UW Medical Center Teleservices

Operator Services

UWMC operators take approximately 4,000 calls per day. There are several things you can do to expedite this process. They may ask for your unit or floor, to page the correct person. To more efficiently process your paging request, please use the information below:

Dial 86190 for all NON-emergency paging calls

Dial 222 for CODES, Stat pages, and any hospital emergencies. (For emergencies requiring a campus police response, call 911.)

Give the following information to the operator:
1. The name or service and rank of the person you're paging. Be sure to tell the operator if you need a consult, as we usually list specific individuals for consults, admitting, ICU, and the Emergency Department.
2. The number you'd like them to call
3. Your location, floor, ward, unit, clinic, ER or ICU, because most services designate one specific person on call for all ICU calls, another one takes all ER calls, and another only takes consults, etc.

Emergencies (Code Red, Code 199, Stats, Rapid Response)

For UWMC emergencies, dial 222. For more information on this, consult "How to report an emergency in the hospital".

Call Statistics

Below are the UWMC monthly call statistics for our operators:

UWMC Teleservices department processes over one million calls a year.

Special Calling Features

RCS (Regional Calling Service): this service allows you to dial most Western Washington numbers as a local call from the hospital. All numbers called to 206, 253, and 425 area codes will go through as a local call (dial: 9-xxx-xxx-xxxx). Many 360 numbers will also go through as a local call, but not all fall under that umbrella. The best way to discern whether or not a 360 call is local is to access the RCS Checker for outbound calls.

UWATS calls:
for instructions on making a long-distance call with a UWATS authorization code, click here.
– local/national (requires a UWATS authorization code)
– international (requires a UWATS authorization code with international calling capabilities) Note: When calling an international number, find the local time by checking the International Time Clock.

Monitored calls: (for consent)
– To obtain consent for patient care, contact 598-6190. After completion of the call, please bring your consent form down to Teleservices (NE-165) to obtain the signature of the witness.

Teleconferencing:
    – To set up a conference call, contact the conference call operator at 685-6060.
    – If making a long-distance or international conference call, you will need to obtain a UWATS authorization code.
    – Conference phone loaners are available in Teleservices. Please contact 598-6367 to inquire about availability.
    – To meet the needs of hearing-impaired patients and visitors, loaner TTY units are available. Please contact 598-6047 to inquire about availability.

On-call Schedules

Web On-Call: The Teleservices Department has transitioned the on-call schedule to a digital format. The application for editing your department's on-call schedules is available now. Have your UW NetID and password ready, and click UWMC OnCall to view on-call schedules. For access to edit your Web On-Call, contact Tim Lewis 598-6047 or Sheri Domingos 598-7088 and we'll be happy to get you started.

Non-urgent changes: For on-call changes/notice of unavailability Monday through Thursday, send email to comcntr@u.washington.edu. Please include doctor's full name, level of service, full name of service, applicable dates and time. Note: For non-urgent after-hours changes, please follow the "Urgent" protocol.

Urgent changes: For on-call changes/notice of unavailability Monday through Friday (7:30am-4pm), please call 598-6050. On weekends and holidays (and after 4pm weekdays), please call 598-6190 and ask to speak to the supervisor or lead operator.

Send mail to: teleserv@u.washington.edu
Last modified: 10/28/2009 12:21 PM