Adult Telephone Protocols. Office Version

A

• Abdominal Pain (Female)
• Abdominal Pain (Male)
• Abdominal Pain (Menstrual Cramps)
• Abdominal Pain (Upper)
• Alcohol Abuse and Dependence
• Anaphylaxis
• Animal Bite
• Ankle and Foot Injury
• Ankle Pain
• Arm Pain
• Asthma Attack
• Athlete’s Foot 

B

• Back Injury
• Back Pain
• Bee or Yellow Jacket Sting
• Breast Symptoms
• Breathing Difficulty
• Burns 

C

• Cast Symptoms and Questions
• Chest Injury
• Chest Pain
• Cold Sores (Fever Blisters of Lip)
• Common Cold
• Confusion (Delirium)
• Constipation
• Coronavirus (COVID-19), Diagnosed or Suspected
• Cough 

D

• Depression
• Diabetes (High Blood Sugar)
• Diabetes (Low Blood Sugar)
• Diarrhea
• Dizziness 

E

• Ear, Swimmer’s
• Earache
• Elbow Injury
• Elbow Pain
• Eye, Chemical In
• Eye, Foreign Body
• Eye, Pus or Discharge
• Eye, Red Without Pus
• Eye Injury 

F

• Fainting
• Fever
• Finger Injury
• Finger Pain
• Flank Pain
• Foot Pain 

H

• Hand and Wrist Injury
• Hand and Wrist Pain
• Head Injury
• Headache
• Heart Rate and Heartbeat Questions
• Heat Exposure (Heat Exhaustion and Heatstroke)
• High Blood Pressure
• Hip Injury
• Hip Pain
• Hives 

I

• Immunization Reactions
• Influenza, Seasonal
• Influenza Exposure
• Influenza Follow-up Call
• Insect Bite 

J

• Jock Itch

K

• Knee Injury
• Knee Pain 

L

• Leg Pain
• Leg Swelling and Edema
• Lymph Nodes, Swollen 

M

• Menstrual Period, Missed or Late
• Mouth Injury 

N

• Nasal Allergies (Hay Fever)
• Neck Injury
• Neck Pain or Stiffness
• Neurologic Deficit
• Nose Injury
• Nosebleed 

P

• Penis and Scrotum Symptoms
• Poison Ivy/Oak/Sumac
• Poisoning
• Puncture Wound 

R

• Rash, Widespread on Drugs
• Rash or Redness, Localized
• Rash or Redness, Widespread
• Rectal Bleeding
• Rectal Symptoms 

S

• Seizure
• Sexual Assault or Rape
• Shoulder Injury
• Shoulder Pain
• Sinus Pain or Congestion
• Skin, Foreign Body
• Skin Injury
• Skin Lesion (Moles or Growths)
• Sore Throat
• Spider Bite (North America)
• STI Exposure and Prevention
• Substance Use, Intoxication, and Withdrawal
• Suicide Concerns
• Sunburn
• Suture or Staple Questions 

T

• Tick Bite
• Toe Injury
• Tooth Injury
• Toothache 

U

• Urinalysis Results Follow-up Call
• Urination Pain (Female)
• Urination Pain (Male)
• Urine, Blood In 

V

• Vaginal Bleeding, Abnormal
• Vaginal Discharge
• Vomiting
• Vulvar Symptoms 

W

• Weakness (Generalized) and Fatigue
• Wound Infection

Now in it's 5th edition, this powerful decision-support tool will guide triagers thorough each call with the same step-by-step checklist organization and ease-of-use features as its companion resource, Pediatric Telephone Protocols. This comprehensive resource includes protocols that cover 95% of the most common adult complaints. Look here for triage guidelines ranging from everyday problems such as back pain, insect bites, and sunburn to more serious conditions such as breathing difficulty, seizures, and wound care.

• Completely updated and revised
• 6 new protocols—Anxiety and Panic Attack, Breast Symptoms, Coronavirus (COVID-19), Flank Pain, Hip Pain, and Shoulder Pain
• Triage guidance updated to include video visit options

David Thompson, MD, FACEP, has over 20 years of experience working in telehealth and clinical informatics. He has developed a comprehensive set of telephone triage protocols for adult and women’s health that are used in medical call centers and doctors’ offices in the United States, Canada, and internationally. These telephone triage protocols are available in electronic health records and triage software. He has authored or led clinical content development used in artificial-intelligence, symptom-checker, health-bot, consumer-engagement, and telemedicine applications.

Dr. Thompson received a Bachelor of Science in engineering from the University of Illinois, where he subsequently earned his medical degree. He is board-certified in both internal medicine and emergency medicine, having completed a dual residency at Northwestern Memorial Hospital at Northwestern University. He is a Fellow in the American College of Emergency Physicians. Dr. Thompson is currently a part-time faculty attending in the Northwestern Memorial Hospital Emergency Department. Prior to working at Northwestern Memorial, Dr. Thompson worked in the MacNeal Hospital Emergency Department, where he served as medical director and chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine, and also provided medical direction over the medical call center.

Dr. Thompson is founder and CEO of Health Navigator, LLC. He is the principal architect of the Health Navigator clinical vocabulary, natural-language processing engine, and decision-support tools. He is co-founder of Schmitt-Thompson Clinical Content, LLC. Dr. Thompson lectures in the areas of digital health, telephone triage, physician documentation, medical coding, and patient satisfaction.