Nurse Triage for Health Systems
Conduit Health Partners’ Nurse-First Triage Services give patients 24/7 access to experienced registered nurses who assess concerns, recommend the appropriate next step and escalate when a provider is needed.
For health systems, nurse-first triage can help reduce avoidable ED use and readmissions, improve patient access and satisfaction, and relieve administrative burden on physicians and staff.
Why Health Systems Use Nurse-First Triage
Health systems are under pressure to improve access and patient experience while managing ED congestion, readmissions and growing demands on physicians and clinical staff.
Nurse-first triage provides an early clinical access point that can help address these pressures before they become more costly or disruptive.
Nurse-first triage can help health systems:
- Reduce avoidable readmissions by giving recently discharged patients timely access to clinical guidance.
- Reduce unnecessary emergency department utilization by helping patients determine the appropriate level of care.
- Improve patient access and satisfaction with 24/7 access to registered nurses.
- Reduce provider and staff burden by allowing nurses to manage appropriate concerns before escalating.
- Protect clinical capacity by directing patients to the right resource within the health system.
- Support employed medical groups by reducing after-hours call burden and unnecessary provider interruptions.
- Extend access without adding internal FTE or building an internal 24/7 triage operation.
- Improve consistency across the system through standardized triage workflows and escalation.
- Gain visibility into patient demand through call, disposition and escalation reporting.
Learn more about:
What Health Systems Miss When Nurse Triage Data Across Their Medical Group Stays Fragmented
How Bon Secours Mercy Health Physicians used nurse triage to increase patient access, reduce demands on frontline teams and improve patient and provider satisfaction.
Learn More About Conduit's Nurse Triage Services
We welcome the opportunity to learn about your health system as you consider the potential for nurse triage services. Our leaders can introduce you to the team of clinical, operations and technology experts who support our customers and, by extension, hundreds of thousands of patients across the country.
Our Results Attest to Our Effectiveness and Quality
Our clinical team works closely with you and provides access to detailed reports on calls and resolutions. Experiences with large organizations nationwide have led to solid results and satisfied patients and members.
Triage Services Reduce Overcrowded Emergency Departments
The emergency department is the default choice when patients have medical issues, especially at night and on weekends. That leads to overcrowded EDs and pressure on the staff to triage more cases and find beds for patients awaiting care.
With a nurse triage service, a health system or hospital can advertise a phone number available to all callers, allowing patients with questions about an illness or injury to call to talk to a licensed RN.
Triage nurses can often identify care options that suit the patient’s needs, including home care, urgent care, follow-up calls or doctor visits during office hours. Triage nurses also calm frightened patients and restore their confidence in their ability to get the care they need.
Nurse-First Triage Model Increases Patient Satisfaction
Who keeps a quality experience with a hospital or health system quiet? Patients helped by triage nurses quickly spread the word among family, friends and co-workers.
Indeed, all individuals who accessed Conduit Health Partners’ nurse triage services gave Conduit an average of a 4.9 out of 5 satisfaction rating during a 2023 survey.
Remote Registered Nurses Serve as an Extension of Your Team
Triage nurses answer a number dedicated to the hospital and have information on the healthcare resources available throughout its system and the markets it serves.
Triage nurses use the health system’s or hospital’s protocols for patient information collection and documentation. The nurses’ recommendations for the next steps and other caller notes are relayed for follow-up when needed by hospital staff and noted in patient records.
In some cases, hospitals engage triage nurses in making appointments with medical practices and clinics in the health system for patients.
Helping Hospitals Outsource Nurse Triage Lines
“Building” a fully-staffed nurse triage service can be out of reach for many health systems due to the:
- Necessary investment in systems and staff training.
- Shortage of qualified RNs around the country.
- Demands for RNs to sustain staffing levels in the hospitals.
As a result, outsourcing is a growing trend among hospitals and health systems.
In addition, triage nursing is a distinct specialty. Nurse triage services like Conduit Health Partners provide their RNs with ongoing training, reviews and quality control evaluations. Training focuses on honing nurses’ skills in engaging callers, expressing empathy and evaluating their medical situations to find the next best level of care.
Choose a Leading Nurse Triage Company for Your Health System
Conduit Health Partners put the power of nursing to work to address healthcare’s most vexing issues. Among those are disparities in access to quality medical care and variations in disease rates among populations based on race, age, gender identity, economic resources and geography.
Our leadership team is made up of experienced nurses and healthcare administrators who understand the intricacies of operating a health system and are committed to helping hospitals and health systems:
- Get patients to the right level of care without delay.
- Avoid inappropriate ED use and the burdens it places on staff.
- Demonstrate their community commitment.
- Improve patient satisfaction and self-confidence.
- Attract new patients to a health system’s many resources.
Choose a Leading Nurse Triage Company for Your Health Plan
Conduit Health Partners understands the healthcare system from all angles – providers, payers and patients. By tapping the clinical expertise of RNs, we connect everyone in a circle of caring dedicated to delivering better outcomes at lower costs.
Our leadership team is made up of experienced nurses and healthcare administrators committed to helping health plans:
- Lower costs by helping members get the right level of care without delay.
- Avoid inappropriate ED use and the associated costs for members and health plans.
- Improve healthcare access for members affected by disparities in the healthcare system.
- Boost member satisfaction and health literacy.
- Enhance the plan’s reputation among its customers and within the markets it serves.
RELATED NEWS
What Health Systems Miss When Nurse Triage Data Across Their Medical Group Stays Fragmented
How Health Systems Reduce After-Hours Provider Burden Without Expanding Call Coverage
Contact us for a no-obligation consultation
Get In Touch
When you choose nurse-first triage services from Conduit Health Partners, you’ll have a dedicated account manager and a team of clinical and support service experts aligned with your team to achieve stronger clinical and financial outcomes.
If your organization is seeking solutions to reduce high healthcare costs, nursing or staff shortages, provider or staff burnout, unnecessary emergency room visits or disparities in healthcare, we’d welcome the opportunity to discuss how we can help your health system.
Fill out our form to schedule a meeting with a member of our leadership team.
1 2023 Conduit Health Partners Triage Service (combined clients)
2Based on a panel of 50,000 individuals with 5% utilization of Conduit Health Partners nurse-first triage. The total savings was $250,000 on a $75,000 investment in the service.
3 2023 Conduit Health Partners Post Call Survey (combined clients)
4 Assuming 71% of ED visits are unnecessary, and an average ED visit costs $1,250, a health plan or self-insured employer can save $88,750 per 100 contacts with nurse-first triage.
Frequently Asked Questions About Nurse Triage for Health Systems
Nurse-first triage helps health systems provide patients with timely access to registered nurses while supporting priorities such as ED avoidance, readmission reduction, patient experience and provider capacity.
Registered nurses assess concerns first, recommend the appropriate next step and escalate to another provider when clinically necessary.
Yes. Nurse-first triage can reduce unnecessary emergency department utilization by giving patients access to a registered nurse before they decide where to seek care.
Based on the clinical assessment, the nurse may recommend home care, primary care, telehealth, urgent care or emergency evaluation.
Nurse-first triage can support readmission reduction by providing recently discharged patients with access to a registered nurse when questions, symptoms or changes in condition arise at home.
The nurse can assess the concern, reinforce appropriate next steps and determine when additional clinical evaluation is needed.
Learn how gaps after discharge can contribute to readmissions.
Nurse-first triage reduces provider and staff burden by allowing registered nurses to assess patient concerns first and escalate only when additional provider involvement is needed.
For employed medical groups and on-call teams, this can reduce routine interruptions and create a more sustainable after-hours model.
Learn how health systems reduce after-hours provider burden.
Conduit Health Partners works with each health system to establish workflows based on available providers, employed medical groups, care settings and escalation pathways.
Triage nurses can be equipped with information about primary care, specialty practices, urgent care, telehealth and other system resources so recommendations align with the health system’s model.
Yes. Nurse-first triage can improve the patient experience by giving patients timely access to clinical guidance when their usual provider may not be available.
Because the clinical interaction begins with a registered nurse, patients receive assessment, reassurance and a clear next step without unnecessary handoffs.
Learn why nurse-first triage matters for patient safety and satisfaction.
Health systems outsource nurse triage to extend clinical access without having to recruit, schedule, train and manage a 24/7 internal triage workforce.
Partnering with Conduit Health Partners gives health systems access to experienced registered nurses, clinical governance, specialized technology, quality oversight and operational infrastructure.
Learn how outsourcing triage can improve operational efficiency.
Yes. Nurse-first triage can provide employed medical groups with a standardized clinical access point that reduces unnecessary provider escalation and creates more consistent after-hours workflows.
System-level reporting can also help leaders understand call demand, dispositions and access gaps across practices.
Learn what health systems miss when triage data stays fragmented.
Yes. Conduit Health Partners’ nurse-first triage program is URAC accredited.
URAC accreditation reflects defined standards related to clinical oversight, quality management and operational accountability.