SABİM responded to more than 2 million calls in 9 months

Health Development Director General Assoc. Prof. Dr. Muhammed Atak told an Anadolu Agency (AA) reporter that SABİM, founded in 2004, began its service as a call center and continues to strengthen its communication processes through both its website and social media platforms.

Atak stated that the importance placed on community participation has increased since Health Minister Prof. Dr. Kemal Memişoğlu took office, saying, "The opinions of our citizens are very valuable to us. By accurately sharing the services our Ministry provides in this area with citizens, we enhance the quality of the services we provide. The feedback we receive also contributes to the shaping of health policies."

Atak stated that SABİM provides 24/7 service to both citizens and healthcare professionals with 1,050 personnel in Ankara and Mardin. He said, "Beyond the services we offer, we keep a close eye on our citizens. We call our citizens and keep them informed. We also strive to provide guidance on health literacy so our citizens receive better service. When a citizen contacts us, our colleagues first receive the request. We then work quickly to process it with our analysts."

Atak stated that the 24-hour response rate for requests is approaching 70%, adding, "It takes an average of five days for a request to be finalized. We inform our citizens after completing the process. Whenever there's a health-related issue, we strive to meet the requests in the best possible way and to advance this process by establishing strong communication with our citizens."

Atak emphasized the importance they place on citizen participation and feedback, saying, "In the first nine months, we've received more than 2.1 million calls. We're handling a significant portion of these. We're striving to resolve a significant portion of the follow-up, monitoring, or requests we've received. We've also addressed the requests of approximately 1.75 million people. We've responded and informed our citizens."

Atak stated that SABİM also conducted searches and continued:

"We're making calls beyond just making calls. We've strived to reach nearly 5 million citizens through calls we've made over the past nine months. We've strived to include our citizens in our health-related services and gather their feedback, ensuring they become key stakeholders in this process. When we look at the topic of applications, the issue of 'getting information' is at the forefront."

Atak stated that the decrease in pending requests in the Central Physician Appointment System (MHRS) has also had an impact on SABİM, saying, "We're seeing a 38 percent decrease, which is significant because it shows us that the MHRS issue has been resolved. Our citizens can reach us any time of day and strengthen us with their feedback. SABİM is a communication center for both healthcare professionals and our citizens. As long as we maintain strong communication, we, as the Ministry of Health, will be able to better serve our citizens."

Atak reported that services are also provided through sign language experts on the website for hearing-impaired citizens.

General Manager Atak stated that the "Healthy Solution" team works 24/7 to identify and correct misinformation about health on social media.

Emphasizing that social media is a place where disinformation is intense, Atak said, "When we detect false and misleading information on a matter related to public health on social media platforms that we monitor 24/7, we intervene swiftly, and in that process, we have undertaken an important mission in ensuring that our citizens have access to accurate information."

Atak stated that they are also working to strengthen health literacy processes at Healthy Solution and reported that they have reached more than 20,000 people in 9 months.

Atak stated that they adopted the "verify first" approach and said:

We do not want to tolerate our citizens being misled by misleading and inaccurate information. With structural changes and transformations, one of the topics our citizens most frequently reach out to is "getting information," which is actually pleasing to us. This is one of the most important centers where accurate information is shared and provided. Together with our analytical team, we strive to take swift action and resolve their requests on the ground.

Muhammed Atak, noting that they have established a dedicated platform where healthcare workers can express themselves, said, "This platform has become a hub where our healthcare workers can easily access information about themselves and their personal rights. We are particularly striving to strengthen two-way communication. We strive to ensure that not only incoming requests but also those providing those services take an active role with us in addressing their own requests and communication."

Atak also stated that they created a thank-you board at SABİM, saying, "We've created a platform on our SABİM website where our citizens can thank our valued healthcare professionals after receiving the service they received. We're seeing a 51 percent increase in this regard compared to last year."