Valencian Community Plans AI System to Answer Patient Calls at Health Centres

The Valencian Community plans to introduce an artificial intelligence system that will answer patients' telephone calls to primary care centres. The Health Ministry has published a tender for the supply of this AI-based call-handling platform. The initiative is aimed at solving one of the main problems — the overload of telephone lines.

At present, around 60% of calls to the centres go unanswered due to the large number of enquiries, and at peak times this figure can reach 90%. The average waiting time to obtain or change an appointment is more than a week, which has a negative effect on both patients and the work of medical staff.

The new AI platform should significantly improve the situation. It is envisaged that a patient will call their medical centre's usual number, but instead of an administrator, a virtual assistant will answer. The system will ask the patient to enter their SIP number (individual medical identifier), clarify the reason for the enquiry and the symptoms, after which it will automatically offer an appointment with the appropriate specialist. It will also be possible to change or cancel an already scheduled appointment through this system.

The conversation is expected to take less than three minutes. The platform will not be limited to telephone calls alone — it will be integrated with digital services such as the GVA+Salut app and the online patient portal, so that users can manage their appointments in various ways.

The project provides for the phased introduction of the system in all 846 primary care centres in the region. After full rollout, the platform will be able to handle up to 21 million calls a year.

In addition, the technology will include analytical tools that will make it possible to track operational efficiency, monitor the workload on medical facilities, and improve the quality of patient service. As a result, the authorities expect not only to reduce waiting times but also to distribute the workload more evenly among specialists, making the healthcare system more convenient and efficient for everyone.