Utilizing a case management system to reduce the response time for symptom management calls in a high-volume practice.

170 Background: A five physician, three nurse practitioner,community oncology clinic experiences high call volumes (average 352 daily), many of which are related to side-effects of chemo/biotherapy and health related issues. A study was completed to decrease the time for a patient symptom management call to be addressed and concluded.

METHODS: Initial primary data were collected over a four month period (April-August 2015) using the phone system and the Electronic Health Record (EHR) reporting capabilities, by cross-referencing the caller-ID data with the EHR patient demographics data; only documented symptom management calls within the EHR were included. Twenty-nine percent (202 of 691) of symptom management calls were identified for the sample. Secondary data were collected prospectively using a handwritten call log completed by triage nursing, detailing the purpose of every call routed to triage nursing. Changes were made in the daily telephone call process to include a full-time operator, additional triage nursing staff, and implementation of a structured case management system. Follow-up primary and secondary data were collected for six weeks (August-September 2015) utilizing the case management system. Of the calls routed to triage nursing, 100% were captured in the case management system; call response time and call purpose were recorded.

RESULTS: During the initial primary data collection, a baseline of 48% of symptom management calls being addressed within 2 hours was established. Staffing changes resulted in an improvement to 68%, and an additional improvement to 73% after implementation of the case management system. Secondary data collection at baseline showed that 35% of calls were inappropriately routed to triage nursing; this improved to under 1% after implementation of the case management system.

CONCLUSIONS: The reallocation of staff to concentrate on patient call processes, and the use of a case management system, significantly improved symptom management call response time. The implementation of a case management system nearly eliminated all inappropriate calls routed to triage nursing.