For enrolled learners, faculty, and partner sites
Enter the password from your welcome email. Lessons, slide decks, handouts, and post-tests are inside.
This lock is a courtesy, not security. Before launch the host must protect this folder (see CLAUDE.md). Nothing confidential belongs here until then.
102.3 Writing and Calling: Communicating with Providers
SBAR messages, outreach calls, voicemail privacy and video visits
Your materials
Slides (PowerPoint) Handout (Word)
For instructors
Facilitator guide Printable pre and post tests Quiz (LMS import)
What you will learn
- Write a short provider message using the SBAR format
- Make an outreach call that confirms identity and protects privacy
- Leave a voicemail that shares no health information
- Help a client get ready for a video visit
Start here
Have you ever gotten a message so long or unclear that you did not know what to do with it?
Lesson
SBAR made simple
| Letter | Means | Ask yourself |
|---|---|---|
| S | Situation | What is happening right now? |
| B | Background | What does the reader need to know? |
| A | Assessment | What did I observe or hear? |
| R | Recommendation or Request | What do I need, and by when? |
One message, two ways
Hard to use
- Long story with no clear point
- Guesses about what is wrong medically
- Extra private details that are not needed
- No request or deadline
SBAR message
- Client missed two refills, reports dizziness today
- Lives alone, no ride since bus change
- Client said she feels unsteady standing up
- Please call her today; I can help arrange a ride
What to include and leave out
- Include: Who you are, the client's name and date of birth per agency rules, facts you observed, and your request.
- Leave out: Details the reader does not need, rumors, opinions about the client, and your own medical guesses.
- Use secure channels: Send client information only through your agency's approved email, record system or portal. Never personal email or text.
- Document it: Note what you sent, to whom, and when. Follow up if you get no answer.
An outreach call, step by step
- Call from your work line: Use the agency phone or app, never your personal number.
- Introduce yourself: Give your name, that you are a CHW, and your agency.
- Confirm who you reached: Ask the person to confirm their date of birth before sharing anything.
- Share the purpose: Explain why you are calling and ask if now is a good time.
- Agree on next steps: Set the next step and a callback date, then use teach-back.
- Log the call: Record the date, outcome and plan in the agency system.
Voicemail and text privacy
Safe to say
- Your first name and agency
- A callback number
- A good time to reach you
- A general reason, such as a courtesy call
Do not say
- Any diagnosis, test or medicine
- Clinic names that reveal a condition
- Details about benefits, court or housing cases
- Anything you would not want a roommate to hear
Upstream: the phone that keeps changing
- What we see: Ms. Jackson in Fairfax never returns calls from her care team, and her chart says hard to reach.
- Why it happens (upstream): She uses a prepaid phone that runs out of minutes, her number changes often, and she moved twice this year after a rent increase.
- What we can build on (assets): Her sister's steady number, the corner store where she buys minutes, her church office, free phone programs, and library computers for portal messages.
Helping with a video visit
Video visits help many clients, if they are ready.
- Test the tech: Check the device, internet, camera and sound before the day. Log in early.
- Find privacy: Pick a quiet, private spot. Never join while driving.
- Make a list: Write questions, current medicines, allergies and any home readings like blood pressure.
- Ask for a summary: Keep paper nearby and ask the provider for a visit summary afterward.
Situation: the wrong person answers
Situation: You call Mr. Hill in Glenville to follow up after an ER visit. A woman answers and says she is his wife. She asks what the call is about and says she handles his appointments.
What do you say?
- Thank her and say it is a courtesy call for Mr. Hill
- Do not mention the ER visit or any health details
- Ask for a good time to reach him, then call back
- When you reach him, ask if he wants her included, and document it
Study sheet
The big idea: Clear, short and private messages get clients the right help faster and protect their trust.
Key points
- SBAR: Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation or Request. Keep the A to what you observed or heard.
- Share only what the reader needs, through your agency's secure channels, never personal email or text.
- Call from a work line, confirm identity first, and share nothing with anyone but the client without consent.
- Voicemails stay general: name, agency, callback number. No health details.
- Help clients prepare for video visits: test tech, find privacy, make a list, ask for a summary.
- Emergencies are not messages: call 911 for danger or severe symptoms happening now.
Remember
- S B A R: Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation
- Confirm identity before sharing anything
- Never call clients from your personal phone
- Log every call and message
Ask yourself
- Would a busy nurse know exactly what I need after reading my message?
- Would I be comfortable if my voicemail were played out loud in the client's home?
Vocabulary
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| SBAR | A short message format: Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation or Request. |
| Provider | A licensed health professional, such as a doctor, nurse practitioner, nurse or pharmacist. |
| Minimum necessary | Sharing only the client information the reader needs to do their part. |
| Secure channel | An agency-approved way to send client information, such as an encrypted email or record system. |
| Outreach call | A call a CHW makes to connect with a client, follow up, or offer services. |
| Identity check | Confirming you are speaking with the right person, such as by date of birth, before sharing details. |
| Work number | An agency phone line or app that keeps your personal number private. |
| Video visit | A health appointment held over a phone, tablet or computer camera. |
| Patient portal | A secure website or app where clients see results and message their care team. |
| Consent | A client's clear permission, such as to share information or include a family member. |
Real-life situations
The worried message
On a home visit in Lee-Harvard, Mrs. Owens shows you her home blood pressure log. She says she has had headaches all week and missed her last appointment.
What to do
- If she has severe symptoms right now, follow your program's urgent protocol or call 911
- Otherwise, write an SBAR message to her care team through the approved channel
- Include what you saw and what she reported, and ask for a call back today
- Tell your supervisor and document the message and the plan
Why: SBAR gets the facts to the provider quickly. The CHW reports what was observed and leaves medical decisions to the care team.
The text from a client
A client in Slavic Village gets your personal number from a friend and texts you photos of her lab results late at night.
What to do
- Reply briefly from your work line during work hours, not your personal phone
- Kindly explain how to reach you safely and how fast you respond
- Do not forward the photos; ask her to share them through the portal or agency channel
- Tell your supervisor and follow agency policy on deleting the images
Why: Using work channels protects the client's privacy and your boundaries, and keeps records in the right place.
The first video visit
Mr. Rivera, 68, in Old Brooklyn has his first video visit next week. He has a smartphone but has never used the clinic app.
What to do
- Ask permission to help and practice logging in together before the visit
- Help him pick a quiet, private spot with good light
- Help him list questions, medicines and allergies
- Remind him to log in early and to ask for a visit summary
Why: A practice run and a short list help clients get the most from a video visit.
Activity: Write it in SBAR
About 20 minutes.
- Read the practice story your instructor posts in the course.
- Write an SBAR message to the client's nurse in five sentences or fewer.
- Write a 20 second voicemail script for the same client that shares no health details.
- Swap with a partner and check: is the request clear, and is anything private left in?
Post-test
Ten questions. You need 75% to pass, with one retake. Your result is saved in this browser.