September 2, 2019 is Labor Day, the public holiday in honor of the working people. Most people start celebrating early, going to parties throughout the weekend. Many practices are evaluating how they will be managing patient calls during this time. Holidays not only mean increased patient call volume, but they often mean closing the office for a few days. Providing patients with quality nurse triage solutions while your office is closed can ensure that patients are able to receive continuity of care. In addition, it is important that your office nurses have a software that allows them to easily follow standard daytime triage protocols when handling patient phone calls when your office is open.
Why Your Office Needs Daytime Triage Software
During office hours, patients can receive consistent telephone assessment and care advice, when the practice has a quality telephone triage software such as MyTriageChecklist. Daytime triage software ensures nurses deliver standardized high quality care advice using Gold-Standard Schmitt-Thompson protocols. Every call can be easily documented in the patient’s chart. For practices and organizations looking for more integration, MyTriageChecklist can also be combined with your EMR or with a Salesforce platform.
Managing Patient Calls When Your Office is Closed
There are two main options for managing patient calls when the office is closed. Providers can set up their own system using their staff and giving them access to a telephone triage software such as TriageLogic’s Call Center Solution. Or, they can use an outsourced triage service such as TriageLogic’s Nurse Triage On Call to forward patient calls to qualified telephone triage nurses. While each solution has its pros and cons, the provider must decide what will work best for their particular practice, staff, and patients. (See this article on the Best Options to Manage Patient Calls Based on the Size and Needs of Your Organization.)
Health & Safety Tips For Telephone Triage Nurses to Give to Patients
Here are some reminders to give to your patients to help them stay healthy and prevent unnecessary ER visits during the Labor Day weekend:
- Food Safety – Attending parties can be a fun way to spend the day, but people often feel pressured to eat something with questionable quality. Remind patients not to be afraid to say “no thank you” if they are unsure how the food was prepared or how long it had been sitting out.
- Alcohol Consumption – Most ER and Trauma doctors are expecting busy nights during the Labor Day weekend due to heavy drinking associated with parties. It only takes 2 drinks for a smaller person and 3 for a larger person to be significantly impaired.
- Sunscreen – Recommend your patients to apply sunscreen 30 minutes before they leave the house and reapply every 2 hours while they are outside. No matter the weather conditions, a person can still damage their skin and get a sunburn.
Contact TriageLogic to discuss which nurse triage solution will work best for your practice, staff and patients this holiday season and beyond. Your patients will thank you for being available to help them even when your office is closed.
