14 DAY TRIAL // Today, wireless carrier Orange UK announced the launch of a new service in the country, namely Orange smartnumbers. According to the company, this is the first healthcare specific service launched by a mobile operator and aimed at the improving of patient care and at enhancing internal efficiency. The carriers plans on achieving these through reducing the time needed to contact healthcare professionals.
At the same time, the company announced that the new service is meant to offer instant access to the best placed person or team available, which means that patients and healthcare workers alike would be able to reach the reach the right person every time they call. This is the first move Orange makes into the UK healthcare industry, and also the first service of the kind launched by a carrier.
“Orange has had a dedicated healthcare division in Europe for four years, and has a ten-year legacy in the healthcare sector. Recognizing the huge potential for mobile communications to improve efficiencies for healthcare professionals, and ultimately patient care, Orange is building on its experience to offer this new solution that will improve how healthcare professionals and patients communicate with one another,” the company announced.
According to the wireless carrier, Orange smartnumbers was designed to offer patients the possibility to get in touch with the best person available to handle their call, something that should result in improved accessibility to healthcare individuals and teams. Thus, if a doctor is unavailable, the call would be immediately diverted to the appropriate colleague or team, offering increased flexibility, control and monitoring of calls.
The low-cost, easy-to-implement service was deployed in collaboration with Resilient Networks plc, the company announced. The service equips GPs and Primary and Secondary Care Trusts with tools needed for enhancing the quality of their service. “For community-based healthcare staff working on the move, such as midwives and nurses, 60% of ordinary call attempts to healthcare colleagues fail to reach the right person first time. With time saved on locating colleagues, the efficiency of those people working outside GP surgeries or hospitals is increased, resulting in the health sector being better able to focus on providing first class patient care,” Orange concluded.