Remote counselling and appointments
Sometimes digitalization refers to the smallest things. Such as not having to queue on the telephone for health counselling or go to a speech therapist’ office in the middle of a working day. We are using fast experiments to find services that ease Tampere residents’ lives.
Health counselling via chat
In the health service chat, all Tampere residents are welcome to ask for general tips or counselling related to health issues or health services. The questions are answered by a nurse.
The chat service was first piloted for eight months as part of the Smart Tampere program. Out of the users, 96% found the service to be useful, so a decision was made to continue chat counselling on a permanent basis. Clients particularly appreciated the fact that the chat allowed them to receive quick answers.
Student healthcare chat and remote appointments
Students at general upper secondary schools, vocational institutions and universities of applied sciences in Tampere can ask for healthcare counselling via a student healthcare chat. Counselling can be requested anonymously. The chat was piloted for six months, after which a decision was made to turn it into a permanent service.
The pilot involved remote appointments, and these have also been continued. The service is under further development, and staff are thinking of new ways to make use of remote appointments.
Speech therapy through remote appointments
In the speech therapy services offered to adults by the City of Tampere, remote appointments were piloted as part of adult voice rehabilitation. The clients saved time as they did not have to arrive at the therapist’s office for advice on voice rehabilitation. After the pilot, the speech therapist’s video-transmitted remote appointments continued as a permanent service.
Digital services can advance opportunities to engage independently
At best, digital services advance everyone’s opportunities to engage in society independently. For example, chat services also enable people who are deaf or hard of hearing to ask for health-related advice without assistance. With more versatile service channels the city of Tampere can serve better citizens with different needs.