Innovation in health care : Case Medical Helpline 116117
Rajala, Marika (2021-03-09)
Rajala, Marika
09.03.2021
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe202103096936
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe202103096936
Tiivistelmä
Innovations are becoming more and more important in the public sector than they have been before. There is a lot of expectation to reform public sector services and operations. The challenges facing society seem to be even more complex and multidimensional. Innovation can be used to seek different kinds of solutions to societal problems. The objective of the public sector is of higher quality and more cost-effectively delivered public services. It is possible to find out innovative approaches to enhance operations, improve services´ productivity, and quality of offered services for citizens.
The point of interest in this research is nationwide phone counseling and guidance service Medical Helpline 116117. Participants of this study are the primary health care and the special health care in the hospital district of South Ostrobothnia. Medical Helpline 116117 is put into operation in December 2019 in the hospital district of South Ostrobothnia. This research aimed to find out how the nursing staff experience the Medical Helpline 116117. There is also the possibility to find out if there are differences between special health care and primary health care. This research has also interest in the challenges and benefits of Medical Helpline 116117.
This research is quantitative research, and the empirical material gathered through a questionnaire. The questionnaire was executed by Webropol 3.0 online survey program in the common emergency service clinic at the hospital of Seinäjoki and in emergency duties at the health centers. The data was collected at the turn of March-April 2020. Based on the analysis of the empirical material, the Medical Helpline 116117 is seen positively, and the nursing staff´s opinion is that the Medical Helpline 116117 is a necessary service in health care.
The Medical Helpline 116117 is a service/product innovation. The goal of such innovation is to change the way service is produced for a better outcome for customers, develop quality of service, and make operations more efficient. The results showed that right kind of changes have been made to the chain of services, as directing customers to the right places is found to be easier after the introduction of Medical Helpline 116117. According to nursing staff, Medical Helpline 116117 is customer-oriented, and it brings added value to customers. The results showed that it is important that the Medical Helpline 116117 is a round-a-clock service. In this way, customers get help, information, and instructions for their own situations regardless of the time of the day. This brings safety to customers. In particular, there was a decrease in unnecessary doctor visits, which supports the fact that the operational model of the hospital district has been able to be enhanced to better direction because of the Medical Helpline 116117.
The point of interest in this research is nationwide phone counseling and guidance service Medical Helpline 116117. Participants of this study are the primary health care and the special health care in the hospital district of South Ostrobothnia. Medical Helpline 116117 is put into operation in December 2019 in the hospital district of South Ostrobothnia. This research aimed to find out how the nursing staff experience the Medical Helpline 116117. There is also the possibility to find out if there are differences between special health care and primary health care. This research has also interest in the challenges and benefits of Medical Helpline 116117.
This research is quantitative research, and the empirical material gathered through a questionnaire. The questionnaire was executed by Webropol 3.0 online survey program in the common emergency service clinic at the hospital of Seinäjoki and in emergency duties at the health centers. The data was collected at the turn of March-April 2020. Based on the analysis of the empirical material, the Medical Helpline 116117 is seen positively, and the nursing staff´s opinion is that the Medical Helpline 116117 is a necessary service in health care.
The Medical Helpline 116117 is a service/product innovation. The goal of such innovation is to change the way service is produced for a better outcome for customers, develop quality of service, and make operations more efficient. The results showed that right kind of changes have been made to the chain of services, as directing customers to the right places is found to be easier after the introduction of Medical Helpline 116117. According to nursing staff, Medical Helpline 116117 is customer-oriented, and it brings added value to customers. The results showed that it is important that the Medical Helpline 116117 is a round-a-clock service. In this way, customers get help, information, and instructions for their own situations regardless of the time of the day. This brings safety to customers. In particular, there was a decrease in unnecessary doctor visits, which supports the fact that the operational model of the hospital district has been able to be enhanced to better direction because of the Medical Helpline 116117.