An important feature of WHP's operations is the centralised facility that coordinates various parts of the service delivery process. Such a control centre, modelled on a call centre format, is also particularly useful for cases that require aggressive follow-up over long periods as in tuberculosis treatment or antenatal care. The control centre is based in Delhi and Patna. The Delhi control centre manages household mapping through ASHAs, referral follow-ups, tele-counselling of family planning, ante-natal care, maternal and child health, client satisfaction, grievance redressal and teleconsultation by qualified medical doctors. Its functions are being expanded to cover gender-based violence, mental health counselling and support services in the TB and COVID related projects. The Patna centre currently handles case registrations, product placement, reimbursement of claims, client satisfaction, and alerts.

The control centre also oversees the functioning of the interactive voice response (IVR) system that WHP uses to respond directly to clients, both for demand generation and treatment adherence.

The control centre has also started playing an increasing role in registration of clients which otherwise would have been the responsibility of the front-end workers. WHP has witnessed extreme discomfort among front-end workers entering text (in contrast to entering numbers which they do with great felicity). Sometimes, this reluctance to enter text has jeopardized the entire technology-based solutions as witnessed in some states of India. The control centre has access to a data bank in which all locations are geo-mapped so registering a patient on the basis of residential location is simple. This also provides an opportunity to generate outbreak alerts since geo-coordinated personal data provide an opportunity to cluster morbidities and compare against pre-determined thresholds.

You can access a comprehensive note on the call centre, detailing staffing needs, costs, internal processes, technology and potential outputs from here.