Ibrahim Healthline, the call center facility of Diabetic Association of Bangladesh (BADAS), began with the objective to extend healthcare services through mobiles to people in every corner of Bangladesh. BADAS with its patient bank is in an ideal situation to best utilise the call center with over 100 facilities across Bangladesh to improve referral cases amongst its Hospitals and Medical Centers and improve service for the patients.

The call center of Diabetic Association of Bangladesh (BADAS) was piloted from the premises of National Healthcare Network (NHN) Mirpur Head Office. It has been in operation for the last 2 years with patients registered through the NHN centers. NHN is the largest enterprise of BADAS and currently has over 20 medical centers situated across Dhaka and outside Dhaka. NHN was particularly chosen to pilot the call center due its successful management and delivery of medical services through multiple locations.

Technology is the driver behind the modern-day revolution. Technology has allowed people to be more connected through their mobile devices. According to Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), in February 2017 there were 129.584 million mobile phone subscriptions in Bangladesh. Social networks such as Facebook and Social Messaging Applications such as IMO, WhatsApp and Viber have allowed people to connect with each other more conveniently. The government of Bangladesh’s recent drive towards Digital Bangladesh has led tech companies such as Uber and Pathao to come to the mainstream.

The concept of a medical call center is not new. Many organizations have attempted and are still trying to offer medical call center services in Bangladesh e.g. Grameenphone, Bangladesh Specialized Eye Hospital, Alliance Bangladesh, Olwel etc. BADAS launched its call center on 15th May 2016 ceremoniously in BIRDEM. Over the last 2 years, the operation of the call center has shown that with effective management and appropriate skills development of the doctors, the call center may offer an effective and realistic solution to patients to get in touch with a doctor at any point of time over the phone or mobile.

The call center is a great value addition for BADAS especially with its range of medical centers situated throughout the country. The Call Center is an effective tool to facilitate follow-up and referrals for patients to BADAS Centers situated across the country. The call center can be an effective link for the patients of BADAS to get in touch with a doctor anytime over their phones or mobiles. The call center has provided BADAS with an arm to extend their reach to their patients.

The Call Center began with booths in NHN IGH Mirpur 10. After the 2 years pilot, now booths have been opened in BIHS. Currently the Call Center has 21 doctors attending calls in NHN IGH Mirpur and BIHS Mirpur. The Call Center includes 7 Nutritionists and Customer Support.

During the 2-year pilot phase patients and/or people could register to the Call Center for a minimalistic fee of Tk. 150 per year. Currently there are 3 packages being operated:

Package 1: Introductory Package (New Diabetic Patients): Tk. 150 per year at NHN

Package 2: Basic Package (Old Diabetic Patients) Tk. 365 per year

Package 3: Tk. 499 per year

Tk. 150 per year and Tk. 365 per year packages provide the following services:

• Access to a doctor 24 hours, 7 days a week.
• Access to Nutritionist

Tk. 499 per year package includes access to:

• Doctor 24 hours, 7 days a week
• Nutritionist advice
• Appointments with top consultants
• Hospital admissions
• Booking ambulance
• Request/Order Medicine