I'm hoping someone can help me with this one rather quickly.  I'm
meeting with the administration of my hospital in a couple of days to
talk about the future of our lactation program.  The part that they are
having trouble with is justifying the hours spent talking to patients on
the telephone, answering their questions and troubleshooting.
Obviously, there is no insurance coverage for these hours, so the
hospital does not want to pay for them.  On the other hand, the
lactation consultants feel that the telephone hours are an integral part
of our program, and want these hours increased.

So my question is, how do other hospital based programs pay for
telephone hours?  Is money taken from income derived from pump rentals?

I'd appreciate any and all responses and suggestions.

Thanks.

Lori Lerman, R.N.
Winchester, MA