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Introduction
Organizing schedules in a healthcare business is inherently tied to the management of a patient waitlist. There are a wide range of different factors that influence how successful and efficient wait times are, and also many factors that can disturb or disrupt the original schedule. Nevertheless, with the right amount of planning and data, your practice should be able to reduce its wait times and ensure that its Patient Visit Average (PVA) is as optimal as possible. In this guide, we’ll highlight some of the different reasons behind why managing a patient waitlist effectively is important, and provide you with a checklist so you can improve yours!
Importance of reducing wait times in your practice
First thing’s first - let’s take a look at why reducing wait times is so important. For patients, the amount of time that they spend waiting for their appointments after they have arrived at a clinic is very important. Firstly, their health is at risk; if a patient has entered your business with a health concern, it is of utmost importance that they are seen and treated as soon as possible in order to minimize the risk of the condition worsening. Additionally, being made to wait an extended period of time may have negative consequences for a patient’s employment, childcare, and general stress levels. When these situations do occur, it is highly probable that a patient will leave your business dissatisfied and unlikely to return.
On the other hand, long wait times also have negative consequences for your business. Not only do they lead to unhappy patients, but they are also evidence of an imperfect and disorganized system. Wait times are a direct reflection of the scheduling and general management of a healthcare practice, and when these are frequently disrupted or lengthened, it indicates that your business is ill-prepared and unequipped to handle challenges. When it comes to creating a plan for how scheduling will work, focusing on reduced wait times is just as important as other operational areas, including setting the right prices for your business.
Possible reasons for increased wait times
We understand that working in healthcare is stressful, and there are often valid reasons for increased wait times, including the following.
Insufficient provision of services
You may have a limited capacity in regards to both facilities and practitioners, meaning that the number of patients who come in to receive care can’t be treated simultaneously. Whilst this is a difficult area to resolve, particularly if you are a walk-in clinic, you should always encourage patients to book their appointments and have extra staff on-call in case of emergencies.
Poor communication
Without adequate communication between practitioners, administrative staff, and patients, there will be increased wait times. Staff members need to communicate to patients what expected wait times will be, as well as ensure the information that is stored on their system is relevant and up-to-date.
Poor management of admissions from the waiting list
A waiting list only works if there is an efficient system of admission. This means that staff need to admit patients in a prioritized order, taking note of clinical urgency and individual wait times.
Checklist to manage your patients at the time of referral
When you are making a referral to a patient, there are certain strategies to employ that will help reduce wait times at the time of the actual appointment.
Seek in-depth information from patients
It is important to have solid information regarding the patient’s needs even prior to their session. When you refer a patient, you should make a detailed note of their symptoms and concerns so that the information is uploaded and stored in your system.
Get the patient's views on their health issues
Practitioners have a tendency to prioritize their medical opinion over their patients’ views. However, by listening and making a note of patient opinions, you will be able to determine a more cohesive treatment plan that is based on a patient-centric model of care.
Inform the patient about wait times
Transparency is key to patient satisfaction and it is your responsibility as a healthcare professional to achieve this. At the time of a referral, you should inform your patient about expected wait times or any possible disruptions so they are prepared and ready for their appointment.
Redirect patients if needed
It may be in the best interests of your patient to be referred to a different healthcare provider. Whilst you may still choose to put the patient on your waitlist, redirecting them to a practice that has available resources and practitioners will ensure they are treated promptly.
Create a different wait list for certain categories
Patients all have different needs, and ensuring these are all met appropriately may be achieved through the creation of categorical waiting lists. These could be based on certain diagnoses or required treatments and can streamline the waiting process by dividing resources (equally) between patient wait lists.
Checklist to prioritize attending to your patients
At the end of the day, there needs to be some sort of prioritization process for your waitlist. This is one of the best ways to ensure a positive healthcare experience so that your patients can love your waiting room and reap the benefits of a good physical environment policy within your business.
On the basis of urgency
This is a very common way of prioritizing patient admissions, as it allows for the maximum number of patients to be seen without compromising their health. The clinical urgency of different patients is however often subjective, so it is critical you have all the available information in order to prioritize accurately.
Apply maximum wait times for each category
After you have prioritized based on urgency, you need to ensure there are maximum wait times applied so that patients with less urgent needs are still seen. Applying maximum wait times is easily done with the assistance of a management system that can automatically generate these and ensure no patient is overlooked.
Tips to manage wait times during the actual waiting period
After you have organized the prioritization of your waitlist, you still need to consider how the actual waiting process will work. There are different concerns to keep in mind, especially when you are dealing with difficult patients whilst simultaneously trying to generate patient loyalty.
Keep a close eye on the list
During waiting periods, you should be collecting data on average, median, and maximum wait times to ensure patient flow is effective. This information will also allow you to identify any areas that may require improvements or adjustments.
Audit the waitlist frequently
It is important that you frequently contact the patients on your waitlist to ascertain whether they are still requiring treatment, or if their symptoms have worsened. After you obtain this information, you may need to readjust your prioritization.
Prepare your patients for their upcoming visit
For the patients who are at the top of the waitlist, it is a good idea to reach out and prepare them for their upcoming visit. This may mean filling out check-in forms early, obtaining medical records or updating personal information so the actual appointment is as seamless as possible.
Use Carepatron management software to manage your practice effectively
Managing a patient waitlist can be highly complex and stressful for healthcare businesses. You want to ensure that every patient’s needs are being met, and that prioritization is effective without compromising anyone’s health. At the end of the day, creating an efficient and organized waitlist process is going to be very difficult without electronic help. Practice management software has been specifically designed to assist with these types of operations. Carepatron offers a system that is integrated with a wide range of management tools, designed to streamline difficult tasks without compromising effectiveness or productivity. In addition to improving the waitlist management at your business, Carepatron is guaranteed to produce more effective schedules and workflows so that your staff can work cohesively to provide high-quality clinical outcomes to every single one of their patients.
Further Reading:
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