We are having problems with patient calls after hours. Currently, patients who call during lunch or before or after clinic hours on the weekdays hear a message that tells them to call 911 if they are having an emergency, and to call the hospital operator to page the physician for nonemergency issues. However, physicians are getting paged for very unnecessary items that could wait until the office reopens. Some physicians in our group want the hospital phone number removed totally, but others feel that this sets us up for legal problems. What are our options?
Question: We are having problems with patient calls after hours. Currently, patients who call during lunch or before or after clinic hours on the weekdays hear a message that tells them to call 911 if they are having an emergency, and to call the hospital operator to page the physician for nonemergency issues. However, physicians are getting paged for very unnecessary items that could wait until the office reopens. Some physicians in our group want the hospital phone number removed totally, but others feel that this sets us up for legal problems. What are our options?
Answer: Here are some choices: