ABSTRACT
Before a new patient arrives for their consultation, they invariably will have experienced their first contact with your practice via the telephone. The importance and the art of managing the initial call, has been the core of many courses and articles. This issue is succinctly described in an article by Thompson, who explains that there is a science and art to the correct handling of the initial call.1 The science covers the information to be gathered and the information to be given, and the art is the ability to communicate what is relevant to each individual patient.
