A post-op patient calls at 2 AM. Here is exactly what happens between the first ring and the on-call surgeon's phone.
Caller Hi, my husband had a lumbar fusion 4 days ago and his leg feels numb all of a sudden. I don't know if this is normal.
ClinicFlow I'm going to help you right away. Can I confirm his name and date of birth?
Caller Robert Malone, 3/14/1962.
ClinicFlow Thank you. Is the numbness getting worse, and has he had any new trouble controlling his bladder or bowels?
Caller No bathroom problems, but the numbness started about an hour ago.
ClinicFlow New numbness 4 days after a fusion needs the surgical team tonight. I'm sending his information to the on-call surgeon right now, and someone will call you back at this number within minutes. If anything worsens while you wait, especially bladder or bowel changes, call 911.
Identity, callback number, procedure and date, and the concern in the caller's own words, captured before anything else.
The symptoms are checked against escalation criteria your surgeons set, the same red-flag lists in our published triage protocol template.
The on-call surgeon gets a text with a secure link to the full summary. PHI stays out of the SMS body.
The complete call, timeline, and escalation land in your EMR before the callback happens.
| Scenario | Destination |
|---|---|
| New or worsening neuro symptoms, post-op complications | On-call surgeon, immediately |
| Symptoms meeting ER criteria | Caller directed to 911/ED, on-call notified |
| Non-urgent concerns surfacing after hours | EMR message to the clinical team for morning |
Most practices run after-hours coverage on voicemail or a generic answering service that reads from a binder. Voicemail cannot ask about bladder function, and a call-center operator cannot tell a normal post-op ache from a red flag. ClinicFlow runs your physicians' actual triage criteria on every call, at any hour, and the average after-hours pickup happens in under 1 second.
Your surgeons do. During onboarding, escalation criteria are configured per procedure and per physician preference. The AI applies those rules; it never makes its own clinical judgment.
Uncertainty escalates. Any call that does not clearly fit a non-urgent category routes to the on-call provider. The default for ambiguity is always a human clinician.
By text message containing a secure link to the structured call summary. The link requires authentication, so a lost phone is not a reportable breach.
Post-op patients call with questions that are routine 9 times out of 10, and urgent the 10th. The AI's job is knowing the difference.
See this call type →The call the AI is explicitly not allowed to finish. Refills get captured and routed. Approving them is always your clinicians' call.
See this call type →Monday 8:05 AM: 6 lines ringing, 2 people at the desk. Overflow is where practices quietly lose the most revenue.
See this call type →The demo line is the production agent. Call it, describe this exact scenario, and judge for yourself.
