Call Triage Case Study

This case study examines the implementation of a call triage system within the Triage Department to address challenges associated with overwhelming volumes of faxes and phone calls. By focusing on data-driven strategies and staff collaboration, the initiative aimed to improve turnaround times for medication refills and enhance overall operational efficiency.
Resource Type: 
  • Case Study
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Department: "Triage"

Area of Concern: "Department Overwhelmed"

Problem:

Overwhelmed Staff

Staff members often feel overwhelmed by the volume of faxes and phone calls.  Faxes on the desk are over a week old.

  1. Fax documents include medication refills and prior authorizations.
  • Stored on the shared drive and printed by staff daily.
  • Multiple stacks at each team member's desk

       2. Phone calls are answered or go to voicemail. 

Inefficiency

Look for areas of inefficiency (i.e. why are faxes printed, what is expectation of turnaround).

Turnaround Time

Current medication refill turnaround time is greater than one week.

Action:

Triage Sheet

  1. Create a “Triage Sheet” to keep a tally of days (See Triage Tracking Log). List three choices: Friday, Monday, and Tuesday.
  • Made small enough to keep on the desk area for quick access.
  • Please ensure that team members are educated on the process and that the data will be shared.

Result:

Triage Sheet Results

  1. Triage receives approximately 300 calls per day (See Triage Data Analysis below)
  2. Approximately 120 calls per day are related to medication refills
  3. Triage receives approximately 50 fax refill requests daily
  4. Surescripts (sub. of triage) receives over 300 electronic refill requests daily

Results created a new area of focus for medication refills. Fax vs. Surescripts (See Medication Refills Case Study).

Spreadsheet image labeled "Triage Tracking Log" showing daily counts of tasks by employee and task type, with a summary of triage outcomes in a blue-highlighted section.
Triage Tracking Log displaying employee-level task distribution and outcome summary over selected dates.

Key Areas of Change Based on Results:

Staff Focus

Shifted staff to have three individuals focus on Surescripts/Prior Authorizations, based on tracking results indicating over 35% of triage calls related to med refills (for more information, see Medication Refills Case Study).

Shared Data

Shared data with support staff with emphasis on 90-day scripts w/3 refills

All Paper Processes

Automated all paper processes

Dual Monitors

Dual monitors for all staff

Standing Medication Refills

Created medication refill standing orders to support disease management practices.

Follow-Up

Within two weeks, the following results occurred:

  1. Medication refills: 7 business day turnaround to 1-2 business days
  2. 21% of calls to voicemails reduced to 10%
  3. 13 minutes longest wait time for triage reduced to 9 minutes
  4. All maintained while experiencing peaks with a 4% increase in calls!!!

Continued Transparency

Continued transparency during peak times and request support from clinical staff.

Data Checks

Quarterly data checks to report to leadership.

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