Call Triage

Three tiers on a migraine phone line: escalate now, nurse callback, or straight to scheduling

Severity routing only works if every call lands in exactly one tier. What separates an acute migraine call from a refill request from a routine follow-up, and what each tier does next.

Tier one, escalate now: sudden-onset severe headache, worst headache of life, or neurological symptoms
Tier two, nurse callback: established-patient medication refills handled by protocol rather than clinical hold
Tier three, scheduling: routine follow-ups and appointment changes, which never touch the clinical queue
The caller is asked their reason for calling, and the answer is what assigns the tier
Whatever tier it lands in, the symptom context travels with it so the receiving clinician knows before pickup

How it pays back

Acute calls do not wait behind routine ones

A patient describing sudden severe headache, aura, or neurological change is escalated to clinical triage or on-call rather than being held for the next available scheduling agent. The tier is decided before the queue is.

Refills stop competing with acute calls for clinical attention

Established patients requesting migraine medication refills go to the nurse callback queue with the medication name, strength, quantity, and last refill date captured. They are handled by protocol, not by pulling a clinician off an urgent call.

A tier is only useful if something is captured with it

Each tier arrives with structured detail: chief complaint, symptom severity, prior medications, and the reason it was escalated. A clinician picking up a tier-one call is reading, not interrogating.

Scheduling keeps the queue it was designed for

New appointments and routine follow-ups go where they were always supposed to go. The scheduling queue stays a scheduling queue instead of becoming the place every call type waits.

Acute migraine calls escalated immediately

Red flags (sudden onset, neuro symptoms) bypass queue

Medication refills routed to protocol queue

Nurse-managed refill workflow, not clinical hold

Routine calls routed to scheduling

Appointment requests and follow-ups stay on track

Clinician context ready on transfer

Chief complaint and urgency flags visible before call pickup

Frequently asked questions

On the phone, what actually separates an acute migraine call from a routine one?

The reason the patient gives. Sudden severe headache, a change in headache pattern, associated neurological symptoms, or the phrase 'worst headache of my life' are treated as acute. Medication refills, follow-up appointments, and general questions are not.

Which specific answers count as red flags?

Sudden-onset severe headache, a thunderclap pattern, focal neurological symptoms such as vision changes, numbness or weakness, fever, stiff neck, confusion, or a patient stating it is the worst headache of their life. Any of these routes to clinical staff or on-call immediately.

Which tier does a medication refill belong in?

The middle one. Refills are routed to your clinical or nursing staff for approval under your protocol, with the medication detail already captured. They are not treated as urgent, and they are not left sitting in a general queue either.

What happens to a routine appointment request in a severity-based system?

It goes to scheduling like any other booking. If real-time availability is reachable, the appointment is booked on the call. If not, the request is logged for scheduling staff to confirm.

Does the patient have to tell their story a second time to the clinician?

No. The clinician receives the structured summary before the call reaches them, including symptom details, prior medications, and the urgency flags, so the conversation starts at assessment rather than at the beginning.