The patients have spoken, and they want better and easier communication with their doctors. At CapitalCare Medical Group, patients have told managers they want to talk to a person, not navigate a machine's menu, when they call the office. But they also want to leave a detailed message about symptoms or request a prescription refill at odd times of night. And they could use a brochure with a list of services, as well as the direct phone numbers of the people who can answer questions. So CapitalCare changed employees' schedules to make sure a person was always available by phone, even during lunch, and added a Web portal for patients to leave emails and check personal information
