Hi Gang,
We used to forward the phone to either my cell phone or Julia's home phone every night. Once we got tired of drunks calling at 2:00AM to make an appointment, we changed things around a bit.
Our office answering machine messages says:
If this is an emergency - go to the ER or call 911
If this is routine, like making an appointment - call back when we're open.
If this is to CANCEL an appointment - leave a message.
If you REALLY NEED TO REACH the doctor on call - call the "Bat Phone" - and we give out this number in the message.
Whoever's the on-call for that night or weekend takes the on-call cell phone home with them. Doesn't matter if the patient gets the number, as it's the on-call number, not our personal home or cell numbers.
If they call for something that is routine, we ask them nicely to call during normal hours.. no, I won't write myself a note to have one of the girls call you Monday to schedule your appointment, you have to call back thank you very much.. If they're calling after hours or on weekends for pain meds, they're S.O.L. If it's a routine refill, then no I'm not going to "just phone it in" for you - call the girls during normal hours.
We average about FOUR real medical calls per week, and most nights the "Bat Phone" doesn't ring. It works, and saves us $20/ month for pagers each, and also saves what a service charges.
The ER and all the hospital floors have the "bat phone" number in their on-call lists, and know outside office hours they'll get a doc directly without having to wait for a call back - and they LOVE it.
The patients who DO have medical problems - and they're usually moms or dads with sick kids - LOVE the fact that they get "Dr. Vinny" or "Dr. Julia" directly without having to wait for a return call or deal with the answering service.
In our practice, it is a setup where everybody wins.
Hope this helps a little,
V.
