Evolution of Nationwide Central Hospital Appointment System (CHAS) Implementation: A Country Study

Abstract

Health Transformation Program (HTP) is searching for a solution to overall concerns and structural insufficiencies such as public health insurance, accession to health care services and the service quality of the Turkish Health System. One of the works and studies carried out in this context is the implementation of Central Hospital Appointment System (CHAS) enacted in February, 2010. Purpose. This study aimed to assess one-year pilot studies in CHAS implemented in the scope of HTP and to reveal its development in the first year. Within the scope of CHAS implementation, 11 provinces and 104 hospitals have been included to the system in one-year pilot implementation period. Method. This study is a descriptive research. Study date was gathered from the Turkish Ministry of Health. Descriptive analysis was used to data analysis. Results. In a total 1,025,323 appointments were given at the end of this period. Eskisehir is a lead province which is using the system in the most effective way with a rate of 17.41 % and 178,491 appointments. 10.29 % of total appointments were given in Canakkale Public Hospital and 81.55 % of total numbers of appointments were given in 16 hospitals. In the range of branches, internal medicine can be distinguished from other specialties with a rate of 12.09 %. 80.82 % of appointments intensified on 12 medical specialties. The average of call handling time is 129.17 sec and 1,403,663 calls are received by call center in the pilot application period. Conclusion. CHAS implementation has the potential to play and important role in improving the accessibility to health care service in Turkey and other countries.