Cataract Pre-Op Instruction Calls: Meds and Fasting

Answers surgery-day logistics from the instruction set your practice publishes: arrival time, the fasting rule for that facility, what to bring, and whether the escort has to stay on site
Medication questions are never answered from general knowledge. Whether an anticoagulant continues, whether the morning pressure drop is taken, how a diabetic patient handles insulin — these are prescriber decisions, so the AI reads only what your orders state or captures and routes the question
Captures the medication history your surgical team asks about, including any past or present alpha-blocker use, which cataract surgeons routinely ask about because of its association with intraoperative floppy iris syndrome
Routes to the pre-operative nurse or surgical coordinator with the surgery date, facility, surgeon and the exact question asked, instead of a message saying the patient called about their surgery
Handles second-eye patients who assume this surgery is a copy of the last one, and confirms from the orders for this case rather than from memory of the first
Late-evening and pre-dawn calls are answered immediately, which is precisely when the fasting and medication questions arrive

How it pays back

The Night-Before Call Decides Whether the Case Goes Ahead

A patient who cannot get an answer about their blood thinner at 9pm makes their own decision, and the case is cancelled on the morning list. That is an empty theatre slot, a displaced patient and a rebooking. The value here is that the question is answerable at the hour it is actually asked.

Medication Questions Have Exactly One Correct Source

Not a website, not a general knowledge base, and not a receptionist's recollection of what is usually said. Your surgical orders. The AI reads what your team wrote for that patient's procedure and facility, and where the answer is not in your orders it routes the question rather than filling the gap.

Second Eyes Are Not Copies of First Eyes

Between the first and second eye, medications change, facilities change and anaesthetic plans change. Patients assume otherwise and act on the assumption. Establishing which surgery this is before answering anything is a small step that prevents a specific and recurring cancellation.

Fasting, Arrival and Escort Answered the Same Way Every Time

These three questions arrive on nearly every pre-operative call, and inconsistent answers create arrivals that are too early, too late, or without the escort your facility requires. One configured source, read identically to every caller, in dozens of languages.

24/7 coverage

The pre-dawn surgery-day question is answered, not sent to voicemail

Dozens of languages

Pre-operative instructions given in the language the patient answers the phone in

HIPAA BAA included

Surgical and medication detail encrypted with AES-256 at rest and TLS in transit

Frequently asked questions

Will it tell a patient to stop their blood thinner before surgery?

No. Anticoagulant management before eye surgery is a decision between the surgeon and the prescriber, and it is never a phone answer. If your orders for that patient's procedure state an instruction and you have authorised it to be read back, it reads yours. Otherwise the question is captured and routed.

Our fasting rule differs between the surgery centre and the hospital. Can it hold both?

Yes. Instructions are configured per facility and per surgeon, and the call establishes which facility and which surgeon before answering. Where that cannot be established on the call, the question is routed instead of answered from the more common case.

What about the morning glaucoma drop on the day of surgery?

It is answered only if your orders address it and you have authorised the read-back. Practices differ, and the consequence of getting it wrong runs in both directions, so this is treated as an orders question rather than a general one.

Why capture alpha-blocker use on a phone call?

Because surgeons ask about it and patients frequently forget to mention it, including medication taken years earlier. The AI does not interpret the answer or attach any meaning to it. It captures what the patient reports and passes it to your surgical team with the rest of the pre-operative detail.

Can it speak to the spouse who is driving them?

Within your disclosure policy. Escort and arrival questions are frequently asked by the driver rather than the patient, so this is configured deliberately, with the relationship established and recorded on the call.

Where does an unanswered medication question go?

To the destination you choose, flagged with the surgery date so it is worked before the case rather than in date order. Delivery into an EMR task or work queue is available through API or FHIR for supported systems, and custom integration is available elsewhere.

Answer Pre-Op Cataract Questions From Your Own Orders