RedSalud cuts phone traffic by 43% using Business Messages
Founded in 2001, RedSalud is one of the largest health care providers in Chile with a total of 54 clinics across the country. As a member of the Chilean Chamber of Construction, RedSalud provides a wide range of private health services that put the patient first.
Santiago, Chile
https://www.redsalud.cl/
43%
drop in monthly call volume
30,000+
chats initiated
50+
global locations where Business Messages has been implemented across
“With Google’s Business Messages, we’ve added a new customer support option that lets our patients easily manage their appointments.”
María José Lombardo, Content Product Manager
Customers chat with RedSalud
through Google Search
The summary
During the COVID-19 pandemic, RedSalud received an unprecedented number of care-request calls, bottlenecking its phone system and creating long waits for its patients to get the information they needed. To alleviate the massive influx of calls and reduce wait times, the company teamed up with digital advertising solution agency, Top Local Manager (Top), to pilot a new line of customer communication to draw traffic away from its phones.
Applying Top’s automated chatbot technology to Google’s Business Messages, RedSalud could provide its patients support before determining if they needed to speak to a live agent. The system was piloted at five of the company’s largest clinics and was a huge success. At the trial clinics alone, it reduced the total inbound call volume across all 54 locations by over 43% and cut RedSalud’s average number of monthly calls from roughly 150,000 to 83,000. Since its January 2022 rollout, over 30,000 chats have been initiated using Business Messages.
The challenge
RedSalud has always prioritized its patients, ensuring they receive care how and when they need it. But the COVID-19 pandemic tested the limitations of its customer support system. Throughout the pandemic, the company experienced a substantial increase in health-related phone inquiries. At the time, 60% of the care requests from patients happened over the phone — a massive increase from pre-pandemic numbers. The number of calls continued to climb in 2021 when Chile’s COVID-19 vaccines began to circulate, reaching an unprecedented peak of 170,000 calls per month across the company’s 54 locations.
RedSalud’s phone system wasn’t equipped to handle this massive influx of patient requests – the increased call volume led to long waits that often left patients on the line with their questions unanswered. To mitigate the massive burden placed on its phone system and patients, RedSalud had to identify a new, easy way for customers to get the information they needed.
The approach
To do this, RedSalud worked with Top, an international advertising agency that specializes in tailored solutions for SMBs and large enterprises. Together, they piloted a new hybrid communication approach at five of its largest clinics. This hybrid system paired Top’s chatbox technology with Business Messages and automatically responded to customer requests with basic information before connecting them to a live agent, if needed. RedSalud was confident the specialized system would help it adapt to its client call volume by distributing customer requests across the company's communication channels.
Instead of calling in, patients could search for “RedSalud” on Google Maps or Search and use Business Messages to contact their clinic. They could then engage in a completely automated conversation with Top’s AI chatbot to be guided through a list of care options. The chatbot interacted with patients by using a dialogue tree to funnel the conversation, helping direct them to the answers they need. An audit of customer care found that, in most cases, the bot provided solutions to simple inquiries, such as scheduling an appointment or finding health results. When the bot couldn’t understand a user’s request, it offered a link to a representative, ensuring customers received the support they needed while also mitigating the flow of traffic.
The results
RedSalud found immediate relief with Business Messages. Since January 2022, customers have initiated more than 30,000 chats at the five pilot clinic’s websites, diverting a substantial amount of traffic from its phone systems. Before implementing Business Messages, its 54 clinics averaged nearly 150,000 phone calls per month. Now, with the new system in use at only five locations, they receive an average of 83,000 calls per month — an impressive 43% drop.
Business Messages saved RedSalud and its patients time and effort by reducing phone traffic and allowing patients to get the answers they need, when they need them. Having multiple lines of communication gives the company the capacity to handle large flows of care requests while also giving patients the freedom to choose a support option that’s best for them. RedSalud sees a bright future with Google’s Business Messages and plans to use it across all 54 locations.