Phone Problem Playbook

Morning Call Surge Stabilizer

Tame the 8AM chaos. Katie triages appointment requests, refills, and labs before your humans finish their first coffee.

When to run this playbook

Hold times spike when staff is still logging in.

Nurses get slammed by routine refill chasers.

Providers show up to a backlog of angry voicemails.

Caller journey (high-level)

01

Pre-open warmup

Forward the main line to Katie 30 minutes before doors open so patients never hear a busy tone.

02

Structured intake

Katie captures reason, callback, insurance, and urgency then routes it into your inbox or EMR.

03

Escalate real issues

Urgent clinical signals alert the nurse line instantly while non-urgent tasks queue with summaries.

Triage categories & actions

CategoryExample callsNotificationTarget callbackCaller messaging
EmergencyChest pain, stroke, trauma.911 / ERImmediateCall 911 or go to the ER now.
Urgent clinicalWorsening postop pain, severe symptoms.On-call provider< 15 minProvider calls back within 15 minutes.
Routine clinicalRefills, mild symptoms, referrals.Daytime teamNext business dayCare team follows up on the next business day.
Non-clinical / adminScheduling, billing, paperwork.Admin queueNext business dayFront desk follows up when the office reopens.