The amount of time patients spend waiting in your office may seem like a small factor when it comes to patient satisfaction. But it can actually have a huge effect. A recent Software Advice survey found a staggering 97% of patients were frustrated by wait times. Patients often use online review sites to gauge average wait times before selecting a new doctor. And perhaps most surprising, 41% of patient are willing to see another doctor to reduce their wait time. That means your wait times could be costing you patients.
The national average wait time is currently around 21 minutes. And as Derek Preece of BSM Consulting told American Medical News, "after 20 minutes, patients think their time is being wasted." How does your practice compare?
With so many different things happening in your practice, it can seem nearly impossible to bring down your wait times. That's why we did some digging to see what practical strategies medical practices are using to keep patients out of the waiting room. And because we love visual cheat sheets of any kind, we've compiled our findings into the infographic included below. Implementing just a few of these strategies could make a huge difference to your patients, and help boost your practice's overall efficiency.
Thanks to our sources for making this infographic possible!
- TigerText
- Family Care
- QLess
- Software Advice
- BSM Consulting
- American Medical News
- AAFP
- Vitals.com
- Electronic Health Reporter
Tweetables
Use the "tweet this" links below to share these stats and tips!
- Get 8 strategies to reduce your patient wait times >tweet this<
- 97% of patients are #tiredofwaiting >tweet this<
- 41% of patients would see a different doctor to reduce their wait time >tweet this<
- Reduce patient wait times, tip #1: Gather patient info ahead of time >tweet this<
- Reduce patient wait times, tip #2: Delegate documentation >tweet this<
- Reduce patient wait times, tip #3: Use secure messaging >tweet this<
- Reduce patient wait times, tip #4: Create a no-show policy >tweet this<
- Reduce patient wait times, tip #5: Identify bottlenecks >tweet this<
- Reduce patient wait times, tip #6: Use a mobile queue app like @Qless >tweet this<
- Reduce patient wait times, tip #7: Offer evisits to patients >tweet this<
- 60% of patients say offering wifi would make the wait more bearable >tweet this<
