It was a lovely spring day and the weather was perfect. Inside the doctor office, the patients were sitting and talking to each other, and there was a relaxed atmosphere. In fact, the day was going well and everyone eventually went home, smiling. Now it was time to turn it over to the doctors answering services and something terrible was about to happen.
58 year old James B was sitting at home enjoying his favorite television show. During the evening he had been experiencing nausea and slight dizziness, but he just thought it was from working too hard. James was in the AC repair business and he had been very busy lately in the hot weather.
When James got up to get something to drink he felt a sharp pain in his chest and sat back down. He wasn’t sure what to do, so he decided to call Dr. Smith. It was about 9:30 pm when James called and he got the doctors answering service. Someone answered and told James to please hold.
James waited for about ten minutes, then the line went dead and he heard a dial tone. Frustrated, James called back and got a busy signal. Eventually he got in and talked to the same person and she told James she would contact Dr. Smith and have him call back. James thanked her and waited for the call. However, the call never came and Dr. Smith didn’t even get the message.
Three hours later James collapsed at home and his wife called an ambulance. They got James to the hospital in time and discovered he was having problems because one of his coronary arteries was more than 90 percent occluded. The hospital cardiologist was able to contact Dr. Smith and he finally showed up at the hospital. However, James was already having an emergency stent procedure. James’ wife Barbara was livid and told Dr. Smith about the phone call and the incompetent doctors answering service. Dr. Smith decided to change services and he was lucky things didn’t turn out worse. Had James died from a heart problem, his wife would have filed a major lawsuit.
How Can This Be Avoided?
No one wants to endure what James went through and no doctor wants to be seen as incompetent. This type of problem can be avoided when you use an automated doctors answering service like No More Phone Tag. If the call is a true medical emergency, like the case with James, the patient will be asked to call 911 or go the nearest emergency room right away. If it’s urgent, but not a true medical emergency, the patient’s message is delivered to you right away. You can receive messages via cell phone, text, or home phone. Plus, the doctor on call has the option of talking to patients directly. With a free 14 day trial, there is nothing to lose but a bad answering service.
