title: Quality telephone medicine. Training and triage.
abstract: The telephone is an integral part of medical care, yet it ranks as the number one source of patient and clinician dissatisfaction. Problems fall into three categories: (1) volume overload with access difficulties, (2) staffing and telephone triage, and (3) the stress on clinicians of non-emergency night calls. This paper summarizes a telephone medicine satisfaction survey among HMO pediatric department chiefs, reviews the variables that influence the quality of telephone medicine, and discusses the importance of training in telephone management skills. A four-step approach to improving telephone medicine is presented along with a telephone quality-of-care checklist applicable to most practices.
authors.affiliation: Harvard Community Health Plan, Braintree, MA 02184.
authors.forename: H P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Katz
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003142:Communication; D006279:Health Maintenance Organizations / Q000592:standards*; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008486:Physician Executives; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013689:Telephone / Q000592:standards*; D014218:Triage; D014481:United States