Doctors answering services

FloatRN19 · Apr 28, 2016

Residents, fellows, and attendings always in the building. Never had to use one.

allnurses Guide · Apr 28, 2016

I have never gotten a rude operator. I have gotten one or two that I could guess were new and maybe nervous, but never rude. They have always sounded professional.

I've often wondered how stressful their job is and I like hearing about how others perceive their job. Can you tell me what it's like? Do you have to deal with a lot of rudeness?

KatieMI, BSN, MSN, RN · Apr 28, 2016

Menot,

using the chance, may I ask you a few questions? I have to use such services regularly calling specialists, and, sorry to say this, it is absolutely not something I like to do. So:

- I do understand that you need patient's identification. What I do not get is why so often calling services need THAT much of it. First name, last name, hospital, unit, date of admission, med record - it is understandable. But date of birth, last four numbers od SSN, separate EMR ID, room number, which can change any second?? Being a nurse yourself, you probably know that another nurse on the other end of the phone has no clue of what you might need. I would have to go somewhere and peruse the chart or ask patient about that SSN (and it is not the fact that patient can or will agree to provide it). Can you just get the doctor call me back without it, especially if I said that it is an emergency?

- is it absolutely necessary to put caller (your fellow very busy nurse, that is) on hold so many times in a row? My personal record was six times, a good 5 min each... after what I said in not too pleasant tone that there will be no more holds.

- why the operators can take upon themselves to decide what they are dealing with? I had multiple specialists calling back after code was over and patient down to ICU turned mad because "nobody told me"... well, I told the operator that things were getting hotter by minutes, with details. She was supposed to write down and communicate that last set of vitals, at least.

Where I work, we try our best to avoid calling services by any means. We have all permanent consultants' cell phones for emergencies, but sometimes it still happens, and too often it leads to, at the very least, unacceptable delays of care, which are then thrown on us because "it is floor nurses' responsibility to reach the consult". This is precisely what we were trying to do for DAYS in a row, but what could be done with answering service which holds nurses up hanging for half an hour and then promices to call back and never does it?

Pangea Reunited, ASN, RN · Apr 28, 2016

The answering services I deal with are all fine. And although I prefer to contact the physician directly, the answering services can be very useful in cases where I'm not sure who's on call.

BeckyESRN · Apr 28, 2016

I've never had any real problems with answering service operators. It was sometimes frustrating to get an operator that had no medical knowledge; I hated trying to give a reason for my call in laymen's terms knowing that it was going to the doctor without proper med terms. We did have a doc stop using an answering service because the operators decided to start only paging him when they thought it was important enough...

menot · Apr 28, 2016

I promise to answer every question on here as soon as I wake up from my sleep. I got off at 6:30 still haven't slept. I really like all the questions , and Katie mi, you're post is one I can't wait to answer. But a short version for now there is absolutely no reason for the amount of info that they are asking for, even if its a consult call that is ridiculous. I have a lot to say on that and the other posts but for now I'm going to sleep

menot · Apr 28, 2016

I've never had any real problems with answering service operators. It was sometimes frustrating to get an operator that had no medical knowledge; I hated trying to give a reason for my call in laymen's terms knowing that it was going to the doctor without proper med terms. We did have a doc stop using an answering service because the operators decided to start only paging him when they thought it was important enough...

They are lucky they weren't sued

Editorial Team / Admin · Apr 28, 2016

The only time I deal with an answering service (via the hospital's paging system- we call them, they do the paging) is when I'm in the OR after hours. I can honestly say that the biggest issue is that NO ONE ANSWERS THE PHONE! If you're going to page, someone needs to be available to answer the return call. Other than that, I bypass the answering service and direct page or text my surgeons.

menot · Apr 29, 2016

Menot,
using the chance, may I ask you a few questions? I have to use such services regularly calling specialists, and, sorry to say this, it is absolutely not something I like to do. So:
- I do understand that you need patient's identification. What I do not get is why so often calling services need THAT much of it. First name, last name, hospital, unit, date of admission, med record - it is understandable. But date of birth, last four numbers od SSN, separate EMR ID, room number, which can change any second?? Being a nurse yourself, you probably know that another nurse on the other end of the phone has no clue of what you might need. I would have to go somewhere and peruse the chart or ask patient about that SSN (and it is not the fact that patient can or will agree to provide it). Can you just get the doctor call me back without it, especially if I said that it is an emergency?
- is it absolutely necessary to put caller (your fellow very busy nurse, that is) on hold so many times in a row? My personal record was six times, a good 5 min each... after what I said in not too pleasant tone that there will be no more holds.
- why the operators can take upon themselves to decide what they are dealing with? I had multiple specialists calling back after code was over and patient down to ICU turned mad because "nobody told me"... well, I told the operator that things were getting hotter by minutes, with details. She was supposed to write down and communicate that last set of vitals, at least.
Where I work, we try our best to avoid calling services by any means. We have all permanent consultants' cell phones for emergencies, but sometimes it still happens, and too often it leads to, at the very least, unacceptable delays of care, which are then thrown on us because "it is floor nurses' responsibility to reach the consult". This is precisely what we were trying to do for DAYS in a row, but what could be done with answering service which holds nurses up hanging for half an hour and then promices to call back and never does it?

I have been dying to answer this. First I can not think of one reason an answering service would need any part of a ssn. The amount of info that's asked by an operator usually depends on the Doctor some need a novel others just want a name and number. As far as being put on hold I have my own rules about that, I won't put any hospital or medical staff on hold more than once. So if say you call and in that call I get 10 calls that come in, I will really quick put you on hold then answer the other calls but I just say the office name and make sure to say ans service hold please like This is Dr. Farmer's Answering Service hold please, I never say can you hold, cause I'm not giving them a choice and then I get back to you and finish, sometimes I don't even get to all the calls but I would never make you hold more than once. I will explain why I have to hold in a sec I gotta log off and log back in be back soon

menot · Apr 29, 2016

Menot,using the chance, may I ask you a few questions? I have to use such services regularly calling specialists, and, sorry to say this, it is absolutely not something I like to do. So:- I do understand that you need patient's identification. What I do not get is why so often calling services need THAT much of it. First name, last name, hospital, unit, date of admission, med record - it is understandable. But date of birth, last four numbers od SSN, separate EMR ID, room number, which can change any second?? Being a nurse yourself, you probably know that another nurse on the other end of the phone has no clue of what you might need. I would have to go somewhere and peruse the chart or ask patient about that SSN (and it is not the fact that patient can or will agree to provide it). Can you just get the doctor call me back without it, especially if I said that it is an emergency?- is it absolutely necessary to put caller (your fellow very busy nurse, that is) on hold so many times in a row? My personal record was six times, a good 5 min each... after what I said in not too pleasant tone that there will be no more holds.- why the operators can take upon themselves to decide what they are dealing with? I had multiple specialists calling back after code was over and patient down to ICU turned mad because "nobody told me"... well, I told the operator that things were getting hotter by minutes, with details. She was supposed to write down and communicate that last set of vitals, at least.Where I work, we try our best to avoid calling services by any means. We have all permanent consultants' cell phones for emergencies, but sometimes it still happens, and too often it leads to, at the very least, unacceptable delays of care, which are then thrown on us because "it is floor nurses' responsibility to reach the consult". This is precisely what we were trying to do for DAYS in a row, but what could be done with answering service which holds nurses up hanging for half an hour and then promices to call back and never does it?

The ans service I'm at is not like other services. First my daughters grandma owns it so its more family, but she's also been doing this for over 30 years so she has taught me a lot, and Doctors know and trust her. I can't really say why a service asks unnecessary questions. I just try to make sure I get the info the doctor wants as quick as possible. The calls that need the most info are new baby calls.Do you mind if I tell my boss that operators have asked for patients SSN, that's weird?

menot · Apr 29, 2016

I have never gotten a rude operator. I have gotten one or two that I could guess were new and maybe nervous, but never rude. They have always sounded professional.I've often wondered how stressful their job is and I like hearing about how others perceive their job. Can you tell me what it's like? Do you have to deal with a lot of rudeness?

When I first started I was so scared of this one Doctors wife, people said how mean she was. She us nice just that she wanted things done right and she had a right to