The path to effective healthcare starts with a smooth first contact

At Mehiläinen, efficiency is achieved through well-functioning processes and tools, data-driven management, and ambitious goals. An important part of this is the teleQ service provided to Mehiläinen by Aurora Innovation, which helps professionals focus on what really matters – the patient. 

In healthcare, efficiency should not be pursued for its own sake, says Petja Orre, Director of Healthcare Business at Mehiläinen. 

“Efficiency is always a part of quality. On the other hand, if healthcare does not operate efficiently, true quality cannot be achieved either.” 

According to Orre, quality at Mehiläinen is above all the result of daily processes. Systems that improve workflow play an important role, and they must fit into the company’s and its many units’ ways of working – not the other way around. 

“We achieve a lot of efficiency by being able to design our own processes that are good and smooth for our professionals’ work. For the patient, this can mean, for example, that when they call, they reach exactly the right professional without being transferred from one person to another.” 

Trust grows when communication works 

One of Mehiläinen’s systems for streamlining everyday operations is the modern communication platform Aurora teleQ. The solution streamlines and automates the communication between the patient and healthcare, making everyday life easier for both healthcare staff and patients. 

According to Orre, from the patient´s perspective, the most important factor for creating efficiency is being able to reach healthcare services. On the other hand, a failed attempt to make contact can erode trust in the entire system. 

“The patient must be able to trust that their contact request has been recorded and that they will be contacted as soon as possible. Ideally, they should also know when they will be contacted. This information also reduces failure demand, because the patient knows they will indeed be reached.”

Aurora teleQ is used by Mehiläinen in Finland’s largest outsourced primary and specialised healthcare in Harjun Terveys and Länsi-Pohja, as well as in smaller outsourced units in various wellbeing services counties. Mehiläinen’s Occupational Health Services also rely heavily on the efficiency provided by teleQ. 

“In our support systems, we value their ability to adapt as much as possible, to enable a wide variety of workflows, and to offer comprehensive reporting. Aurora teleQ supports the work of our professionals by removing obstacles so that their focus is always on the patient,” says Orre.

Per Savander, responsible for the Mehiläinen account at Aurora Innovation, says that teleQ has been developed specifically for the needs of healthcare. 

“This is particularly evident in its excellent usability in diverse service environments. We are very pleased with our long-term and evolving cooperation with Mehiläinen.”

Aurora teleQ reduces stress and enables better staff
performance 

Aurora teleQ is an important part of ensuring smooth daily nursing work at Mehiläinen, says Head Nurse Talvikki Nyström. 

“teleQ is a huge help in planning daily work. It brings clarity and calm to the nurses’ workday. When the number of calls to be made can be tracked and resourced more efficiently, the feeling of being rushed also decreases.”

At Mehiläinen, healthcare operations are driven through data. Aurora teleQ reports are used daily to track response times, the number and duration of calls made, and many other metrics. Key figures are also displayed on scoreboards visible to nurses.

Nyström believes that data can encourage people to perform even better. This recently happened at Keuruu Health Center, where teleQ was introduced after Mehiläinen became the service provider.

“The staff wanted to see the reports so they could track how many calls they had made at different times. Things really took off, and an impressive number of calls were made.”

One particularly important feature of teleQ, according to Nyström, is that administrators can modify the system themselves and create the necessary call routings. 

“We have locations where we’ve set up separate call queues for, for example, physiotherapists and psychiatric nurses. The system immediately shows what kind of patient it is, and the right professional group can respond directly.”

Nyström also praises Aurora Innovation’s agility and openness to Mehiläinen’s needs. 

“Aurora aims to develop its services so that they truly support the everyday work of our healthcare operations.”

Artificial Intelligence assists with call-backs 

Artificial intelligence (AI) is part of everyday life at Mehiläinen. It is used, for example, for searching and summarising information as well as recording patient data. 

AI can increase efficiency, but it can also make work higher-quality and more meaningful, says Mehiläinen’s Public Healthcare IT & Digital Business Partner, Helena Kauma. 

This happens, for example, when Mehiläinen’s own Taika AI application is combined with teleQ. In Sweden, Mehiläinen has piloted a solution at one healthcare centre where, when calling, a patient leaves a voice message that AI then summarises. 

“Taika helps professionals with call-backs. In the past, they had no idea why the patient was calling. With AI, they can prepare in advance for how to start assessing the need for care. This makes the work more efficient and more meaningful.”

According to Kauma, the first experiences from the pilot are very promising. 

“The professionals have really liked the solution. Assessing the need for care must always be done with quality, but also efficiently.”

According to Antti Luoto, Chief Commercial Officer of the Aurora Innovation Group, the goal of Aurora Innovation’s AI development is to increase customer value in a concrete way and create solutions that truly support and streamline workflows. 

“We work closely with our customers to understand their everyday challenges and opportunities. The cooperation with Mehiläinen is a concrete example of how AI-based solutions help free up healthcare professionals’ time and improve the customer experience.”

High standards and high results 

For healthcare to be of high quality, smooth processes and the right systems are not enough — good daily management and an understanding of the countless factors that affect efficiency are also needed, Orre explains. 

He also stresses the importance of setting the bar high enough. 

“We have internal requirements for what we want to achieve and what good looks like. Aurora teleQ is an excellent tool for supporting internal processes that help nursing work, and we’ve been very pleased with it.”

When the standard is set high, results follow. 

“We handle all calls on the same day. The average response time across all units is around one hour, which I already consider a very good achievement,” Orre says.

The quality that comes from efficiency is particularly important in public–private healthcare partnerships. 

“As a private operator in public healthcare, we must work twice as hard to earn the trust of our patients and ensure the responsible use of public funds.”

For example, the Ruoholahti Health Centre in Helsinki, operated by Mehiläinen, ranks among the top in Helsinki’s healthcare services in both patient satisfaction and access to care. Ruoholahti also has the shortest call-back time in the city — 91 minutes, compared to the Helsinki average of 374 minutes. 

“We do this for our patients. Our goal is to earn their trust and appreciation every day by always doing everything the right way.”

Mehiläinen is a 115-year-old company that is highly innovative and expanding rapidly, both geographically and through technological innovations such as the BeeHealthy digital healthcare platform and Taika AI-solutions. Mehiläinen is a leading private provider of social and healthcare services, operating in Finland, Sweden (Meliva), Estonia, Germany, and Lithuania – with 37,000 employees across 890 locations and serving 2.2 million customers annually. Revenue is 2.2 billion euros, and it is growing.