To improve its ability to communicate with stakeholders, health professionals and the general public, the Health Professionals Council of South Africa (HPCSA) recently embarked on a project to upgrade its communication services. The HPCSA, an umbrella body with 12 professional boards functioning under its jurisdiction, has selected ICT solutions and services specialist Atio Corporation as its partner of choice.
"We recognised the increasing need to be more accessible to our stakeholders (12 professional boards); our clients (the health professionals) and the general public at large. We focus on three main elements: setting healthcare standards for training and discipline; ensuring on-going professional competence; and fostering compliance with those standards. To do this as effectively as we would like, the HPCSA required a communications system, which enabled the council to provide a user-friendly and efficient service across multiple communications platforms," says Adv BM Mkhize, CEO, HPCSA.
As a result, the HPCSA entered into discussions with Atio regarding an upgraded PABX. Atio immediately recognised that the HPCSA requirements went beyond a traditional PABX and suggested a solution, which not only met the immediate need but also catered for the growth and future needs of the council.
"Atio believes that every business, whether it is an enterprise player or a service provider, should be able to adapt to the changing communications climate in today`s volatile business environment," says Jean Sinovich, Service Delivery Director at ATIO Corporation. Fortunately, the HPCSA had also recognised this need and has now invested in Interactive Intelligence`s Customer Interaction Centre (CIC) solution. This solution will not only give the council a new PABX but will also include elements of a call centre such as interactive voice response (IVR), voice recording and a menu-driven support system for standard queries.
"The council is one of the first regulatory bodies to invest in a communications solution of this nature and ATIO Corporation is committed to fulfilling its vision and meeting the expectations of clients and stakeholders alike," Sinovich concludes.
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The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) is a statutory body, established in terms of the Health Professions Act, 1974 (Act 56 of 1974). The council, in conjunction with its 12 professional boards, is committed to promoting the health of the population, determining standards of professional education and training, and setting and maintaining excellent standards of ethical and professional practice. In order to safeguard the public and indirectly the professions, registration in terms of the Act is a prerequisite for practising any of the health professions with which the council is concerned. Registration confers professional status upon a practitioner and therefore the right to practice his or her chosen profession.
Practitioners thus enjoy the security of being registered in terms of an Act in the knowledge that no unqualified person may practice their profession. The register is furthermore to the advantage of practitioners whose names appear in it, since this confers public recognition on the competent practitioner who will thus be able to command a reward for his or her services. The HPCSA is an autonomous body. It receives no grants or subsidies from government or any other source. It is totally funded by the relevant professions. The main consumer of its services, namely the public, does not and is not expected to contribute financially to the functioning of the council.
ATIO Corporation
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