title: Evaluating patient compliance with nurse advice line recommendations and the impact on healthcare costs.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the effect of telephone triage and advice lines in uninsured and managed care populations served by a safety net system and to document the relationship between the patient's initial plan for healthcare, the nurse recommendation, and the patient's subsequent healthcare action.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective telephone survey.
  
  
  METHODS
  Of 1538 calls to a nurse advice line in a 28-day period, 710 (46%) callers were selected to be surveyed. Of those, 278 (39%) were surveyed by telephone within 7 days of their call to assess patient compliance with recommendations, the patient's actual healthcare actions, and their satisfaction with the service.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients' reported actions were classified as either (1) home care (46%), (2) clinic visit (27%), or (3) hospital visit (27%). Seventy percent of patients complied with nurse advice line recommendations. Most patient actions (68%) differed from their original healthcare plan, with many (46%) choosing a lower intensity of care. Changes from patients' original healthcare plans had a potential annual net savings of $322 249.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The simple act of calling a nurse triage and advice line corresponds with a change in the reported actions of uninsured and managed care patients and a potential reduction in costs to the safety net system providing their healthcare.
authors.affiliation: Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center, Denver, Colo 80204, USA. greg.bogdan@rmpdc.org
authors.forename: Gregory M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Bogdan
authors.forename: Jody L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: Diane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Swanson
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gabow
authors.forename: Richard C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Dart
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003120:Colorado; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D010349:Patient Compliance; D013685:Telecommunications / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*