Telephone consultations with patients: A brief study and review of the literature

The use of the telephone is described in a small, single-handed practice in Israel over a period of six months. Eighty per cent of the 350 calls were received during office hours and none after midnight. There were twice as many female as male callers. Half of the calls were made on behalf of the patient by a third party and 10 per cent were answered by the doctor's wife in his absence. Eighty per cent of the calls were concerned with medical symptoms and in half of the cases the problem was a new one. The commonest diagnoses were upper respiratory tract infection, gastro-intestinal disorders and fever. In more than half the cases, discussion and advice as to home management was sufficient to solve the problem presented. The average annual telephone consultation rate was 2.2 and the call:office visit ratio 1:2.2. The telephone was used to the doctor's satisfaction for two main purposes: the early reporting of new symptoms, and the feedback of follow-up information. It is thought that this behaviour both reduced the surgery consultation rate and extended the range of medical surveillance.