Nurse Telephonic Triage Service for After-hour Patient Calls in Neurosurgery. Issue 4 (April 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Escobedo-Wu, Eric Lee G.; Dhebar, Fouzel; Harsh, Griffith; Steinberg, Gary; Vyas, Alpa; Katznelson, Laurence; Ho, Allen L.; Pendharkar, Arjun V.; Sussman, Eric S.; Rohatgi, Nidhi
• Is Part Of: Annals of surgery. Volume 267:Issue 4(2018:Apr.)
• Publication Date: 2018-04
• Subjects: burnout -- coordinated -- neurosurgery -- nurse -- resident -- telephone -- triage; Surgery -- Periodicals; 617.005
• DOI: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000002548
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0003-4932

Abstract

Abstract : Objective: The aim of this study was to report the utilization and experience of the nurse telephonic triage service for after-hour patient calls in Neurosurgery. Background: It is challenging for patients to reach their clinicians after-hours in a timely manner. This may result in worse health outcomes for the patients, or inappropriate utilization of emergency rooms and urgent care facilities. Physicians continue to remain overwhelmed with frequent after-hours calls in addition to other clinical responsibilities while on-call. Methods: In August 2015, our institution launched the Clinical Advice Service (CAS) to provide a patient-centric, nurse-run telephone triage service for after-hour calls from Neurosurgery patients. Clinical protocols were created for use by CAS staff by Neurosurgery clinicians. Results: Between July 2016 and June 2017, CAS has accepted 1021 after-hours calls from Neurosurgery patients. A total of 71.4% of these calls were clinical, and the remaining nonclinical (directions, appointments, general information). CAS escalated 37.3% of the calls to the on-call Neurosurgery physician; 4.8% Neurosurgery patients were triaged to the emergency room by CAS. Conclusion: CAS has been able to provide well-coordinated care to Neurosurgery patients while reducing physician workload.