Page 54 - 2022 Risk Basics - Surgical Practice

SVMIC Risk Basics: Surgical Practice

the staff should ask in response to various complaints, as well

as when a patient should be referred to a physician.

Using questions outlined in the advice protocol will enable the
staff to:

 More accurately describe the patient’s condition

 Give the physician relevant information so that the
patient is prescribed the most appropriate treatment or

directed to an appropriate healthcare facility

 Provide the patient with accurate clinical advice that is

consistent for all patients with similar symptoms or

complaints

Any medications initiated or refilled must be directly authorized
by a physician or advanced practice provider.

Once the triage protocol is consulted and a decision is made

about who is qualified to handle the caller’s concerns, a written
clinical advice protocol should be provided for the clinical staff

to use before giving medical information to the patient. This
detailed, written clinical advice protocol should include

clarifying questions for the clinical staff to ask the patient in

response to various complaints. These questions will help
them to determine if the patient should be given specific

instructions or referred to a physician or the emergency room if
a physician is not available to respond to the patient’s

complaints. Staff should understand that if the clinical advice

protocol does not include information about the complaint that
a patient has described, the physician or an advanced practice

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