CONVERGE INTERNATIONAL
Technology helping meet wellbeing needs Melbourne-based Converge starts by understanding the issues , through a process of assessment that is often tech-driven . It then helps its customers design a program that best meets the well-being needs of its people .
Porter has a team of 16 , and the company employs a total of 500 people , and draws from a pool of an additional 1,200 consultants .
Technology is driving “ a great amount of change in how we work and how we deliver our services ”, says Porter . “ It ’ s helping our people provide care anytime and anywhere .”
Covid proved a catalyst here . Melbourne was the most locked-down city in the world during the pandemic , enduring a total of 266 days of lockdown .
“ In order for our business to work we had to move our call centre into people ’ s homes ,” says Porter . “ I know most other businesses also had to do this but we were also dealing with people who were traumatised , and at the same time we were having to deal with this huge change ourselves .”
He adds :” Covid boosted our confidence that omnichannel healthcare was the future , and it enabled us to put in place processes that we now use daily .”
To this end Converge has shifted from simply facilitating traditional faceto-face meetings with clinicians to more and more telehealth , and has also invested in a platform that enables access to realtime data . This is able to generate highly personalised science-based insights for employees and helps them take care of their own mental wellbeing .
“ It ’ s not just the technology that makes us successful , but having the right people ”
FERGUS PORTER CIO , CONVERGE INTERNATIONAL
“ We ’ ve focused on technologies that make it easier for people to contact us , utilise our services , and get the outcomes that they need ,” says Porter .
Industry-first intelligent booking system An example of this is an industry-first online booking service the company recently launched .
“ You might think , ‘ So what ? It ’ s just a booking service ?’”, says Porter , with a theatrical shrug . “ But it ’ s not as simple as that , because every person is different . They live in different locations and have different needs for interacting with us , such as video , voice , text or face-to-face . They may also have personal preferences .”
It might be , he goes on to explain , that a person only wants to see somebody of the same gender , or who is used to dealing with LGBTQI + issues , or who is First Nations .
The booking service also has to consider time zones , because Australia is a vast country , and in dealing with doctors and consultants – who run multiple diaries using different modalities in different locations – then the service ’ s matching algorithm “ has to be robust ”.
172 May 2024