Providing telephone triage and healthcare advice is economical and often works well, but errors can and do occur. Errors can be reduced to a minimum if care is taken at all steps of the process.
Problems that can lead to errors and potential patient harm:
(1) poor documentation
(2) failure to develop comprehensive protocols that adhere to an appropriate standard of care
(3) failure to adhere to protocols
(4) bad advice or improper triage
(5) inexperience or inadequate training
(6) failure to follow through or follow up
(7) lack of oversight
(8) miscommunication, including language differences
(9) poor information (lack of reliable past history, etc)
(10) failure to recognize possible red flags (multiple calls for the same problem, etc)
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