Saudi Ministry of Health Provides More Accessible Health Services Through Its "937 Call Center"

 In line with the Saudi Vision 2030, the Ministry of Health (MOH) is undergoing a major transformation process to improve access, efficiency, and quality of care and to that end; several initiatives are currently under way. One of the key transformation initiatives undertaken by MOH for boosting the health care services in the Kingdom is establishment of a "937 Call Center." The Call Center provides round-the-clock medical and administrative services through a toll free number (937).   

Medical services provided by the Center include emergency and routine health care. The services are provided by health care professionals that immediately respond to inquiries and, if need be, refer callers to a more appropriate service. Despite the relatively new experience that the Saudi MOH has with the provision of telephone consultation services, the public in Saudi Arabia is increasingly utilizing these services. In the first quarter of 2019, the "937 Call Center" received over 2 million calls. The daily number of calls received by the Center is around 30 thousand, where these are answered within 15 seconds. To date, the overall public satisfaction rate with telephone consultations provided by "937 Call Center" has reached 85.19%.

Administrative services provided by the Center include inquiries about MOH's services; outgoing and incoming transactions; appointment requests for healthcare centers and hospital transfer requests based on the medical needs; in addition to complaints against public and private health facilities. Furthermore, the Center has the role of creating awareness regarding infectious diseases, toxins and medicines. To date "937 Call Center" has managed to resolve 95% of complaints received.