Health infrastructure, data sharing, and strategic changes for innovative transformation: Evolution of patient appointment registration call center for urology services in Qatar

This chapter explores telephone management practices in improving patient access to the urology outpatient department (OPD) at the Hamad Medical Corporation in Qatar. The chapter narrates the evolution of the OPD booking system in three phases. It starts with the initial paper-based booking system (phase I) and goes on to describe how it was converted to a computer-based call center (phase II), and then further progressed to a fully coordinated service call center integrating data sharing, information technology (IT), and continuous real-time monitoring (phase III). The chapter identifies the infrastructure and operations at each phase, information technologies required, and the system deficits and challenges that prompted the evolution to the next phase. It outlines the range of system changes, solutions, and innovative transformations that were proposed, and how they were prioritized, selected, and implemented. The chapter then progresses to compare a range of patient-level and utilization outcomes, as well as the extent of patient satisfaction before and after the changes implemented to convert the urology OPD booking system into a full-fledged state-of-the-art service. Finally, the chapter concludes with a set of implications and recommendations for others who wish to establish similar innovative healthcare projects.