As we approach the multi-phase transition of Tulane Medical Center to new physical locations and a new EMR system, it will be extremely important, for educational, clinical, and business reasons, to retain and grow our Tulane patient appointments, referrals, and procedures. As a result, the School of Medicine is investing in a call center named Tulane Doctors - One Call. We will begin small with the call center’s purpose to give Tulane patients and referring physicians direct access to schedule an appointment with a TULANE Physician.
Beginning on January 16th, there will be three ways to book an appointment with a Tulane Physician:
Tulane Doctors – One Call Center: When a referring physician or a patient calls 504-988-TUMG (8864), they will be directed to TUMG-employed team members, who will schedule patients with Tulane providers unless a Tulane provider isn’t available. We want to make it as easy as possible, with one call for referring physicians and patients to schedule appointments within the Tulane system. Tulane physicians’ appointment schedules, which move to EPIC, will utilize an open scheduling model; the call center will be able to quickly identify the accessibility of providers, improve the ease by which appointments are made, and support callers in navigating new clinic locations. The One Call Center will also assist patients with navigating clinics, legacy UHS, and TUMG clinics.
Please note that Orthopaedics, Oncology and Transplant services will be forwarded to the respective departments via referrals until additional booking protocols can be developed by these clinical areas.
UHS Call Center at EJGH: The DT clinic management is concerned about patient leakage and has developed a small central call center for Tulane-supported clinics at East Jefferson during the transition window.
LCMC central scheduling department: This department covers all LCMC services and focuses on the next available appointment and not necessarily keeping a Tulane patient in the Tulane system; therefore, when creating a referral, we urge everyone to add either the specific name of the physician you want the patient to see or add “Refer to TULANE PROVIDER” in the comments section of the referral.
Finally, given that LCMC’s EPIC scheduling is open, it will also be vital that you encourage your clinical staff to schedule any future patient visits to a referring Tulane provider in addition to creating a referral before a patient checks out.
For additional information or questions, please email Joe Esneault at desneaul@tulane.edu .
