Healthcare IT’s Role in Reducing Wait Times, Improving Appointment Scheduling, and Ensuring Timely Communication with Providers

The time and effort it takes to schedule an appointment or communicate with your provider can be incredibly taxing. It’s a common experience that you set an appointment weeks to months out and hope that your schedule doesn’t change to prevent you from attending the appointment. If you can get past that, you then have to prepare to be there longer than you would expect from having to arrive early to complete paperwork and staying longer as you wait for the doctor to be ready for you. And the timeline for communication with your provider is a complete mystery. I know in my own experience that I have gotten responses an hour after I left my messages, just as I’ve had to repeatedly call and leave messages with my provider to finally get a response back days to weeks later, or have been ignored entirely. Too many experiences with long wait times leave your patients feeling drained, frustrated, and like their health isn’t a concern for you, which can then result in them leaving your organization for a new one. So, how do we streamline this process for our patients?

We reached out to our incredible Healthcare IT Today Community to ask — what role does healthcare IT play in reducing patient wait times, improving appointment scheduling, and ensuring timely communication with providers? Why aren’t some organizations embracing these solutions? The following are their responses.

Frank Fawzi, CEO at IntelePeer
Healthcare IT, particularly through AI and automation, plays a crucial role in patient experience, specifically by improving communication, streamlining scheduling, and reducing no-shows. AI agents send personalized reminders via text, email, or voice calls, ensuring patients are proactively informed about upcoming appointments. These reminders reduce the likelihood of missed visits by helping patients remember and prioritize their appointments.

Additionally, AI Agents allows patients to easily reschedule or cancel appointments without waiting for a receptionist, making it easier for patients to adjust their schedules on their own time. By offering multiple communication channels, AI ensures that patients can interact in the way that suits them best, which enhances engagement and reduces the chance of forgetting an appointment. Automated systems can also identify when patients are at higher risk of missing an appointment and provide additional reminders or follow-ups.

Despite these clear benefits, some healthcare organizations hesitate to adopt AI-driven solutions due to several factors. Integration challenges are a significant concern, as AI systems need to be seamlessly integrated into existing workflows and technologies, which can be complex and time-consuming. Costs also play a role, as the initial investment in AI technology can be high, and smaller practices may struggle with the financial commitment. AI solutions have to be self-funding within a very short time, within 3 to 6 months.

Resistance to change is another critical barrier, as staff may be wary of replacing human interactions with automation, fearing job loss or a decrease in the personal touch that patients value. Additionally, concerns about data security and regulatory compliance, such as adhering to HIPAA guidelines, may deter organizations from fully embracing these technologies. However, when implemented thoughtfully, AI-driven communication can significantly reduce no-shows, thus optimizing the healthcare practice economics, improving patient experience, and creating a more efficient and supportive healthcare environment.

Meghan Snyder, Chief Customer Officer at ReferWell
Reducing patient wait times and ensuring seamless appointment scheduling requires more than just reminders, it requires a proactive, coordinated approach from payers and providers. Healthcare IT solutions that integrate real-time scheduling with personalized outreach can bridge gaps in access, helping patients secure appointments faster and follow through on needed care. Yet, some organizations hesitate to embrace these solutions due to concerns over implementation complexity, resource constraints, or resistance to change. Technology must go beyond communication to drive action, ensuring patients don’t just receive messages but actually get to their doctor, because timely access leads to better health outcomes and a stronger patient experience.

AJ Patel, CEO at TeleMed2U
Telehealth solutions are uniquely positioned to address patient engagement challenges by eliminating many of the traditional barriers to accessing high-quality care. In many regions across the U.S., limited specialist availability often forces patients to endure long travel times for necessary appointments. By enabling virtual consultations from the comfort of home, telehealth reduces the need for in-person visits, cutting down appointment wait times while allowing providers to optimize their schedules and see more patients efficiently. Additionally, virtual care offers greater flexibility, with extended hours—including evenings and weekends—making it easier for patients to secure appointments that align with their schedule. This enhanced accessibility fosters stronger patient engagement in their care plans, ultimately leading to improved experience and health outcomes.

Ram Krishnan, CEO at Valant
Behavioral health practices continue to absorb a wave of clients struggling with mental health, however, one of the most significant obstacles that providers face is getting patients to attend their scheduled appointments. Late cancellations and no-shows can derail an office’s day, costing a practice time and money.

Empowering patients to take control with self-scheduling through a patient portal can help. Making it easy for patients to schedule, reschedule, and cancel appointments means they are more likely to pick a date and time that works well for them.

Establishing an organized waitlist process and dedicating one staff member to managing it can also help improve wait times. Some practices use simple spreadsheets, while others have more complex functions built into their EHR.

However, technology alone can’t solve problems without the right processes in place. In a behavioral healthcare practice, having the right tools is only part of the equation—without well-defined workflows, the potential benefits of the technology will be lost.

Sonja Tarrago, Commercial Strategy Director at DexCare
The process for finding and scheduling care often includes hurdles for patients at each step. Yet, health IT solutions can create a more frictionless experience by connecting disparate datasets to precisely route patients to the right care at the right time. Through improved care orchestration, patients can have more control over when and how they’re seen by viewing their full list of options – in-person appointments, virtual visits, their primary care provider, or the first available provider – with real-time availability. Through unifying previously siloed data, care orchestration solutions can enable health systems to direct patients towards the appropriate care setting and improve access to care, without overburdening the provider workforce. While scheduling a doctor’s appointment was once a frustrating experience for patients, now it’s as easy and with as many options as ordering from Amazon. Thanks to these solutions seamlessly connecting fragmented datasets, health systems can drive a better experience for patients by reducing wait times, streamlining booking, and reshaping care delivery.

Dan Torrens, CEO at eHealth Technologies
Patients need their healthcare teams to be knowledgeable and efficient, but most importantly, focused on providing care. For this to happen, medical teams need to have complete and accurate clinical histories in hand before an appointment ever begins. Healthcare IT innovations are transforming information exchange from ancient CD-ROMs and faxes into secure messaging, patient portals, APIs, and even incorporating AI to streamline lightning-fast medical records access. This reduces patient wait times and gives providers the critical information they need to quickly create effective care plans.

When healthcare leaders actively embrace technology, they can automatically request and collect updated patient records across a variety of sources, have them organized and delivered directly into an existing clinical workflow. This allows patients to get the care they need more quickly, helps to reduce clinician burnout, and even improves profitability. Healthcare technology solutions can provide faster, more meaningful, and more productive appointments for patients.

Andrea Giamalva, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Experity
Healthcare IT is transforming patient care by streamlining communication between patients, physicians, and staff, optimizing scheduling, and reducing overall inefficiencies across clinical practices. AI-driven tools, in particular, can provide real-time patient insights, ensuring providers have all the information they need to deliver high-quality care and even enhance follow-up communications that extend beyond the in-person visit. For urgent care, small efficiency gains—even saving just one minute per patient—can reduce documentation burdens on medical staff and increase provider availability every day. By leveraging the right tools and technology, we have a unique opportunity to improve the patient experience while also making operations more holistic and sustainable.

Jason Handza, Chief Medical Officer at Nextech
Healthcare IT broadly improves the patient’s experience by tackling three major pain points: long wait times, inefficient scheduling, and fragmented communication. This is especially crucial in specialty care and consumer-driven medicine, where patient experience more closely impacts the practice’s success. Word-of-mouth referrals can make or break a clinic’s business, but technology offers valuable support to bridge gaps in fast-paced care environments like these.

Emerging tech remains a focus as practices seek to streamline operations and improve the care experience for all. Automated scheduling reduces administrative burden, provides real-time availability, and prevents double bookings. AI-powered tools such as medical scribes assist with documentation, which allows doctors to focus on personalized care rather than data entry.

Some organizations hesitate to adopt new technology due to implementation costs, staff training demands, and concerns over system reliability. Yet, practices that embrace the right tools stand to gain significant improvements, especially for small, nimble teams. Together, these innovations create more efficient and supportive patient experiences.

Matt Cunningham, Executive Vice President, Product at Availity
The prior authorization process is a major contributor to patient wait times, as providers often wait days for health plans to approve a request before scheduling a service. Today, it’s possible for a provider to request an authorization from the patient medical record system and receive near real-time approval in their workflow, allowing the service to be scheduled before the patient leaves the office.

You may be wondering why, if this technology exists today, it hasn’t been widely adopted? For too long, healthcare has focused on solving parts of the prior authorization process with point solutions. We need the industry to commit to addressing the full, end-to-end prior authorization process, not just parts of it. When we do that, we help ensure patients get the right care at the right time.

Jock Putney, Founder and CEO at WUWTA
Healthcare IT plays a critical role in reducing patient wait times, optimizing appointment scheduling, and ensuring timely communication with providers. The key to achieving these efficiencies lies in leveraging technology, including AI, to engage patients before they ever step foot in a healthcare facility. The ability to see into the future of what the doctor-patient interaction will be like is priceless to any organization.

With nearly three decades in healthcare, I’ve seen the completion of pre-visit paperwork increase by 442%, on average, for private medical practices that integrate advanced communication platforms into their workflows. That empowers practices to streamline online registration, provide pre-visit education, and set clear expectations for patients, especially those who use video at a comprehensible level.

When patients arrive prepared, with paperwork completed and a solid understanding of their visit, clinics operate more smoothly, reducing bottlenecks at check-in and improving overall flow. This not only cuts down on wait times but also enhances the patient’s perception of care, leading to an increase in positive review rates by as much as 1,257% in my experience. What all health care providers are after is happier patients who move through their clinics with the best possible outcomes and the highest level of satisfaction.

Kris Brumley, President and COO at Revenue Enterprises
Healthcare IT and technology in general can have a significant impact on all of the areas suggested. AI and robotic processing (RP) are both effective and efficient tools to manage repetitive tasks and conversations, such as verifying contact information (HIPAA verification), scheduling, and taking payments.

Activities performed within EHRs and other systems can be automated to kick off real-time information out to the providers so they have it at their fingertips when it’s needed. It is my belief that some organizations are not embracing these solutions for a variety of reasons: First, AI/RP are “buzz words” right now and healthcare historically has been more conservative in rolling out new technology in an overabundance of caution to manage compliance measures.

Second, these technologies are daunting. There are so many possibilities that it can be very hard to break projects down into “bite-sized” initiatives that can be implemented effectively. Some of these tools can be expensive; especially if the organization isn’t 100% clear on the scope of their project, as “scope creep” is very real and it is easy to go down a rabbit hole of possibilities with something as broad as this.

Finally, sourcing trusted partners can also be a challenging task. Because the technology is relatively new and has just really hit the market in the last 5 years, there are a huge number of vendors out there offering AI solutions. Vetting them to ensure you are selecting the best partner for the project can be daunting.

Neel Vaidya, MD, MPH, MBA, Chief Information Officer at Chicago Cornea Consultants
Healthcare IT is a game-changer when it comes to cutting down wait times, streamlining appointment scheduling, and making sure patients and providers stay connected. AI-powered tools, automated scheduling systems, and digital communication platforms help keep things running smoothly, so patients aren’t stuck waiting and providers aren’t drowning in paperwork. AI scribes, for example, can be a powerful tool that can help providers efficiently and cost-effectively complete documentation tasks, allowing them to focus on patient care more intentionally. AI systems can automate and regulate scheduling tasks and patient reminders to improve scheduling efficiency and reduce wait times and no-shows.

Change, however, is difficult. New technology requires investments (both financial and time), training, and rethinking workflows. This can feel overwhelming. Some worry about losing the personal touch in patient care as more and more tasks get automated (think the “robot” you speak to when calling an airline help desk, for example). But when implemented correctly, these tools don’t replace human interaction; they actually allow for more human interaction by reducing the “screen time” necessary to complete a task. By cutting down on administrative headaches, providers get to spend more time talking to and caring for their patients, leading to better conversations, more personalized care, and improved health outcomes.

So many great insights here! Huge thank you to everyone who took the time out of their day to submit a quote to us! And thank you to all of you for taking the time out of your day to read this article! We could not do this without all of your support.

What role do you think healthcare IT plays in reducing patient wait times, improving appointment scheduling, and ensuring timely communication with providers? Why do you think some organizations aren’t embracing these solutions? Let us know over on social media, we’d love to hear from all of you!