Phone-A-Friend Care Isn’t A System (but It’s the System We’ve Got)

“Before you came into my life, I missed you so bad…”
— Carly Rae Jepsen, “Call Me Maybe”

The Text We All Get

Every clinician—nurse, NP, physician, therapist, etc.—has gotten the same kind of message:
“Hey, can I ask you something?”

It might be a rash. A lab result. A medication question. It’s not quite urgent, but it’s unsettling. And the patient can’t reach their provider or doesn’t want to go through the hassle of getting an appointment. Or, if they want an appointment, appointments are weeks out. Portals go unanswered. The nurse line routes them to nowhere. So they text a friend.

It’s flattering—until you realize it happens far too often. Because texting a friend usually means you found someone who cares. But it also means the system didn’t.

Not Everyone Has That Friend

That message is a lifeline for people who know someone in healthcare. But not everyone has a clinician in their contacts. Not everyone has built-in clinical insight. And that’s exactly where Storyline began.

A few years ago, a close family member was diagnosed with prostate cancer at one of the most prestigious hospitals in the country. But despite the reputation, he and his wife felt adrift. They came to visit, and his wife asked me quietly, “Could you look at the portal with us? We’re trying to understand what’s going on, and no one can really explain it.”

I spent about thirty minutes reviewing the chart. The notes were thorough—but each provider used slightly different language. Each imaging study (CT, MRI, PET) revealed slightly different nuances. From a clinician’s perspective, it all made sense. But to them, it felt like chaos. Contradictory. Disconnected.

I told them: imaging is like looking out different windows of the same house. You see something slightly different depending on where you stand, but it’s still one house. That clicked. We talked about different treatment philosophies, why one doctor leaned more aggressive and another more conservative. We took our time. There was space to ask and space to hear.

At the end, my aunt said something I’ll never forget:
"We would’ve tried to find someone like this—but we wouldn’t have known where to look. I’m so glad we have you."

And all I could think was: Not everyone has me. They shouldn’t have to.

Why This Happens

There are many reasons people reach outside the system for help. But, we will explore these four key reasons today:

1. Medical Jargon
Jargon appears every four minutes in a typical clinical encounter—and less than half is ever explained. A recent survey showed that while nearly all participants understood “negative cancer screen,” only two-thirds correctly interpreted “positive lymph nodes,” and many misread “tumor is progressing” as good news. Even basic phrasing leads to real confusion—and delayed decisions.

2. Not Enough Time
Most primary care visits last less than 20 minutes, and clinicians often spend more time documenting the visit than being in it. That leaves very little time to translate scans, acknowledge fear, or walk through complexity.

3. Yellow-Light Moments
We’ve built good systems for what to do in emergencies. But what about the not-quite-sure moments? The questions that feel important, but not urgent enough for the ER? Without a guide, people either act too late—or escalate when they don’t need to.

4. Literacy and Emotion
Only about 12% of U.S. adults have proficient health literacy. For many, even basic medical instructions or consent forms are a barrier. Add anxiety, uncertainty, or prior negative experiences, and the ability to ask—or understand—drops even further.

The Space Between Escalation and Inaction

That uncertain middle—what we call the yellow-light zone—is where care often stalls. It’s also where “text-a-nurse” fills in.

But that isn’t equitable. It works if you have someone on the inside. If you don’t, you're left hoping the system catches you before something gets missed.

What patients need is someone who already knows their story. Someone who can translate clinical language, interpret context, and say, “Here’s what I think,” or, “Let me help you figure out what comes next.”

Why Storyline Exists

Storyline was never about replacing providers. It’s about helping patients actually understand what those providers are saying—and what to do with that information once the visit is over.

Most people leave an appointment with more questions than they feel comfortable asking. They don’t want to call again. They don’t want to bother anyone. And often, they’re not even sure what’s worth asking. That’s where we come in.

At Storyline, we step into the space between the quick visit and the big decision. We help people make sense of their records, explain what different test results mean, talk through the “why” behind a plan of care, and help clarify what still feels fuzzy. It’s not about repeating what was said—it’s about making sure it lands.

We stay long enough to make sure someone really gets it. And we’re still around for the second wave of questions that come later—after the appointment, after the portal message, after someone’s had time to sit with the news and realize what they still don’t understand.

Because the truth is, good care isn’t just about access. It’s about understanding. And no one should have to text a friend just to make sense of their own health.