Provides timely clinical advice by telephone
Characteristics
ACCESSIBLE
Measure Concept
User-friendly system for patient requests (e.g., appointment making, prescription refills)
Descriptions
Patients can telephone the practice any time of the day or night and receive interactive (i.e., from a person, rather than a recorded message) clinical advice. Clinical advice refers to a response to an inquiry regarding symptoms, health status or an acute/chronic condition. Providing advice outside of appointments helps reduce unnecessary emergency room and other utilization. A recorded message referring patients to 911 when the office is closed is not sufficient.
Clinicians return calls in a time frame determined by the practice. Clinical advice must be provided by qualified clinical staff, but may be communicated by any member of the care team, as permitted under state licensing laws.
Measure or Standard
Standard
Populations
Not specified or not applicable
Level of Measure
Practice/Health Center
Data Source
Documented process; Evidence of implementation
Measure Identification
NCQA 2017 PCMH standards
Developer/Steward
National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA)
Stage of Development/Use
Accreditation