Free Resource
The Post-Procedure Symptom Escalation Checklist
Cardiology, GI, orthopedics — every specialty that does procedures fields the after-hours call that follows. A checklist for building the specific, sourced symptom branches a generic script never has.
"Call us if you have any problems" is what most discharge paperwork says, and it isn't a script. The person answering that call at 9pm needs to know which problems, described how, mean the on-call physician gets paged now versus the patient is told to watch it overnight.
There's no single federal rule that sets these thresholds for a specialty practice the way the hospice or ASC Conditions of Participation do for their settings — the standard is whatever your specialty's own practice defines and your on-call physicians are willing to stand behind. That makes the checklist more important, not less: nothing forces you to write it down, so most practices don't, until a missed call becomes a bad outcome.
This checklist walks through building that branch structure, using two real, sourced examples of the specificity a good branch needs.
1. A branch per procedure, at the specificity your specialty societies already publish
Patient-education pages from specialty organizations show what a real warning-sign list looks like. MedlinePlus's cardiac catheterization discharge instructions name bleeding at the site that doesn't stop with pressure, discoloration, coolness or numbness of the limb below the site, redness or discharge at the incision, chest pain or shortness of breath, a pulse under 60 or over 100-120, dizziness or fainting, and a fever over 101°F.
The American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy's own patient information tells colonoscopy patients to contact their doctor for fever, worsening or persistent abdominal pain, significant rectal bleeding, or black stools.
Neither of these is a legal requirement for your practice, but they show the bar: specific symptoms, specific thresholds, not 'call if something seems wrong.' Build a branch like this for every procedure your practice performs often enough to generate after-hours calls.
2. Each branch is two or three questions, with a tier attached to each answer
The agent reads the questions for the matching procedure branch in order and matches the answers to the tier your physicians assigned. If a branch needs more questions than that to decide, route it straight to the on-call physician — that's a clinical judgment, not a script outcome.
For device and anticoagulation questions — a patient on a new blood thinner after a procedure, or asking about a pacemaker or stent — write a specific branch rather than folding it into a generic 'medication question' bucket. These carry outsized risk if mishandled and deserve their own escalation rule.
3. Three tiers, defined by what the agent does
Tier 1 — ED now: for the symptom combinations your physicians flag as always-escalate. Tier 2 — on-call physician contacted now: the agent runs your escalation ladder and connects or arranges a callback within a stated window. Tier 3 — reassurance plus routine follow-up: the branch's pre-approved guidance, logged for the practice's review.
Keep reading — no download required
The rest of this — the remaining sections, the full checklist, and the sources — opens right here on the page. One email, no PDF, no mailing list.
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This resource references dated regulatory material. Last reviewed against its sources for the 2027-05-31 revision cycle.