J Am Dent Assoc. 2020 Nov;151(11):825-834. doi: 10.1016/j.adaj.2020.08.003.
A virtual oral health care help line was established to provide consultation and triage for people with dental questions and concerns. Its goal during a pandemic was to keep patients from seeking unnecessary in-person care from emergency departments and urgent care clinics, especially when dental practices were closed or limited to providing essential urgent and emergency oral health care.
The Adams School of Dentistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, developed the Carolina Dentistry Virtual Oral Health Care Helpline using a quality improvement framework with faculty and staff member feedback. The process included establishing infrastructure (phone, video, protocols, referrals, documentation), personnel (scheduling, training, calibration), and internal and external communication. The authors collected retrospective information for descriptive evaluation of the first month's operations.
There were 337 telephone calls answered, of which 65 (19%) were administrative and 272 (81%) were related to dental concerns. Dental pain (54%) was the most prevalent reason for calling. Triage and Providers referred 107 of 175 callers (61%) to the school's urgent care center. Of the 79 callers who received teleconsultations from virtual providers, 33 (42%) did not require additional follow-up, and 7 (9%) needed a follow-up phone call. Overall, 4 people were referred to community clinics, and 4 were referred to the emergency department.
The Helpline was launched quickly and improved through quality improvement cycles, and it provided a needed community dental service. The process resolved some patient concerns without their seeking urgent or emergency care.
The pandemic has increased teledentistry practice. The authors describe establishing a dental school's virtual oral health Helpline, which provides a framework for dental practices seeking to use this patient communication modality.
为了向有牙科问题和疑虑的人提供咨询和分诊，我们设立了一个虚拟的口腔保健帮助热线。其在大流行期间的目标是防止患者因不必要的原因而前往急诊部门和紧急护理诊所寻求治疗，尤其是当牙科诊所关闭或仅提供基本的紧急和急诊口腔保健时。
北卡罗来纳大学教堂山分校亚当斯牙科学院使用质量改进框架，并结合教职员工的反馈，开发了卡罗莱纳牙科虚拟口腔保健帮助热线。该过程包括建立基础设施（电话、视频、协议、转介、文件记录）、人员（排班、培训、校准）以及内部和外部沟通。作者收集了第一个月运营的回顾性信息，以进行描述性评估。
共接听了 337 个电话，其中 65 个（19%）是行政电话，272 个（81%）与牙科问题有关。牙痛（54%）是打电话的最常见原因。分诊和提供者将 175 个来电者中的 107 个（61%）转介到学校的急诊中心。在接受虚拟提供者远程咨询的 79 个来电者中，33 人（42%）无需进一步随访，7 人（9%）需要电话随访。总体而言，有 4 人被转介到社区诊所，4 人被转介到急诊室。
帮助热线迅速启动，并通过质量改进循环得到改进，为社区提供了急需的牙科服务。该流程解决了一些患者的担忧，而无需他们寻求紧急或紧急护理。
大流行增加了远程牙科治疗的应用。作者描述了建立牙科学校虚拟口腔保健帮助热线的过程，为寻求使用这种患者沟通模式的牙科实践提供了框架。
