Escalating difficult cases
When a complaint warrants Owner involvement or platform support — recognise and escalate.
Overview
Not every patient ticket can be resolved by front desk. Legal threats, clinical disputes, persistent unhappiness — these need higher-level intervention. The escalation flow loops in the Owner immediately.
Prerequisites
- Owner, Admin, Receptionist, or Billing Staff role
- An open ticket that's beyond your remit
Steps
Recognise escalation criteria. Legal language ("I'll sue", "false advertising"), threats, clinical disputes ("the dentist hurt me"), repeated complaints by same patient, public-facing complaint mentions (social media).
Open the ticket. Patient Support → click row.
Click "Escalate". Modal opens.
Choose escalation target. Owner (default), Admin team (group), Platform support (for software issues affecting the dispute).
Add context. Brief note explaining why escalating. "Patient claims they were charged for a procedure they didn't receive — needs Owner to review records and respond directly."
Pause the ticket from your queue. Status changes to ESCALATED. Removed from your queue but you can still see it under Watching.
Owner takes over. Owner sees the escalation in their personal queue immediately. They reply to the patient directly.
Document the resolution. Once resolved, ensure the ticket has a clear summary — protects the clinic in any future legal review.
Expected outcome
- Owner is aware and acting on the case
- Front-desk staff don't engage with potentially harmful situations
- Audit trail shows escalation reason and resolution
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Don't know if to escalate | Err on the side of escalating | Owner can de-escalate later if not warranted |
| Owner unavailable | Multi-Admin clinic | Escalate to all Admins |
| Patient calls multiple times during escalation | They're worried | Owner replies promptly to keep them informed |
| Escalation re-opens an old ticket | New incidents about same dispute | Acceptable — link tickets via comment |
| Want platform legal review | Document everything; raise platform service ticket | Critical priority |