The Indian Railway is a colossal system with staggering statistics. As of March 2017, it is the world’s eighth-largest employer, with 1.3 million employees and has the fourth-largest railway network in the world by size. Adding to that, it operates over 20,000 passenger trains daily, from 7,300+ stations across India.
An organization of this sheer volume is bound to have a few shortcomings now and then. One of the major areas of concern for the Indian Railways was providing healthcare services for all the employees. Retired employees had a tough time finding quality health services they could trust with their life-long savings or pensions. Booking appointments for doctors or diagnostics was another herculean task. All of this pushed employees, both current and retired, to go for expensive and sometimes, untrustworthy medical help.
This required a massive effort to bring all the employees, past and present under one fold. Technological solutions seemed like the only aid in resolving this issue. Indian Railway turned towards the chat-based productivity app, Kaizala. The app comes equipped with abilities to handle large group communications ideal for onboarding all the employees and doctors. The initiative went through on 4th April 2019. The announcement was made that Indian Railway employees will be connected to quality healthcare services via Microsoft Kaizala. A dedicated and healthcare-focused group was created comprising current and ex-employees, doctors from South Central Railways, paramedical staff, and nurses. This was a huge step towards providing healthcare facilities to employees from over 250 private and railway affiliated hospitals across the country.
The Indian Railway employees now could search for affiliated hospitals and diagnostic centers nearby using Kaizala. Employees would also be able to choose doctors from the list provided and book appointments accordingly. The diagnostic results and lab reports can be shared with the doctors using the app. The electronic medical records can be uploaded to Kaizala using the ‘me chat’ feature. The healthcare group will update the members about the latest information and policy changes. The users can share their feedback regarding the facilities using the inbuilt action cards.
This integration allowed the Indian Railways to reach out to their employees and communicate better than ever. Information and proper education on vaccination, immunization, emergency procedures like ECC and CPR can be quickly disseminated via this focused group. The doctors present in the group now have access to detailed diagnostics reports which will help them in providing timely medical care. The digitization enables the doctors to extract past medical records via the saved EMR and lab results. The inbuilt action cards like the announcement, polls, surveys ensure the employee feedback is taken into proper consideration.
This step and collaboration should be acknowledged and celebrated, considering how it has potentially changed the lives of millions across the country and for the better. Due to the security protocols and practical features, organizations across all verticals from Government to the private sector have adopted Kaizala. Indian Railways implementing Kaizala as a channel for medical and healthcare facilities further strengthens the precedent. Indian Railways serves as the backbone of the country, from business to transportation, and the employees deserve a sense of security when it comes to their family’s health.
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