Processing medication telephone messages is one of the most frequent daily activities involving front and back office staff and providers. Patients report symptoms or ask questions related to their medications, which then necessitate provider response. Message accuracy is crucial to provider decisions and proper treatment.

As unlikely as it may seem, there are still some physicians who leave their "nurse" (medical assistant) in charge of the office when they are gone. Initially, there are two problems with this practice.

Even in our increasingly electronic world, it is critical that policies and procedures be in place for secure disposal of patient information, whether that information is in electronic form or on paper.

CAP member physicians often share in Hotline discussions that patients have asked to record informed consent discussions prior to surgery, medication instructions, and post-op or discharge instructions. Should audio or video recordings be allowed in the physician's office? And if so, where should the line be drawn?

CAP's Hotline receives frequent calls requesting guidelines on discontinuing/terminating this patient-physician relationship, not because of wellness, but because the physician no longer desires to have the patient in his practice. From these calls, we have learned of "misunderstandings," which this article intends to clarify.