We know how timeliness fits into our everyday lives, but how does it affect healthcare? According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, timeliness of care refers to a practice’s ability to quickly provide care after recognizing a need. The more timely a provider, the better their patients’ health outcomes — and levels of engagement.

Timeliness of care includes two elements. First, patients should be able to physically access care with acceptable and reasonable waiting times. Second, hours and days of facility operation should be such that patients can find a time to visit facilities without sacrificing other obligations and duties such as work or childcare and can access care for emergent needs, including on nights and weekends.

Unfortunately, there are many times when a healthcare system’s lack of timeliness leaves patients feeling irritated or disappointed. Repeatedly being placed on hold, for example, can frustrate patients before they even schedule their first appointment. It can also be difficult for providers to balance providing their patients with high-quality care and being on time for their other appointments, especially when unforeseen circumstances arise. Prolonged wait times in the lobby and exam room increase frustration.

In some cases, waiting can have even worse effects. Waiting for test results, for example, can hurt patients mentally and emotionally. Worse still, long wait times at emergency rooms can divert patients to other hospitals.

Lack of timeliness isn’t just a problem at private practices and hospitals: urgent care can improve efficiency, too.

Individuals who have obligations (employment, household work, school) during typical facility operating hours are most likely to face barriers to access due to timeliness. As discussed in financial access as well, these patients may face substantial external costs if they must miss work or find alternative child care in order to access services which can in turn lead to catastrophic health expenditure.

There are many reasons why patients may not be able to access timely care. IN our country long waiting time of seriously ill patients in emergency room is the key challenges. Lack of timely care is one of the barrier of reducing maternal & Infant mortality. Other Some are include: Inconvenient operational hours Facility hours may be a barrier to care for individuals who work or have regular obligations. This is most often the case when facilities do not offer evening or weekend hours. Few convenient hours of operation can also contribute to long waiting times, short consultations, and provider burnout. A systematic review of public and private healthcare facilities in LMIC found that across multiple settings, waiting times, operational hours, and availability of staff were more favorable in private clinics compared to public ones. Inefficient appointment systems Appointment systems – coupled with effective use of resources and high-quality care – may be an effective starting point for ensuring timely access to care. A 2016 review of primary care experiences in six Latin American countries found substantial gaps in performance regarding waiting times and appointment systems: one-fifth of respondents skipped an appointment due to problems with scheduling, one-third had to wait more than five days for an appointment, and 39% could not schedule an appointment by phone.  Long waiting times Long wait times may be attributable to diverse causes including insufficient human resources, inefficient or absent appointment systems, limited operational hours, and ineffective facility management regarding human resources or facility flow. Facility managers may choose to conduct activities such as process flow mapping in order to assess how and why patients are experiencing long waiting times.