The telephone in primary care.
The telephone, a ubiquitous instrument in the practice of medicine, continues to have new applications for clinical practice. The goals of the ever-increasing managed care environment appear to fit nicely with these applications. Heightened attention toward telephone education, protocol development, and documentation are needed. This article reviews characteristics of telephone encounters, the telephone in managed care, trends in "telemedicine," telephone education, and medicolegal aspects of telephone care.
Studdiford
J S
JS
Department of Family Medicine, Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Panitch
K N
KN
Snyderman
D A
DA
Pharr
M E
ME
D003142:Communication; D003363:Cost Control; D004501:Education, Medical; D006801:Humans; D008329:Managed Care Programs; D008499:Medical Records; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011320:Primary Health Care; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D013664:Teaching Materials; D017216:Telemedicine; D013689:Telephone