The UP-PGH Bayanihan Na! COVID Hotline (155-200) was launched last March 30, 2020 after only less than two weeks of planning. The short preparation time was inevitable because of the urgent need to reach out to patients and donors but that period proved sufficient because of the presence of talented leadership, effective partnerships, and tremendous volunteerism.
What has always been feared about the COVID-19 pandemic was the idea that it will overwhelm the healthcare delivery system based on local data and experience from other countries. This was the premise which created the Hotline Patient Query arm towards COVID concerns. The platform can efficiently refer patients who need hospitalization and COVID testing thereby freeing the emergency room from unnecessary consults. By telling patients to call first about their symptoms before heading to the hospital, this will hopefully greatly lessen transmission of the virus between infected and Covid-free patients. While there is an abundance of social media posts about COVID-19, phone consults can provide reassurance and emphasize accurate prevention advice for patients and their families. Lastly, this Hotline Patient Query arm provides healthcare workers who have not been allowed to respond directly to the COVID-19 frontlines due to age, medical issues, or being put under quarantine, an opportunity to help by being remote consultants who our onsite agents can refer to for questions or concerns about their disposition of patient inquiries. Certainly, this pandemic will need “all hands on deck” from its healthcare workers, especially those from UP-PGH.
The first few weeks of operations revealed the gaps that the hotline can potentially fill based on the profile of calls coming in. Our call analytics and feedback from colleagues prompted us to add algorithms for potential patient transfers to PGH, create phone scripts regarding COVID test kits, and provide more details on available health facilities and resources for patients. In the ensuing days, more and more patients were calling regarding concerns outside of COVID. It was time for us to integrate the non-COVID branch that we have prepared since the inception of the Patient Query arm itself. Providing a means for patients (old and new to PGH) to inquire about other medical concerns such as continuing maintenance medications, scheduling of their clinic visits, and other non-serious complaints over the phone became the substitute for services we would have otherwise given at the now-closed PGH OPD.
Phone consults have limitations because we can only advise based on the information the patient gives that may be hard to verify. Using this hotline also entails privacy risks, the protection of which is part of the commitment of our volunteers. Despite these constraints, our callers have given us a satisfaction rating of 4.6 (on a scale of 1 to 5), as of this writing. We will keep evolving, informed by data and caller feedback, to better respond to the health needs of our people in these very difficult times.
Dr. Diana Lachica | Published in UP Manila Healthscape Special COVID-19 Issue No. 1
