Telephone triage is quickly becoming one of the most common uses for telehealth technology. Nurses have been dispensing advice over the phone as long as phones have been around but the new computer aided systems and equipment that are available now are amazing. Telephone triage is more than answering health questions. Nurses must rely on their communication skills, knowledge of disease processes and normal growth and development for all age groups in order to ascertain an accurate understanding of the client's symptoms. Triage nurses must have impeccable listening skills to pick up on the non-verbal clues the client is giving regarding pain, anxiety, fear and level of comprehension.
Telephone triage is done at many levels.
Telephone triage is also known as demand management in the managed care arena. Many HMO's are having patients call into a triage center to discuss their symptoms before they are allowed to go to the emergency room for after-hours medical treatment. According to some of the nurses currently working in call centers, it seems that the wave of the future may be for all medical providers and healthcare facilities to insist on triage before treatment is sought in order to assure reimbursement, which is already being implemented in some organizations. Triage services are typically offered by healthcare facilities and are used in association with physician's offices. They take calls from patients who are trying to get in touch with their physician after usual office hours, for specific health concerns or urgent medical needs.