Dr. Schmitt, Dr. Thompson, and their team release updates to their nurse telephone triage protocols annually based on changes in national guidelines, research reviews, and feedback from users of the protocols. ClearTriage customers received updates to the office hours protocols this week, shortly after they were released to us by the authors.
So as a ClearTriage customer, how do you start using the new updated protocols? And how do you review what changed before you start using them? Three easy steps:
1. Review the update letters. The protocol authors write letters summarizing the changes made in the protocols. Share these letters with all of your triage nurses and your medical director.
Office Hours Update Letters
• Adult Office Hours Update Letter
• Pediatric Office Hours Update Letter
After Hours Update Letters
• Adult After Hours Update Letter
• Pediatric After Hours Update Letter
2. Review protocol changes within ClearTriage. Choose “Review Updates” in the menu under your name in the top-right corner of ClearTriage to see a list of the protocols. Click on a protocol to see if any changes were made, and if there were changes you can review the details. Keep in mind that if your organization wants to handle anything differently than recommended in the standard protocols, you can make changes during the review.
3. Publish the new protocols. Click the “Publish Update” button within ClearTriage. (This button is available after you choose “Review Updates” as described in Step 2 above.) Your nurses will now be using the latest version of the protocols.
That’s it! Depending on how much time you spend reviewing the changes, your team can be using the latest protocols in just a few minutes.
The process is a little different if you’ve previously customized any of the protocols, but not much. Read more about that in Annual Updates Part Two – Your Customizations.
DO I HAVE TO DO THESE THREE STEPS?
If you haven’t customized any protocols, the answer is no. We recommend that you at least have your nurses review the update letters mentioned in Step 1. But whether you do this or not, the annual updates will be automatically published for you approximately three weeks after we release them. That’s about as easy as it gets!
