title: Reasons for after-hours calls.
abstract: Previous studies of after-hours calls to family physicians focused on caller demographics, medical triage skills, and patient satisfaction, and were usually conducted for a limited time. We examined the frequency and nature of calls to a family practice residency over 1 year. Caller and patient information, date, time, and chief complaint were obtained from answering service logs. The 5 most frequent chief complaints related to medications, pain, obstetric issues, fever, and nausea. Interestingly, 56 "high utilizers" (0.6% of all patients) accounted for 23% of the calls.
authors.affiliation: Rose Family Medicine Residency, 2149 S. Holly, Denver, CO 80222, USA. hildebrd@rfmr.com
authors.forename: David E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Hildebrandt
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Westfall
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D010821:Physicians, Family / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D013689:Telephone / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014218:Triage; D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance