The Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) has launched new services to improve efficiency at Al Rayyan Health Centre, which is the first to go live with the Front Office Improvement Project.
The goal of the project is to enhance the Front Office function by redefining roles and tasks in order to enhance the experience of patients.
Under the leadership of Khamis al-Khalidi, regional chief Western Region, Al Rayyan HC has spent the last three months preparing to implement the scheme.
New and revised roles have been implemented within the health centre as follows: Patient Access Leads, Patient Registration Clerks, Appointment Clerks, Medical Records Clerks, Telephone Operator Clerks and, Cashiers and Health Centre Aides.
The clerks were re-allocated across the new roles (with the exception of the health centre aide role) and have worked to retrain on IT systems, improve their skills and understand new systems and processes.
Al Rayyan HC went live with the changes last month and will spend the next three months testing, reviewing and implementing the changes in order to facilitate a smooth journey for patients.
The Front Office Improvement Project objectives will be achieved by improving the patient attendance registration process, organising the medical records function in order to ensure the timely transfer of patient files to clinical areas, centralising the appointment system to optimise its use across all specialist clinics and allocating staff to manage enquiries and problems from patients.
The developments in Al Rayyan HC also included the launch of ‘Hayyak’, a customer service team who will be available to patients and staff to help manage enquiries, provide information and appropriately direct patients to ensure their needs are met.
Initial feedback on the changes has been positive, with staff and patients feeling the changes will have a good impact on the health centre overall.
PHCC managing director Dr Mariam Ali Abdulmalik hosted a recognition ceremony in which the Health Centre manager Dr Hayam al-Sada and all Front Office staff were awarded with certificates of appreciation.
Al Gharafa will be the next health centre to “go live” with the project.
The aim of Dr Abdulmalik’s visit to Al Rayyan HC was also to encourage staff to be innovative and work hard to improve patient’s experience and ensure their satisfaction with service at PHCC health centres.