5 Ways to Ensure Optimal Nurse Triage Coverage for Any Patient Call Volume
Does your team have difficulty maintaining the appropriate nurse triage coverage due to unpredictable patient call volume? This is especially true when calls come in waves, or right after doctors’ offices have closed. While many of the reasons for these calls may be non-urgent — a prescription refill request, for instance — nurses should never assume that they are until they have the opportunity to review all patient symptoms thoroughly. How can they do this and still handle all calls in the appropriate windows of
Care News – Summer 2022
Welcome to Care News! In this issue, we highlight TriageLogic’s latest secure texting tool; Charu Raheja’s recent status as an honoree for the Jacksonville Business Journal’s “Women of influence 2022”; the continued benefits of remote patient monitoring (RPM) programs; self-care tips for healthcare professionals; and much more! TL Care Newsletter Letter From Our CEO: The Best New Technology for Improving Your Nurse Triage Performance Charu Raheja, Ph.D., TriageLogic CEO Rates of nurse burnout and turnover are both high, and the healthcare industry remains overstressed. In
Letter From Our CEO: The Best New Technology for Improving Your Nurse Triage Performance
In spite of overcoming what has arguably been the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the healthcare industry is still overstressed. Nurse availability is of particular concern, as many nurses are seeing delays in becoming licensed. Burnout and turnover also remain high in the healthcare industry. TriageLogic has developed technological tools that can ease these burdens and help improve nurse triage performance. In this edition, we outline some of our latest technology solutions that improve accuracy, allow for better communication, and streamline training. Answering Service AI
Letter From Our CTO: Telehealth Transformation Requires Patient Data Protection
In recent years, we’ve seen an increased demand for transformative care like remote patient monitoring (RPM) and telehealth nurse triage. Conversely, we’ve also seen an increase in data hijacking, ransomware, and other digital threats to our industry that have forced organizations to increase their investment in technology to protect patient data. As a service provider, we believe that it is our job to establish the proper infrastructure for patient data protection for the calls that we manage. Here are some of our latest measures to
Case Study: How Do Triage Nurses Help Suicidal Patients?
Depression and suicide have been on the rise, up 33% from 1999 to 2017. One way to prevent suicide is by implementing a strong telephone nurse triage. We’ve seen firsthand how it can benefit patient callers considering self-harm by establishing a rapport and getting them timely medical assistance. We’ve even had instances where our own nurses have been thanked by suicide callers for being there to talk with them. Consider the following case study. Caller Goes From Considering Self-Harm to Thanking Nurse One of our
How Can Answering Service Operators Help Your Triage Nurses Know if a Call Is Urgent? A New Tool for Answering Services
It’s every triage nurse’s responsibility to get a patient caller to the appropriate care in the appropriate window of time. Nurses taking patient phone calls usually work on a callback queue and are trained to prioritize calls based on the symptoms collected by the answering service. So how do nurses know if a call is urgent and needs to be answered immediately? It may be obvious if a parent complains about a baby under 3 months with fever, or an adult calls with chest pain. However, some
Charu Raheja Named One of JBJ’s “Women of Influence 2022”
TriageLogic is proud to announce that its CEO, Charu Raheja, has been named one of the Jacksonville Business Journal’s “Women of Influence 2022.” Below are excerpts from that article, her thoughts on why TriageLogic has been so successful when it comes to patient health, and the excitement she has for the technology and innovation yet to come. Evolving Nurse Triage Charu has been a big proponent for nurse triage for a long time – fourteen years, in fact. Her investment in TriageLogic has translated into
Choosing the Correct Protocol in Nurse Triage: An In-Depth Discussion of Fever Protocol
As part of the nurse triage process, nurses need to select guided protocols to evaluate patient symptoms and make decisions on their care dispositions. Which protocol a triage nurse uses depends on the symptoms. However, one symptom often presents itself in conjunction with others: fever. When this happens, it may be tempting to select the fever protocol, but a triage nurse should only use it when a fever is the only symptom a patient experiences. Most of the time, a fever is not an immediate cause
How to Address Infant Health Risks Using Telephone Triage
It can be difficult to triage infant health risks over the phone due to the fact that these patients are unable to verbalize why they don’t feel well, or where they’re experiencing discomfort. Triage nurses must know how to obtain the necessary health information from the parents or guardians who call on their children’s behalf. They must also keep in mind that callers may be distressed, which is often the case for new parents. Consider the following example of a call involving an infant, as
Case Study: How a Triage Nurse Uses Protocols for Tick Bites
As the weather heats up, daylight lasts longer, and people spend more time outdoors, tick bites become more common. Ticks are usually active during April to September, and the CDC notes that they often show up “in grassy, brushy, or wooded areas,” on animals, or even as close as your own backyard. In the event that one of your patients notices the tell-tale sign of a tick bite, it’s important that your triage nurses use the appropriate triage protocols to guide them to the right
Should Nurse Triage Call Centers Record Phone Calls?
Why should you record your triage calls? That may sound like a silly question, but not everyone does — and that’s a risky decision when it comes to maintaining high levels of quality assurance. Recording your calls will keep nurses accountable, mitigate liability against them and your practice, and provide oversight to identify potential training needs. Here’s more about why each of these reasons are important, and how TriageLogic addresses them within its own nurse triage call center. Nurse Accountability Nurses should be aware that
How Effective is Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM)?
Remote patient monitoring (RPM) was a welcome addition to patient care in a time of social distancing. Now that many places are beginning to open back up, and mask mandates are going away, healthcare providers are reviewing their data to see how effective these RPM programs have been — and whether they’re worth continuing. Based on those findings, we’re confident that RPM is here to stay. But let’s dig a little deeper into why by addressing a few important factors. 1. Reimbursements for Value-Based Care
