Open Forum

Hello all, 

Looking for information, best practices, etc. regarding centralized nurse triage models.

Currently, our team is decentralized across many clinics, including primary care and specialty. Exploring pros and cons to a centralized model and would love to hear more from those with such a model.

Much appreciation, 

Lynn

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Lynn D'Angelo DNP, RN, NEA-BC
Director, Ambulatory Clinical Excellence
UMass Memorial Medical Center
lynn.dangelo@umassmemorial.org
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Hello, 

We are also in the initial stages of planning for a centralized triage program. In addition to Lynn's request, please add any suggestions on a staffing model for a centralized triage program.

Best,

Paul

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Paul Seese
The James Cancer Hospital
Columbus OH
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Hi Lynn,

I am currently leading the transition to a centralized nurse triage model. At present, RNs at each clinic are responsible for a wide range of duties, including triage. My objective is to refocus the clinic nurses' role on care management, which will allow them to dedicate more time to high-risk patients and complex care coordination.

I conducted an analysis (1 year's worth of data) of triage call volume across the organization. The data revealed an average of 60 triage calls per day. Based on this, we determined that launching the centralized model with three dedicated triage nurses would be sufficient, with plans to scale the team as our organization continues to grow.

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Edna Duran
Austin TX
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Hello,

We have been transitioning from decentralized to centralized since July 2022. We have successfully transitioned 22 of 31 primary care pediatric practices. The last 9 should be transitioned by the end of this fiscal year. The planning for this transition started well before July 2022. It's been a long journey, but we have learned a lot; way too much to share in just this email response!. Feel free to send me an email and we can set up some time to chat.

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Karen Lafferty MSN,RN,CPN
Clinical Supervisor- Office Hours Nurse Triage Program
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
267-250-4601
laffertyk@chop.edu
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Hi Lynn,

We started our centralized triage model almost a year ago. We did it for all of our general pediatric clinics (about 21). The issue we had was our RNs not practicing at top of scope while in the clinic and coverage for all clinics since some had multiple RNs while other only had one. We rolled ours out in phases with required pre-work to be done by each clinic to shift work from the RNs to the LPNs and CMAs in the clinic that were not necessary for an RNs scope. Our RNs are totally remote and currently are responsible for all triage calls and MyChart messages and prior authorizations. Once all clinics are up on the model we will most likely add more duties to the RNs. 

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Amanda McCrary MSN RN AMB-BC
WellStar Health System
Canton GA
2056016368
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Hi all!

Our triage team supports 90 offices for telephone triage, med refills and Mychart messages. We have grown considerably over a 4 year period with our biggest growth over the last year. We take calls from 0700-1730. We do not do after hours calls at this time. 

We have learned alot along the way! I would be open to meeting to discuss our work if you are interested.

Thanks!

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Andrea Green MSN RN
OhioHealth
Columbus OH
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