Nurse Triage Case Study: Giving Appropriate Callback Instructions
Any time that a triage nurse speaks to a patient caller about their symptoms, they need to include callback instructions. These are meant to guide the patient on what to do in case those symptoms worsen. It is imperative that the nurse provides enough information to the patient so that they can identify when that change has been significant enough to warrant a callback. Case Study: Infant’s Dry Cough To explain this process in more detail, let’s consider a case study involving a nine-week-old infant
COVID or Flu? Telephone Nurse Triage Tips for Pediatric Patients
Because we’re back in flu season, doctor offices and our nurse triage lines have received an uptick in callers who are confused and worried about whether their children have contracted COVID or influenza. Their concerns are understandable, especially when there aren’t many differences in symptoms between COVID and flu, and both follow similar treatment. Masks and social distancing last year saw a historically low flu percentage, which is now likely to go back up due to eased restrictions. Here are tips that triage nurses should
Case Study: Using Schmitt-Thompson Protocols to Triage Acute Pain
When addressing adult patients with acute pain, telephone triage nurses benefit from Schmitt-Thompson protocols in two ways: 1) most older adults already have chronic conditions that complicate identifying their pain’s source; and 2) they may have multiple injuries that need to be assessed and prioritized. Schmitt-Thompson protocols ensure that responding triage nurses identify all symptoms and do so in order of severity. Let’s see how this is applied through an example scenario with a patient named Paula. Assessing multiple symptoms Paula calls a triage support
What are Schmitt-Thompson Protocols?
As telehealth gains in popularity, it’s even more important for physicians to ensure that their patients receive consistent, accurate advice on every call. When it’s in regard to a patient’s symptoms, nurses are usually the first line of care. In order to determine if those symptoms can either be managed at home, with a primary care physician, or at the Emergency Room, triage nurses need a framework to guide them. Schmitt-Thompson Protocols Doctors Barton Schmitt and David Thompson, a pediatric practitioner and an internist respectively,
Home Health Agencies Using RPM Will Be Rewarded by Medicare
The shift from volume-based care to value-based has extended from hospitals and doctors’ offices to home health agencies. According to Fierce Healthcare, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) created a payment model that “incentivizes quality of care improvements without denying or limiting coverage or provision of Medicare benefits for all Medicare consumers and includes updates to payment rates and policies…” This change is expected to go national by 2022. Once this is enacted, if an agency ranks in the top 20 percent, they’re
What Does a Triage Nurse Do in a Doctor’s Office?
Triage nurses can play an essential role for any doctor’s office by addressing patient callers and providing the best dispositions for their care. This work can be performed during the day using a simple protocols checklist, or using more robust reporting and symptom protocols when the doctor’s office is closed. But what exactly does that look like? And how can these nurses provide consistency on every call? Here’s a full breakdown of that process. The Patient First, a patient calls a doctor’s office to discuss
Are Answering Service Operators Asking the Right Questions?
When a patient calls a nurse triage phone line, they’re first greeted by an answering service. This includes an operator whose job it is to ask questions regarding the reason for the patient’s call, which allows patient requests to be organized into urgent and non-urgent categories for nurse triage staff to address. However, there are times when the complaint an operator documents isn’t reflective of the severity of the patient’s problem. Why does this happen, and how can it be avoided? First, Answering Service Operators
Press Release: Play-it Health Partners with TriageLogic on Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM)
Jacksonville, Fla., August 9, 2021 – Play-it Health, a virtual care management organization, has coupled its Remote Patient Monitoring services with TriageLogic’s telephone nurse support for patient symptom-checking and follow-up. Play-it Health has continued to provide exceptional virtual care management since the COVID-19 pandemic through the use of its Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) program. This is one of the most effective tools that doctors can implement to track the symptoms of their patients who suffer from chronic disease. It incorporates wearable devices that those patients use
Legal Perspective on Telephone Nurse Triage Documentation and Tips for Success
There’s no question that telephone triage nurses provide a valuable resource for patients seeking guidance on medical care. But like all areas of healthcare, they must also understand the legal responsibilities and liabilities involved in telephone nurse triage documentation. Here are the main points they must keep in mind to provide the most accurate dispositions and avoid legal or negligence issues: They don’t make diagnoses It’s important to remember that triage nurses do not diagnose patient symptoms, nor should they claim to. Their role is
Triage Nurse Explains Delta Variant: Symptoms, Vaccinations, and Prevention — An Interview With Ravi Raheja, M.D.
The most recent concern for the U.S. regarding COVID-19 has been the spread of the contagious Delta variant. It first appeared in India in December of 2020, spread to the U.K. and other countries, and is now poised to become the dominant strain stateside. This is attributed to its higher transmissibility, as well as lower vaccination rates and reduced social distancing measures. As a result, patient questions about COVID are on the rise. Here’s what triage nurses have learned about Delta thus far, information that
Important Steps for a Triage Nurse Evaluating Male Abdominal Pain
When your male patients call your practice to report abdominal pain, it’s important that the responding nurse considers all possible reasons — and obtains all necessary information — to get a clear picture of the patient’s symptoms. Not only is abdominal pain fairly common, the root causes of it can vary greatly, as can the severity of its discomfort. Each case requires a triage nurse to consider the worst-case scenario based on a full picture of the associated symptoms, and use the most up-to-date triage
Care News – Summer 2021
In this issue of Care News, we cover the three questions medical practices are faced with now that COVID restrictions have loosened; Dr. Ravi Raheja talks about the importance of cybersecurity for protecting your telephone nurse triage and patient data, and addresses the growing cases of COVID-19 in younger age groups; and we highlight the importance of new Schmitt-Thompson protocols that allow triage nurses to schedule patient telehealth visits. CEO Summer 2021 Update – Dr. Charu Raheja Letter from the CEO – How Hospitals and
