Guides / Basic Patient Walkthrough
In Clinic Patient Wait Times
Once the patient has checked via our easy-to-use CHIME Kiosk, their name will display on the CHIME’s Waiting Room along with their live wait time.
These times are automatically calculated using the real-time status of the clinic, taking into account considerations such as the queue of patients waiting to be seen, who they are scheduled to see, whether each clinician is running ahead or behind, as well as the clinician’s historical habits.
In our experience being too “exact” in our published estimates create problems though. If we say “13 minutes”, people get upset if it’s 16 minutes in truth. Similarly, if we say “25 minutes”, there’s a risk that some patients will think they have lots of time, and will go, for example, to get a coffee and come back in 20 minutes.
In order to minimize these issues while still giving patients the benefit of an estimated wait time, we typically display wait times as ranges. We find these ranges quite effective in practice. Patients understand they are simply estimates, and because the lower bound is 5 minutes, they will stay in the waiting room while at the same time, not expecting to be roomed immediately.
If we estimate a wait time of under 5 minutes, we’ll display 1- 5 minutes
If we estimate a wait time of 5 - 10 minutes, we’ll display 5 - 10 minutes
If we estimate a wait time of 10 - 15 minutes, we’ll display 5 - 15 minutes
If we estimate a wait time of 15 - 20 minutes, we’ll display 5 - 20 minutes
If we estimate a wait time of 20 - 25 minutes, we’ll display 5 - 25 minutes
If we estimate a wait time of 25 - 30 minutes, we’ll display 5 - 30 minutes
If we estimate a wait time of 30 minutes or more, we’ll display 5 - 30+ minutes
When it is a patient’s turn to be seen, CHIME’s Waiting Room Display provides an on-screen alert and a voice prompt to direct patients to their proper rooms. The voice prompt is typically carefully configured to provide specific directions to the appropriate room.