{"id":17659,"date":"2023-07-13T12:38:50","date_gmt":"2023-07-13T17:38:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/?p=17659"},"modified":"2024-05-29T12:48:11","modified_gmt":"2024-05-29T17:48:11","slug":"3-ways-providers-can-minimize-wait-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/blog\/article\/3-ways-providers-can-minimize-wait-times\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Ways Providers Can Minimize Wait Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Americans often have to wait weeks to see a doctor. They wait an average of 29 days to see a PCP, and sometimes, more than 90 days to see practitioners like psychiatrists.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These wait times directly conflict with what patients really want.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Our fast-paced, on-demand culture has changed the way patients see healthcare. While patients want to look for and book appointments on their own time, Zocdoc data also shows they want to be seen as soon as they can. In 2019, a Zocdoc study found 3 in 4 patients said it\u2019s easier to go to the ER than to get a doctor\u2019s appointment. Yet the study also revealed that 86% of Americans would avoid this costly trip to the ER if they could see an in-network doctor within 24 hours.<\/span><\/p>\n

While worker shortages have contributed to long wait times, there are still some best practices providers can make to minimize wait times and see patients as soon as possible.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Streamline your booking process<\/h3>\n

One of the biggest factors that delays patient care is simply the time it takes to find and book an appointment.<\/span> By expanding after-hours booking and allowing patients to book online, you\u2019ll be able to speed up how quickly you can see patients and ensure that more open appointment times are filled. You can do so by turning to a service like Zocdoc.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While patients wait an average of 29 days to see a PCP when calling, on Zocdoc, patients usually see a doctor within 24 to 72 hours.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Patients wait an average of 25 days to see a psychiatrist, with some waiting more than 90 days.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On Zocdoc, the median number of days between a Zocdoc user booking a mental health appointment and attending that appointment is between 4-5 days for an in-person visit and 5-6 days for a virtual visit. This is particularly notable for mental health access, given the 25% global rise in anxiety and depression during the pandemic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Offer telehealth<\/h3>\n

You can also make more room in your schedule by offering both telehealth and in-person visit options. Providing telehealth services can cut down on the time it takes to transition from patient to patient. It also cuts down the commute providers and patients must make to an office and offers more flexibility for providers to take appointments after hours.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cut down on perceived wait time before appointments<\/h3>\n

Within the waiting room itself, you want to focus on actual and perceived wait time. <\/span>Most patients want to save time in the office and complete their paperwork at their convenience. More than 65% of patients complete intake forms ahead of their appointment. <\/span><\/p>\n

One study <\/span>suggests perceived time impacts patient satisfaction more than actual wait time. You can <\/span>add calming elements, like plants and interesting magazines, to your waiting room, to make the <\/span>environment less stressful to patients.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Interested in more Zocdoc insights into patient behavior? Download<\/a> our \u201cThink Like a Patient\u201d whitepaper.<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Americans often have to wait weeks to see a doctor. They wait an average of 29 days to see a PCP, and sometimes, more than 90 days to see practitioners like psychiatrists.\u00a0 These wait times directly conflict with what patients really want.\u00a0 Our fast-paced, on-demand culture has changed the way patients see healthcare. While patients […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":17670,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[113],"tags":[121],"class_list":["post-17659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-patient-experience","tag-general-healthcare"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n3 Ways Providers Can Minimize Wait Times - Practice Resources<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Zocdoc data shows that patients value receiving immediate medical care.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/blog\/article\/3-ways-providers-can-minimize-wait-times\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"3 Ways Providers Can Minimize Wait Times - Practice Resources\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Zocdoc data shows that patients value receiving immediate medical care.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/blog\/article\/3-ways-providers-can-minimize-wait-times\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Practice Resources\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-07-13T17:38:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-05-29T17:48:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/thescript.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/wait-times.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Amanda Svachula\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Amanda Svachula\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/blog\/article\/3-ways-providers-can-minimize-wait-times\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/blog\/article\/3-ways-providers-can-minimize-wait-times\/\",\"name\":\"3 Ways Providers Can Minimize Wait Times - Practice Resources\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/blog\/article\/3-ways-providers-can-minimize-wait-times\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/blog\/article\/3-ways-providers-can-minimize-wait-times\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/thescript.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/wait-times.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-07-13T17:38:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-05-29T17:48:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/#\/schema\/person\/0a3a7914bc408a696974da7bb56e3b37\"},\"description\":\"Zocdoc data shows that patients value receiving immediate medical care.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/blog\/article\/3-ways-providers-can-minimize-wait-times\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/blog\/article\/3-ways-providers-can-minimize-wait-times\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/blog\/article\/3-ways-providers-can-minimize-wait-times\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thescript.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/wait-times.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/thescript.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/wait-times.jpg\",\"width\":960,\"height\":480},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/blog\/article\/3-ways-providers-can-minimize-wait-times\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"3 Ways Providers Can Minimize Wait Times\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/\",\"name\":\"Practice Resources\",\"description\":\"Useful insights, advice and resources for running and growing your practice from Zocdoc.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/#\/schema\/person\/0a3a7914bc408a696974da7bb56e3b37\",\"name\":\"Amanda Svachula\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/author\/amanda-svachula\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"3 Ways Providers Can Minimize Wait Times - Practice Resources","description":"Zocdoc data shows that patients value receiving immediate medical care.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/blog\/article\/3-ways-providers-can-minimize-wait-times\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"3 Ways Providers Can Minimize Wait Times - Practice Resources","og_description":"Zocdoc data shows that patients value receiving immediate medical care.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/blog\/article\/3-ways-providers-can-minimize-wait-times\/","og_site_name":"Practice Resources","article_published_time":"2023-07-13T17:38:50+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-05-29T17:48:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":960,"height":480,"url":"https:\/\/thescript.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/wait-times.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Amanda Svachula","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Amanda Svachula","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/blog\/article\/3-ways-providers-can-minimize-wait-times\/","url":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/blog\/article\/3-ways-providers-can-minimize-wait-times\/","name":"3 Ways Providers Can Minimize Wait Times - Practice Resources","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/blog\/article\/3-ways-providers-can-minimize-wait-times\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/blog\/article\/3-ways-providers-can-minimize-wait-times\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/thescript.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/wait-times.jpg","datePublished":"2023-07-13T17:38:50+00:00","dateModified":"2024-05-29T17:48:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/#\/schema\/person\/0a3a7914bc408a696974da7bb56e3b37"},"description":"Zocdoc data shows that patients value receiving immediate medical care.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/blog\/article\/3-ways-providers-can-minimize-wait-times\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/blog\/article\/3-ways-providers-can-minimize-wait-times\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/blog\/article\/3-ways-providers-can-minimize-wait-times\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/thescript.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/wait-times.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/thescript.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/wait-times.jpg","width":960,"height":480},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/blog\/article\/3-ways-providers-can-minimize-wait-times\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"3 Ways Providers Can Minimize Wait Times"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/","name":"Practice Resources","description":"Useful insights, advice and resources for running and growing your practice from Zocdoc.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/#\/schema\/person\/0a3a7914bc408a696974da7bb56e3b37","name":"Amanda Svachula","url":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/author\/amanda-svachula\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17659\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}