Key points
- Check every booking against the clinician, the room and any partner provider at once, and offer the earliest time that fits all of them in the first reply.
- The National Academies benchmark keeps the third next available new specialty visit within 10 days.1
- Their report names mismatched supply and demand and provider-focused scheduling among the root causes of long waits.2
- wai reads each clinician's busy times from their own calendar, matches the clinic's doctors with the patient and partner providers, and the team approves every booking message.56
Summary
Keep one diary that knows each clinician's working pattern, the rooms each service needs and every partner provider's slots, then offer the patient the earliest time that fits all of them in the first reply. Protect each booking with reminders and a waitlist that backfills cancellations, and have a person approve every booking message.
Every clinician's week is full, and a new patient is booked in the conversation they start, with the partner's slot already lined up. It comes from a diary that matches every constraint at once and a front desk that approves the offer.
See it in your clinicThirty minutes on your own patients and doctors.
Request a demoSee a WhatsApp booking request matched across two clinicians, a procedure room and a partner lab, with the reply drafted for your team.
| Constraint | Rule the diary applies | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Clinician working pattern | Sessions, breaks and leave per clinician, with busy times read from their own calendar | Dr A consults Monday and Wednesday, and operates on Thursday mornings |
| Who can see what | Services mapped to the clinicians qualified to provide them | Any of three GPs for a general review, only one for joint injections |
| Rooms and equipment | Each service tied to the room or device it needs | Minor procedures need the treatment room and its steriliser cycle |
| Duration and turnover | Appointment length plus cleaning or set-up time | A 45 minute procedure blocks the room for 60 minutes |
| Partner provider | Partner slots checked before the patient is offered a time | Blood draw at a partner lab 48 hours before the results consult |
| Patient preference | Preferred days, times, clinician and site asked at enquiry | Weekday evenings only, with the same physiotherapist as last time |
| Urgent capacity | A held slot per clinician per day, released at a set time | One 2pm slot held for same-day needs, released at 11am |
Measure the third next available slot
The Institute of Medicine, now part of the National Academies, set access benchmarks in 2015. Primary care offers same or next day engagement, and specialty care keeps the third next available new visit within 10 days, or one day where urgency is higher.1
Third next available ignores the odd cancellation that makes tomorrow look open and shows each clinician's real capacity. Track it weekly for every clinician and service.
Match supply to demand across diaries
The same report names mismatched supply and demand and a provider-focused approach to scheduling among the causes of long waits.2 Its principles start with matching supply to projected demand through ongoing evaluation, and meeting the patient's need when they ask.2
Across several clinicians, the spare capacity sits between diaries. One clinician is booked three weeks out while a colleague who sees the same patients has Thursday open, and one shared view puts the patient in Thursday's slot.
The rules a shared diary holds
The table below lists the constraints to write down, each with an example.
Check partner providers first. When a results consult depends on a blood draw at a partner lab, the diary checks the lab's slot and offers the patient a pair of times that work together, so the results are ready for the consult.
Protect every booked slot
A BMJ Open meta-analysis pooled 21 randomised studies, with 8,345 patients who received text notifications and 7,731 who did not. Those sent reminders attended 67% of appointments against 54%, no-shows fell from 21% to 15%, and multiple notifications improved attendance more than a single one.3
At two Australian hospital physiotherapy clinics with non-attendance of 8% and 10%, the projected yearly labour cost of non-attendance reached A$114,827 for one clinic.4 A waitlist that offers a freed slot to the next suitable patient within minutes turns cancellations back into visits. More in reducing no-shows.
Availability matched across doctors, patient and partners
wai Admin checks availability across the clinic's doctors, cross-references it with the patient and any partner providers, and keeps each confirmed visit reminded and backfilled from the waitlist if plans change.5 The reply with the earliest matching slot is drafted in the patient's thread, and the team approves it before it sends.
Clinicians keep their own calendars. wai reads each clinician's busy times from Google Calendar, Outlook or Apple Calendar so patients are only offered open times.6 It reads busy times only and does not write into a clinician's own calendar. Video consultations booked this way go onto the clinic's Google Calendar. We set up your clinic's connection with you. The full path from message to visit is in from clinic enquiry to booking.
Where to start
Write down the rules in the table for your own clinic, starting with working patterns and room requirements. Then measure the third next available slot for each clinician and service, and the share of cancelled slots refilled within 24 hours.
Send two reminders before every visit, start a waitlist for each clinician, and review both numbers monthly until the busiest clinician's queue shortens and the quieter diaries fill.
Bring a week of your diaries and your room rules. We show you each booking request matched across clinicians, rooms and partners, with the reply ready for your team.
Frequently asked questions
What is third next available, and why use it?
The number of days until the third open appointment for a clinician or service. It ignores one-off cancellations and shows real capacity. The National Academies benchmark for new specialty visits is 10 days or fewer.1
Do clinicians have to move to a new calendar?
Clinicians keep the calendar they use. wai reads their busy times from Google Calendar, Outlook or Apple Calendar, and only open times are offered to patients.6 We set up your clinic's connection with you.
Can partner providers be included in the booking?
Yes. wai Admin cross-references availability across the clinic's doctors, the patient and any partner providers before a slot is offered.5
Who confirms each booking?
A person at the clinic. wai drafts the reply with the matched slot held, and your team approves it before it sends.5
How many reminders should each booking get?
At least two. The BMJ Open meta-analysis found multiple notifications improved attendance more than a single notification.3
What should we measure first?
Third next available slot per clinician and service, and the share of cancelled slots refilled within 24 hours. Review both monthly.
Sources
- 1Institute of Medicine, National Academies, 2015Transforming Health Care Scheduling and Access, Getting to Now, Key PrinciplesRead 14 October 2026Read source
- 2Institute of Medicine, National Academies, 2015Transforming Health Care Scheduling and Access, Getting to Now, Report BriefRead 14 October 2026Read source
- 3BMJ Open, Robotham and colleagues, 2016Using digital notifications to improve attendance in clinic, systematic review and meta-analysis (PubMed abstract)Read 14 October 2026Read source
- 4BMJ Open, Mohammed Selim and colleagues, 2025Cost of physiotherapy non-attendance at a metropolitan hospital in Australia (PubMed abstract)Read 14 October 2026Read source
- 5wai, 2026wai Admin, the front desk and back officeRead 14 October 2026Read source
- 6wai, 2026wai integrationsRead 14 October 2026Read source
Every clinician's week full, and every patient booked in the first reply.
Fifteen minutes on your own diaries, rooms and partners, with every booking approved by your team. We reply within one working day.
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