Raelene Kambli, EH News Bureau
Bharti Airtel which ventured into the healthcare space with the launch of mHealth – SMS-based health alerts in June 2011, has recently introduced a unique management system Airtel Toky service that would help hospitals make their patient engagement methodology systematic.
The service is specially designed for hospitals, clinics and doctors to issue the tokens to patients via SMS or Internet. The benefits of Airtel Toky is not only limited to the hospitals alone, but extends to the patients who can now manage their time easily and manage their doctor’s visits from the convenience of their homes.
Sukesh Jain, Head – VAS & Content, Bharti Airtel informed Express Healthcare that this services is introduced with a view to address the lack of systematic queue management services within hospitals. He says, “At Airtel, it is our constant endeavour to enrich the lives of our customers and Airtel Toky has been launched in line with this. The service has been launched for the healthcare initially given the acute need for an efficient queue management solution in hospitals and clinics on a daily basis. Also, the basic utility of this product is queue management and hence it will be applicable to a lot of different sectors like banks, service centres etc. With this service, private practitioners and hospitals can use it to issue tokens to patients and send reminders to them about their turn, giving the patients an opportunity to plan their visits accordingly. He says, “Airtel Toky is an end-to-end solution, consisting of a display board, a handset and an annual subscription pack, which enables a doctor to set up an automated information system to keep their patients informed about their appointment status.”
He further goes on the say that Bharti Airtel has already started promoting the service to the end customers by providing live demos and educative sessions for doctors and hospitals. The strategy to first tap Tier-I cities within the country and then branch out to other cities. When asked about any tie ups made so far, Jain replies, “Since we have just launched this service we have not made any tie-ups. We have already started our promotional activities and are looking forward for tie-ups.”
Speaking about the future plans for Airtel Toky, Jain also informs that the company will also introduce this product in other sectors such as, restaurants, banks etc.