Challenge

Part of Brazil's Unified Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde, or SUS), Maceió's public healthcare system struggled with a persistent issue: high rates of missed appointments and exams. These no-shows led to wasted resources, underutilised medical capacity and growing waitlists for essential services. At the same time, the process for booking appointments was inconvenient and inefficient, often requiring citizens to travel in person just to request one. This created barriers to access, particularly for vulnerable populations.

Poor communication between the health system and patients left many citizens unaware of appointments or unprepared for exams. Without a consistent digital communication channel, Maceió lacked an effective way to deliver timely notifications, encourage participation or re-engage citizens who had disengaged from care. When combined, these challenges reduced system efficiency and negatively affected healthcare outcomes across the city.

Solution

To address these issues, Maceió integrated the WhatsApp Business platform into its healthcare scheduling processes, creating a direct, user-friendly communication channel with citizens. Using WhatsApp, Maceió combined utility messages – such as appointment confirmations, preparation instructions and time-sensitive reminders – with ongoing marketing messages designed to educate citizens, promote preventive care programmes and encourage continued participation in public health services. WhatsApp enabled continuous engagement across the healthcare journey, from initial outreach and appointment management to follow-up care and ongoing preventive health communication, including remote monitoring and telehealth services.

Digitising these interactions enabled the city to eliminate the need for many in-person visits, making healthcare access more convenient and immediate. Automated messages delivered via a conversational assistant played a key role, ensuring timely communication while reducing the administrative burden. By maintaining a single conversational thread for multiple interactions, Maceió created a two-way communication experience that minimised friction, reduced inbound enquiries and strengthened trust between citizens and the healthcare system. The approach seeks to streamline healthcare operations while enabling a more responsive and accessible system for citizens.