Page 49 - 2020 Risk Reduction Series Effective Systems_Part 1_Flipbook

SVMIC Risk Reduction Series: Effective Systems

Telephone Systems

Telephone Triage

In addition to written telephone service standards, there should
be written policies to assist telephone response personnel in

advising patients and directing calls to the appropriate staff. The
policy should:

• Define what types of calls are routine vs. urgent vs. critical.

• Instruct where such calls are to be directed; i.e., when it is
appropriate to transfer the caller to a clinical staff person or

the physician.

• Define response times for each type of call:

» If it is determined that the call is urgent, respond
immediately.

» If it is determined that the call is non-urgent and

cannot be returned until later, staff should advise the
patient when a response can be expected, but they
should be all returned by the end of the day.

Clinical Advice Protocols

All physicians receive calls from patients needing clarification

of medical instructions, treatment, etc. This responsibility
frequently falls to the staff. However, it is often difficult for the

staff to handle telephone questions efficiently and appropriately
without written, standardized protocols to reference before

giving the patient this information. Initially, staff could benefit
from the use of written phone triage protocols, which would

assist them in determining how to direct callers to the correct
staff person for his or her inquiry.

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