r/FamilyMedicine • u/Misunderstood-Banana MD • 1d ago

Call center messages

Where I work messages from patients are often just passed on to pcp. Sometimes as bad as a call center employee writing “patient requests neuro referral” or ortho. Or whatever. With no context and tags the pcp to sign off on it.

It’s absurdly common in this system for these kind of notes to just be tagged like this.

How do you all handle this? Or does it even reach you since, in a referral-based system, a specialist referral typically needs an appointment to determine necessity, and the patient would be scheduled to discuss the issue.

25 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

30

u/cloudypuff33 DO 1d ago

I refuse to sign it. I message the center back and tell them to schedule the patient a visit as this issue they're requesting referral for has never been discussed. Now sometimes I do put in my note like if not improving with xyz then will consider referral to specialist. If patient is asking referral for that because it has not improved then I'll put it in.

21

u/NateVsMed DO 1d ago

Is this Kaiser? Because I can relate

9

u/MajesticJackJack DO 1d ago edited 9h ago

Kaiser call center is god damn useless. Wall of run on text, might as well read hieroglyphics or play Wheres Waldo. I’ve been told “they’re working on it” for 10+ years.

5

u/Misunderstood-Banana MD 1d ago

It’s a similar extremely large system to Kaiser.

12

u/Daddy_LlamaNoDrama MD 1d ago

Reply to sender

Please call and relay- needs appointment to discuss

Hopefully after a few of those, whoever takes the messages learns that this kind of request needs an appointment

4

u/Misunderstood-Banana MD 15h ago

I’d love to do this - but we are told we cannot tag back the call center. They’re just completely insulated from any work going in the opposite direction.

2

u/Vegetable_Block9793 MD 20h ago

They never do though.

2

u/GodsEepiestSoldier69 MA 1d ago

I work as a referral coordinator, and depending on the specialist's office policies & the patient's insurance, it definitely gets frustrating when there's no reasoning presented for why they need this referral. I'm thankful to not have to work reception or intake, but I think there's a lack of training support staff to ask the right questions to pass the message along to the MD. (Reposted because I forgot to add a flair)