Calls placed to the national healthcare system (Gesy) will require caller identification as of September, the Health Insurance Organisation said on Monday.

The HIO is the administrator of Gesy.

The organisation said that any calls to Gesy operators which involve personal information will require the caller identifying himself or herself.

This is to prevent potential identity theft, the HIO said.

On contacting the call centre, the caller will state their name and the nature of their query. If the query involves the caller’s personal information, the caller will receive a One-Time Password (OTP) via text on their mobile phone.

The OTP will be active for five minutes. Within this timeframe the caller must send the password back to the Gesy operator, so the latter can match the caller’s name to their phone number registered with Gesy’s archives.

After that, during the phone call the operator will ask the caller to provide their ID number and date of birth, for extra verification.

Once the process is done, the query may proceed.

Queries of a general nature, not involving personal details, will not require this process.

The HIO urged Gesy beneficiaries to make sure their contact information is up-to-date and the same as that currently registered with Gesy.

According to the organisation, the coming change is part of ongoing efforts to upgrade services and enhance security of personal data.

The Gesy call centre working hours are from 8am to 8pm daily, and from 8am to 4pm on Saturdays. They are closed on Sundays and public holidays.

Callers can dial 17000, toll-free.