For Medical Assistants ·
What you'll accomplish
By the end of this guide, you'll have a printed triage script library covering your 8-10 most common patient complaint calls — giving every MA a consistent, safe approach to phone calls and reducing anxiety around difficult clinical conversations.
What you'll need
Think through your last week at the front desk. What patient calls come in most often? Write down the top 10. Common ones include:
For each complaint type, open your free chatbot and use this master prompt:
Create a phone triage script for a medical assistant at a [specialty] physician office handling patient calls about [complaint type]. Include:
1. Opening greeting and info to collect (name, date of birth, callback number, symptom duration)
2. Red flag symptoms that require 911 immediately
3. Symptoms that require a same-day appointment
4. Symptoms that are safe to monitor at home with instructions
5. How to close the call safely and document it
Format as a step-by-step script with branching options (if yes → do this / if no → do that).
Keep clinical language simple — this is for MAs, not nurses.
Example for chest pain:
Create a phone triage script for a medical assistant at a family medicine office handling patient calls about chest pain. Include: red flags requiring 911, criteria for same-day appointment vs. phone message to physician, what to tell patients who are safe to monitor. Format with branching options. Keep it concise and clear for non-clinical staff.
This step is non-negotiable. Print the AI-generated scripts and sit down with your physician or clinical lead for 15-20 minutes. Go through each script together:
Have them initial each script they approve.
Open Google Docs and create a document for each script — or one large document with clear section breaks. Format each script clearly:
Header: Call Type | Date Approved | Physician Initials
Script sections:
Print the final scripts and laminate them (local office supply store, ~$1 each). Post at every MA workstation and the front desk. This is your team's safety net for difficult calls.
For any new complaint type:
Create a phone triage script for a medical assistant handling patient calls about [symptom/complaint]. Include: red flag criteria, same-day criteria, safe-to-monitor criteria, home instructions, and documentation language. Simple branching format, non-clinical language.
For a pediatric version:
Create a parent phone call script for a medical assistant at a pediatric-adjacent primary care practice. Parent is calling about their child with [symptom]. Include age-adjusted criteria, temperature thresholds for fever, and when to go to ER vs. urgent care vs. schedule routine.
For a mental health call:
Create a phone script for a medical assistant handling a call from a patient who sounds distressed or expresses thoughts of self-harm. Include: how to keep them on the line, crisis hotline number to provide, when to call 911, and how to immediately escalate to a clinician. This is the highest priority call type.
For medication side effects:
Create a phone triage script for a medical assistant handling calls about possible medication side effects. Include: red flag side effects that require 911 or ER (severe allergic reaction, anaphylaxis signs), urgent call to physician, and safe-to-monitor situations with instructions to discontinue and call back.