PHONE ETIQUETTE:

Lincoln pediatrics is committed to providing 24-7 telephone coverage. Because the telephone is important to providing excellent care for our patients, the following suggestions would help us to accomplish this task:

• During normal office hours, you should expect a call-back by the end of the morning or the end of the day. Judy, our nurse, returns many of the routine phone calls and questions that we receive.
• Please give us one phone number where we can reach you. Multiple phone numbers are not practical due to the volume of calls we must return.
• Please keep the phone line free so we may return your call as promptly as possible. We will only attempt one or two call-backs.
• Please have your caller ID turned off. We ask you to respect the privacy of the numbers that we’re using to return your call.
• When your call is returned, please state the name, age of the child, and a brief description of your concern.
• If you are calling outside of our normal office hours, please have a pharmacy number handy and have an approximation of your child’s weight. It is also helpful to give us an exact description of the medicines that your child is currently receiving and any allergies he or she may have. Have a back-up 24-hour pharmacy number as well.
• After-hours telephone usage should be restricted to emergencies only. Routine advice, laboratory results, and prescription refills should be done during our normal office hours.
• If you are having any problems with the answering service or have any suggestions for us to improve our telephone coverage please let us know.

Sincerely,

LPA