Healthcare Videos

Nine Month Wait Times and a Scheduling System No One Could Trust - SOL

The video highlights a chronic nine‑to‑ten‑month wait for specialist appointments at a health system, exposing a scheduling platform that clinicians cannot trust. While clinicians report that once patients are in the clinic the visit runs smoothly, patients endure months of silence after referrals. Attempts to “customize” the electronic health record’s scheduling module created a reverse‑engineered workflow that left patients without a concrete appointment date, forcing them to chase authorizations for an indeterminate period. As one interviewee explains, “you get the patient on the schedule so they know when they’re going to be seen and then you work backward… within two weeks you’ll complete the authorization.” The discussion underscores that reverting to industry‑wide best‑practice—booking the appointment first and then securing authorizations—offers a clear, patient‑centric solution. Implementing this approach could slash wait times, improve patient satisfaction, and reduce administrative overhead, compelling health systems to reassess reliance on vendor‑specific defaults and prioritize transparent scheduling.