frame of mind. And since I have the time for a proper documentation, I am more certain that the important patient data is correct.” says Hedda.
For further information
Stina Lantz, Aurora Innovation AB
+46 18 19 44 72
stina.lantz@ain.se
About St. Erik Eye Hospital
St. Erik Eye Hospital was created in 1990 through the merger of three regional ophthalmology centers, thereby consolidating expertise and resources in order to provide patients with unsurpassed quality and ensure that the hospital offers every possible advantage in medical care. Today, St. Erik is one of the largest eye specialist centers in the world. St. Erik Eye Hospital Ltd is wholly-owned by the Stockholm County Council.
For more information go to www.ain.se/teleq/sa-tycker-vara-kunder/st-eriks/
Watch the movie from St. Erik’s eye hospital at http://www.ain.se/nl/klanten/dit-vinden-onze-klanten/st-eriks-oogziekenhuis/
(March 2011)
