In the Netherlands, doctors handle an immense number of calls daily, with an estimated 42% of calls coming from individuals who do not require medical attention the same day or not at all. This influx creates long phone wait times, endangering patients who require urgent care and putting immense pressure on already understaffed medical practices.

MINDD, short for "Moet Ik Naar De Dokter" or "Should I go to the doctor," set out to support medical offices in managing call loads by selecting Sinch AI to sort calls based on medical urgency. Geertina Hamstra, a conversational AI expert, led this initiative. "My assignment was a clear one," Geertina explains, "create a system to support emergency routing. It sounds simple - pick up the phone, run through a few questions, and then get routed. But there are many technical steps in between to tackle, and choosing the right partner for the project's success was critical."

The solution needed to allow patients to speak naturally in complete sentences, navigate emergencies without getting stuck in a triage loop, manage phone calls at scale, and handle the complexities of the Dutch language, including various accents and dialects. Sinch's expertise in Conversational AI made them the ideal partner for MINDD (https://www.sinch.com/insights/customer-stories/how-mindd-built-ai-enabled-voice-chatbot-safely-triage-patients/). "Starting a project like this comes with its fair share of unknowns and surprises. It has been a great experience working with Sinch because feedback flows both ways. They think deeply about the problem we're trying to solve," says Geertina.

By combining the latest in conversational technology with Sinch AI, MINDD can now safely pre-triage patients by enabling patients to call the doctor's office and provide details such as age, sex, and the reason for calling, all in full sentences. All information is securely relayed directly to the doctor's office, equipping human agents or medical staff with the necessary data to assist and prioritize patients effectively.

"Working with Geertina and her team at MINDD has always been a great experience. This project really embodies the meaningful and impactful AI that we aim to create with our clients at Sinch." shared Joachim Jonkers, Sinch's AI Director of Product. With Sinch AI, businesses can finally unlock the power of next-generation communications, ushering in a new age of customer engagement and loyalty.

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For more information about Sinch AI, please visit Sinch.com (https://www.sinch.com/ai/)

About: Moet ik naar de dokter

"Moet ik naar de dokter?", also known as MINDD, is an organization that offers online and telephone digital self-triage and consultation preparation to Emergency Primary Care Posts and day practices.
The self-triage and consultation preparation is co-developed and approved by a Medical Board of doctors and triage nurses.With the triage available 24/7, MINDD helps people take responsibility for their own health. Through this step-by-step online self-triage, the urgency of the health complaint is determined.When the patient's triage answers lead to the conclusion thatemergency help is needed, they are directly routed to the emergency phone line.Patients who actually do not need to see a general practitioner or emergency care post, are reassured and provided with reliable (self-care) advice. For patients who, according to the triage, should contact the general practitioner or Emergency Care Post, MINDD already sends the online filled-in data to the practice.The available information leads to a more empathetic and efficient (shorter) conversation with the doctor's assistant or triage nurse.