Healthcare Telephone Skills
Approach to Patient Complaints:
Get Information need, to help
Dealing with Difficult Patients:
Releasing Medical Records:
Written Release form from PT
Tools for Recording Messages:
Voicemail
This is the first thing you should say when answering the phone in a medical office.
What is a greeting with the office name and your name?
Components of Active Listening:
Travel Time for Providers:
Allow travel time for provider to outside facilities
Who ultimately decides whether a medical record can be released?
The Patient --> The provider owns the Medical Record
Identifying Urgent but Non-Emergency Situations
Urgent Non – Urgent
Heart Attack Headache (?)
Seizures Cold
Asthma Animal Bite
When a patient calls with a medical emergency, you should do this immediately.
What is notify a physician or direct them to call 911?
Creating Positive Impressions on Calls:
Communication of Provider Unavailability:
We don’t tell patient “ Provider on Vacation”
Electronic Health Records (EHR) can store lists of billing codes or Current Procedural Terminology (CPT)
Charge Capture
Indexing Patient Names:
“Deborah Yocum, MD”
Yocum, Deborah L. MD (Identical Name)
This type of scheduling allows patients to walk in without a specific appointment time.
What is open hours or walk-in scheduling?
Test Results Protocol:
Error Correction in Documentation:
To protect health and well being
HIPAA Backup Requirements:
Daily
Active Listening Involves:
1. Eye Contact
2. Repeat What they say
3. Don’t Interrupt
4. Engage
5. Give Feedback
6. Listen
All phone calls related to patient care should be documented here.
What is the patient’s medical record?
Patient Management: Escorting Patients.
If it’s 12 PM in California (PST), what time is it on the East Coast (EST)?
3pm EST
This is the correct way to fix an error in a patient’s chart.
1. One line
2. Initial
3. Correct word
4. Date
5. Credentials
When a patient misses an appointment without calling, you should document it as this.
What is a "no-show"?
Before transferring a call to the physician, you must do this.
What is determine the nature and urgency of the call (screen the call)?