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How do I measure patient wait time and appointment lead time?
Patient wait time is the time from scheduled appointment start to the start of consultation. Appointment lead time is the time between the booking request and the appointment date. Both are calculated as averages and as the proportion exceeding a chosen threshold.
It matters because long waits affect patient experience and attendance, and long lead times can drive cancellations and no-shows.
Commonly misread:
- Averages hide the longest waits. Report the 90th percentile as well.
- Recording wait times by hand at the end of the day, which makes them unreliable.
- Not splitting by practitioner, day or appointment type.
Capture check-in and consultation start times in your practice system, and review them together with utilisation, since overbooking raises utilisation but lengthens waits.
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