Transforming Urgent Care Wait times

Across a network of more than 20 urgent care centers operating between 12 and 16 hours per day, two persistent challenges were undermining both operational performance and patient satisfaction: unpredictable surges in patient volume — particularly in the afternoon — and stagnating patient experience scores. A detailed data review identified wait time as the leading driver of negative experience feedback. Patients arrived expecting the speed implied by the "urgent" brand promise, only to encounter uncertain, often lengthy waits with no visibility into the queue. This case study describes how a structured, multi-factor capacity modeling approach — combined with a bold scheduling policy shift and complementary technology — resolved both problems simultaneously, achieving a +7 Net Promoter Score lift and rooming patients consistently within five minutes of their reserved appointment time.