What are the patient safety issues surrounding medical advice via telephone?
One option is to decide not to provide advice over the phone, especially to unknown or unfamiliar patients. However, if phone advice is provided to known patients, the key areas of concern are the degree of medical advice offered and documentation of the exchange. Mechanisms should be in place to respond to and record what was discussed during those calls from patients seeking treatment information. If not, the potential for patient dissatisfaction, missed diagnoses, delay in treatment, and possible serious medical consequences exists. Staff should be supported with protocols including the questions they should ask and when a patient should be referred to a physician. The threshold for obtaining a physician’s response should be relatively low. Staff training, telephone procedures, and protocols should be periodically reviewed to ensure that inquiries are being appropriately managed. Documentation of all phone calls in which medical information is discussed is extremely important. The d
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- What are the patient safety issues surrounding medical advice via telephone?
