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[Telephone activity in outpatient pediatric practice]
R Assathiany1, J M Rerolle, C Messica
1Association pour la recherche et l'enseignement en pédiatrie générale, 18, rue Sainte-Sophie, 78000 Versailles, France. assathiany@wanadoo.fr
Insights
Pediatricians receive numerous daily phone calls, averaging 19 per doctor. Most calls are brief and from mothers, often concerning advice or acute symptoms, highlighting significant telephone activity in pediatric practices.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Medicine
- Healthcare Management
- Communication in Healthcare
Context:
- Outpatient pediatric practices handle a substantial volume of telephone communication.
- Understanding this activity is crucial for resource allocation and patient care.
- Previous research has not fully quantified telephone interactions in this setting.
Purpose:
- To quantify the extent of telephone activity in outpatient pediatric practices.
- To analyze the characteristics of these telephone calls, including duration, caller, and reason.
- To identify potential areas for improving telephone communication efficiency.
Summary:
- Seventy-nine pediatricians prospectively recorded telephone calls over three days.
- A total of 4413 calls were received, averaging 19 calls per pediatrician daily.
- Calls were predominantly from mothers, with reasons including appointment requests, advice, and acute symptoms.
Impact:
- Pediatric telephone activity is significant, impacting daily practice workflow.
- While generating no direct healthcare costs, these calls present potential risks.
- Implementing standardized algorithms for telephone interviews may mitigate risks and improve efficiency.
Objectives:
To assess the amount of telephone activity in outpatient pediatric practice.
Methods:
Seventy-nine pediatricians belonging to a continuing medical education group (Arepege) prospectively recorded data about all the telephone calls they took personally for 3 days, from 4 to 6 December 2000. They noted the number of calls each day and their duration, the caller, the reason for and the response to each call.
Results:
In 3 days, the 79 pediatricians received 4413 calls, for a mean of 19 calls daily for each practitioner. The calls were brief, 86% of them lasting less than 2 min; each pediatrician spent an average of 26 min a day on the telephone; most calls (82%) came from children's mothers. The reasons for the calls were: request for appointment (1035 calls, 23.5%), request for advice not associated with an acute disease (1416 calls, 32%), the onset of acute symptoms (1961 calls, 44.5%). An appointment was made in 26% of the cases for which the reason for the call was illness.
Conclusion:
Pediatric private practice involves substantial telephone activity, which generates no healthcare costs, but does present risks that might be attenuated by the use of appropriate algorithms for conducting these telephone interviews.