Written office policies.

One cannot overestimate the value of clear written policies to guide staff though potentially difficult situations:

Medical emergencies

Your office policies should be clear as to exactly what the front office staff is allowed to provide patients in the way of emergency medical attention or advice. These policies should be written and within easy access.

Patient interactions

Your office should have a written policy regarding the release of medical records and other information to patients. The policy should include instructions on documentation of contacts with patients, including phone messages, reports that are called back to patients, and complaints.

Patients should be informed of test results within 24 hours of the time the office has received them. If a patient is registering a complaint, staff should be instructed to never interrupt the patient, to provide the patient with a time frame for a response, to report the complaint to the physician in precise terms, and to always place a follow-up phone call to the patient.

Referring physicians

Staff should keep an updated log of referring physicians, including current addresses, phone numbers (office, home, and cell phone), fax numbers, e-mail addresses, etc. The log should include an indication of how each physician wishes to receive information about a referred patient--for example, an immediate phone call, after-hours phone call, e-mail, fax, or regular mail. You and your staff should try to accommodate each referring physician's preference.

Urgent phone calls

Staff should know how to handle phone calls while you are seeing patients. A written policy should list the specific circumstances under which staff is allowed to put a caller on hold and interrupt a patient encounter rather than taking a message.

Steven F. Isenberg, MD

Dr. Isenberg is an otolaryngologist in private practice in Indianapolis; [e-mail]