A structured course of employed primarily in healthcare settings, it entails assessing a affected person’s situation remotely through phone or different communication applied sciences. This methodology is used to judge the urgency of medical wants, present speedy recommendation, and information sufferers towards essentially the most applicable degree of care. As an illustration, a nurse would possibly ask a collection of questions to find out if a caller experiencing chest ache ought to go to the emergency room instantly, schedule an appointment with their major care doctor, or handle their signs at residence.
This follow is essential for optimizing healthcare useful resource allocation, making certain that sufferers obtain well timed and applicable care, and lowering pointless emergency room visits. It gives elevated accessibility to medical steerage, particularly for people in distant areas or these with restricted mobility. Traditionally, it emerged as a method to handle rising calls for on healthcare techniques and to streamline affected person stream, resulting in larger effectivity and improved affected person satisfaction.