19-01-2021
Alopedi s phone triage service
WHO is working with Romania’s Ministry of Health and health professionals in the country to make telephone consultations more widely available. The aim is to institutionalize telemedicine in Romania and make the service easily accessible to patients during and after the pandemic. WHO supported a proposal by the Ministry’s Paediatric Commission to update national health legislation to include phone triage, thereby helping to strengthen health services in the wake of COVID-19.
Many paediatric units in Romania are exploring how to replicate the project, which began in Cluj County in 2014. Alopedi is a phone triage service for children in Romania and in the diaspora that is now publicly owned and financed. Thirty-eight paediatricians work around the clock, taking calls from parents and advising on what type of medical care is needed. Patients can then access the health system at the appropriate level, increasing efficiency and avoiding del