It is crucial to have a steady schedule and to get patients into exam rooms on time. Often time physicians have to wait long for patients to arrive and miss their breaks or have to leave way too late when the schedule gets backed up. but they can have a powerful effect on overall patient satisfaction. A survey revealed that 97% of the candidates were frustrated and annoyed waiting at the provider’s office.  43% of patients feel start to feel annoyed when they have to wait for 20 minutes, time is indeed precious for everyone in this fast-moving world. Therefore your practice needs to have solutions to reduce patient wait times which will attract, retain, and keep patients contented.

5 Strategies to reduce patient wait times

Fortunately, there are a few strategies that can help to reduce patient wait times. These smart tips will support productivity and also keep patients out of the waiting room which is immensely crucial as the pandemic continues and avoid them rescheduling or canceling the appointment because of long waiting times.

  1. Gather all required patient information before the appointment – This seems pretty obvious, but many delays are caused at check-in if all paperwork is not ready and complete and patients have to fill out forms. Patient records and referrals should always be ready when the patient arrives. Medical practices can also use the patient portal platform to allow patients to fill online in-take forms to make sure all accurate information is right there.
  2. Use technology – The year 2021 is all about embracing the right tech tools to help your practice streamline administrative tasks and keep patients satisfied. The alerts feature in your software system can send automatic appointment reminders to patients to address the issue of patient no-shows which can decrease your practice revenue. These alerts are sent via emails, messages, and texts to patients so they don’t miss their appointment and show up at the right time.
  3. Create a policy to deal with patients who arrive late – If you haven’t created a policy for late arrivals then now is the right time. You can set a time limit for patients who arrive late, for example, if a patient shows 30 minutes later after their appointment then their appointment should be rescheduled to another day. Such policies reflect that you also value their time and it is important that you communicate late arrival policies with patients beforehand so they are aware and be on time.
  4. Use a mobile queue solution – Implementing a mobile queue tool can reduce patient wait times and keep them satisfied. The robust mobile applications can give patients more control over their time. Users can join a virtual line that can let them know their position in real-time and help you manage patient flow.
  5. Go for telemedicine solutions – By embracing Telemedicine EMR Software solutions you can provide an opportunity for patients to receive the best care from the comfort of their homes. The virtual sessions also eliminate driving down to the doctor’s clinic and wait in the waiting room. Patients prefer healthcare providers that offer telemedicine solutions for treatment and diagnosis. Telemedicine adaptation rates have significantly increased with the COVID-19 pandemic as governments and physicians have urged people to practice social distancing and avoid visiting the hospital to reduce the spread of the virus and keep everyone safe.

Going ahead

Your practice’s profitability and repute depend upon how seriously you prioritize patient experience by reducing patient wait times. It is advised that you should invest in scheduling tools this year that can help patients arrive on time and using charting software to pace up the documentation process. To address delays you should monitor wait times and look at patient arrival times and any other staffing challenges. In the end, medical practices need to use the right strategies at the right time to reduce patient wait times and their frustrations in the waiting room.