Sunday, April 27, 2008

Arizona Hospitals Post Wait Times for ER

According to FierceHealthcare, Arizona-based Scottsdale Healthcare has begun posting the wait times for the ER for each of their three locations. Updated every 10 minutes, the home page of the healthcare system's web site clearly notes how long you can expect to wait before gaining treatment.

While I doubt anyone would check a web site for wait times for an extreme emergency, I can tell you this sounds like a fabulous idea if you feel you need to visit the ER for a non-emergency. It's good to see healthcare embracing this level of customer service -- perhaps the next evolution of this might be some sort of online pre-registration.

Imagine entering your basic information -- even if it's just your name, medical problem and perhaps an  estimate of how many minutes you might be away -- into the site. This might allow whomever is updating the wait time to have some idea as to what cases will soon be appearing and plan ahead accordingly. 

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