Sample deliverable โ for portfolio purposes only. This artifact illustrates the structure, methodology, and design quality of work built for FIRSTCALL Telehealth. Specific agency names, case outcomes, and proprietary materials have been excluded. Real engagement details available upon request.
Industry24/7 occupational injury and return-to-duty telehealth for police, fire, and EMS agencies
Engagement TypeFractional retention strategist
Sample ArtifactsAgency onboarding flow ยท Audience matrix ยท Operational workflow design
Context
Who FIRSTCALL Is and What the Work Addressed
About FIRSTCALL Telehealth
FIRSTCALL Telehealth delivers 24/7 on-demand telehealth for the ones always on call โ police officers, firefighters, and EMS providers. Founded by a board-certified internal medicine physician, the firm currently serves as occupational health consultant for one of the nation's largest metropolitan police departments. FIRSTCALL specializes in point-of-injury access, return-to-duty evaluation, and workers' comp defensibility documentation. Learn more at
firstcalltelehealth.co.
The engagement was scoped to cover both sides of the lifecycle โ not just how to win agency clients, but how to serve them once they are on board. Police, fire, and EMS look like one audience from a distance. Up close, they buy differently. The injury patterns differ, the union and bargaining contexts differ, the operational pressures differ, and the way each department justifies a new vendor differs.
Diagnostic Finding
FIRSTCALL previously had Discovery and Steady State documented. The gap was in Alignment and Activation โ which is exactly where most agency relationships were stalling.
Exhibit 01 ยท 5-Touchpoint Framework Applied
Agency Onboarding Flow โ From First Conversation to Live Use
For occupational health buyers in public safety, the decision to bring on a telehealth partner is rarely made in one meeting. It moves through layered review: chief or commissioner, HR and risk management, union representation, and operations. The onboarding flow below names how a new agency moves from initial conversation to live use โ and where the firm's operational team picks up from the BD conversation.
1
Discovery
Initial meeting with chief, HR director, or risk manager. Qualify the need: injury volume, current provider gaps, union sensitivity, workers' comp documentation requirements. Deliver capability brief appropriate to audience. Establish next stakeholder to engage.
โ Status: Previously documented by FIRSTCALL. Functional.
2
Alignment โ Gap Identified Here
Stakeholder consensus phase. HR and risk must align on cost justification. Union representation must be briefed on scope and CBA compatibility. Operations needs a workflow document they can hand to supervisors. This stage requires three separate conversations, not one. No single-deck pitch survives this phase intact.
โ Gap: This stage was not documented. Relationships stalled because the firm did not have a stakeholder-specific communication sequence for this phase.
3
Activation โ Gap Identified Here
Formal agreement signed. Operational onboarding begins. Supervisor workflow document distributed. Officers, firefighters, or paramedics briefed on how to access the service. First case handled within 30 days of go-live. HR and risk receive initial utilization summary at Day 30.
โ Gap: No structured activation protocol existed. First cases were handled reactively, not as part of a documented workflow the operational team could own.
4
Steady State
Ongoing service delivery. Monthly utilization reports to HR and risk. Quarterly review with agency leadership. Annual contract renewal conversation begins at Month 10 โ not Month 12. Workers' comp documentation delivered within 24 hours of each case close.
โ Status: Previously documented by FIRSTCALL. Functional once an agency reached this stage.
The Two-Lifecycle Principle
The Alignment and Activation stages are where FIRSTCALL's agency relationships were stalling โ not because the service was failing, but because the firm lacked documented protocols for the stakeholder-alignment work those stages require. Steady State was functional. The gap was getting there reliably.
Exhibit 02 ยท Audience Matrix
Police, Fire, and EMS โ Three Buyer Conversations
The audience matrix documents the differences clearly enough that the team can run audience-specific conversations without rebuilding them from scratch each time. Same firm, three buyer conversations. Each audience requires its own outreach materials, its own proof set, and its own value framing.
| Audience | Decision Authority | Primary Concern | Proof Required | CBA Consideration | Entry Point |
|---|
| Police Departments | Chief / HR Director / City Risk | Workers' comp cost and documentation defensibility | Existing PD reference, ACOEM-compliant protocols, cost reduction case | Must be compatible with existing CBA โ union must be briefed before agreement | Direct outreach to HR Director or Risk Manager |
| Fire Departments | Fire Chief / Union Steward / HR | 24/7 coverage for injury that occurs mid-shift or on-scene | Response time, NFPA-aligned documentation, clinical credentials | Union often has strong say in occupational health vendor. Peer reference from another department critical. | Capability brief to Fire Chief first; separate briefing to union leadership |
| EMS Providers | EMS Director / Medical Director / Hospital System (if hospital-based) | Defensible injury documentation that survives billing and comp review | MDGuidelines/ODG alignment, documentation turnaround time, clinical rigor | Often managed by hospital system or municipal employer โ comp rules vary | Medical Director introduction via clinical peer; hospital system entry if hospital-based |
Exhibit 03 ยท Operational Workflow
In-the-Moment Injury Intake โ Designed to Run Without Founder Involvement
Once an agency is onboarded, the operational workflow is what determines whether the relationship sticks. Public safety agencies are evaluating FIRSTCALL in real time on every case the team handles. The workflow below illustrates the structure built for in-the-moment injury intake โ designed to produce defensible documentation at every step and to be executed by clinical and administrative staff without founder oversight.
1
Injury Report Received
Officer, firefighter, or paramedic initiates contact via dedicated agency hotline or app. On-call provider acknowledges within 15 minutes. Initial intake form completed โ mechanism of injury, duty status, immediate treatment needs documented.
Owner: On-call provider ยท Documentation: Intake form auto-timestamps
2
Clinical Assessment & Triage
Board-certified physician conducts telehealth evaluation. ACOEM/ODG/MDGuidelines-compliant assessment. Treatment recommendation documented. Return-to-duty status determined and communicated to supervisor within two hours. Referral issued if in-person evaluation required.
Owner: Attending physician ยท Documentation: Clinical note, RTD determination
3
Documentation Package Delivered
Workers' comp documentation package delivered to HR within 24 hours of case close. Includes: clinical note, RTD determination, treatment plan, billing-ready summary, and workers' comp claim support document. HIPAA-compliant secure delivery via agency-specified channel.
Owner: Administrative staff ยท Documentation: Full comp package, delivery receipt
4
Case Close & Monthly Reporting
Case logged to agency utilization dashboard. Individual case summary available to HR on demand. Monthly aggregate report delivered to HR and Risk: total cases, average RTD time, top injury categories, documentation compliance rate. Quarterly review scheduled.
Owner: Operations ยท Documentation: Utilization log, monthly report template
4D Method โ Diagnose, Design, Deploy, Track
The Methodology Applied to Public Safety Telehealth
For any clinical service firm pursuing public safety agencies, the buying decision is layered and the operational execution is where retention is decided. The work was building both halves of the lifecycle: a documented onboarding flow that named the stakeholder alignment public safety agencies actually require, and an operational workflow that produced defensible documentation on every case the team handled.
Diagnose
Map the gaps
Identify where the firm's current approach is breaking down โ in the handoffs, the materials, or the operational process.
Design
Build the structure
Create the frameworks, touchpoints, briefs, and workflows the firm needs โ audience-specific, not generic.
Deploy
Make it operational
Move the team from ad-hoc execution to documented sequences they can run without strategist involvement.
Track
Measure what matters
Monitor the signals that indicate whether the system is working โ and adjust when the data says to.
The diagnosis identified where agency relationships were stalling โ Alignment and Activation, not Discovery or Steady State. The design built both the GTM-side stakeholder sequencing and the operational-side intake workflow. The deploy moved FIRSTCALL's team from founder-dependent execution to documented protocols the clinical and administrative staff could own. Track measures which agencies are progressing through each stage โ and flags relationships that are slowing.
The artifacts above are the public safety telehealth application of the methodology used across The Retention Studio's engagements with relationship-dependent firms. Each was designed to be operated by the firm's existing staff without ongoing strategist involvement.
