LHCR / Home Health Newsletters

April 2007 - Teletriage:  A strategy for avoiding hospitalizations

Teletriage programs can help you deliver the right care to every patient, every time. They have helped many home health agencies lower their hospitalizations and deliver other successful quality care interventions.

According to Diane Rowland, RN, QI Coordinator for Omni Home Care, a well planned teletriage system has not only improved patient satisfaction, it has also had a positive impact on Omni’s avoidable hospitalization rates.

Sometimes referred to as tele-nursing, teletraige occurs daily at most home health agencies, when a patient contacts the home health agency via phone to relay health related problems or questions.

An effective teletriage program is essential to decreasing avoidable hospitalizations.  It demands a thorough patient assessment, the ability to communicate assessment findings, and the skills to implement a care plan.

When a patient first enters your care, and you are able to complete a high risk assessment, your agency will have a better idea of which patients are at greatest risk for hospitalization.  The skilled teletriage nurse must be aware of these high risk patients and be prepared to support them and hopefully prevent an avoidable hospitalization.

Then, when establishing an emergency care plan with your patients, you are providing an opportunity for the patient to self-manage their condition.  The educated patient will have a better understanding of when to call the agency as well as anticipated care interventions. 

“By hosting weekly CQI meetings, our staff is well informed of the issues affecting our patients. The information gleaned from these meetings, combined with well trained, knowledgeable staff and appropriate triage tools, allows our triage nurses to effectively facilitate patient care,” states Rowland. “Teletriage works” states Rowland.  “When we receive a call from one of our patients, any one of our trained triage nurses is able to effectively evaluate the patient and make an informed recommendation.   The teletriage process exposes the entire OMNI staff to the needs of all of our patients." 

If you would like more information on teletriage visit www.medqic.org.  Teletriage information can be found in the Home Telehealth Reference 2006/2007.