Mediclinic: Boosting digital transformation with Microsoft and Infobip

Challenge

Mediclinic was met with new challenges amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Regulatory requirements meant that every person entering their facilities had to be screened. Furthermore, the screening that had to be done differed for health care workers, patients and *visitors.

The screening of visitors proved to be the biggest challenge, as it was difficult to communicate with them in advance and implement a solution that would still meet regulatory requirements and streamline access into the hospitals.

Screening was initially performed manually using paper-based forms but this was a slow process that resulted in bottlenecks at the entrances, and required additional staff to monitor.

The problem was amplified when more visitors were allowed back into the hospitals. More than 15,000 people visit patients and doctors’ consulting rooms a day.

It was clear that an electronic solution was required that would reduce the administrative process, streamline the access and still ensure that the necessary checks are performed to ensure a safe environment.

*Visitors include people attending appointments at medical specialists who have their consulting rooms at Mediclinic facilities.

Solution

Mediclinic wanted a solution that the public are familiar with and comfortable using. WhatsApp, the chat app with billions of downloads worldwide, presented itself as the obvious choice.

To solve automation, Mediclinic turned to Microsoft Azure Bot framework. Mediclinic is already familiar with the Microsoft Azure environment and the Azure Bot can be used across multiple channels.

Mediclinic brought in partners Infobip to enable the integration of WhatsApp with the MS Bot Framework. Infobip’s expert presales teams helped set everything up to enable the integration and Mediclinic used internal resources to configure the Azure environment and develop the chatbot.

Result

Between 25-30% of Mediclinic visitors are using the chatbot for COVID-19 screening. This massively reduced bottlenecks while simultaneously improving safety for everyone – healthcare workers, patients and their visitors.

Not stopping there, Mediclinic will look to advance these solutions to provide even better hospital experiences across other innovative use cases.