Patients Are Waiting While Healthcare Sits Idle

The average wait time for a GI consult in the U.S. exceeds 4 months in some regions.

By Sheri Rudberg, Co-Founder & CEO, WovenX Health

A few years ago, my daughter experienced a flare-up of a chronic gastrointestinal condition. I called her specialist’s office, left a message, and waited three days for a callback. The first available appointment was in three months. If I had not used my time and personal connections to push for an earlier visit, we would have ended up in the emergency department.

When we finally got in, the physician ordered basic labs and imaging. These steps could have been initiated days earlier by a trained advanced practice provider (APP). The wait was not only frustrating. It was unnecessary.

This is not unusual. It is the reality for millions of patients every day.

The hidden capacity problem

On the surface, the issue looks like simple math: too few specialists, too many patients. But look deeper, and a different story emerges. Our healthcare system has more capacity than it uses. A lot more.

In gastroenterology, endoscopy suites often appear to be booked beyond capacity. In practice, daily utilization often hovers around 75 to 80 percent. Physicians spend hours on intake and triage that do not require their level of training. Meanwhile, patients wait months for care that could be started immediately by APPs working at the top of their license.

Across specialties, the same problem repeats. Outdated workflows, rigid hierarchies, and broken incentives leave procedure rooms sitting idle while patients wait in line.

Why this continues

Habit and hierarchy. Healthcare is still built around the idea that the physician must be the first point of contact. Many physicians believe they need to personally establish every new relationship. Some patients expect this too. Yet most visits begin with the same steps: labs, imaging, and basic intake. None of this requires a physician. What it requires is a system designed for safe delegation.

Misaligned incentives. Physicians are reimbursed more for new visits than for follow-ups. APPs are reimbursed 15 percent less than physicians for the same service. These financial structures reward longer waits and higher-acuity visits. Patients are the ones who pay the price.

Procedural bottlenecks. Many procedures cannot be scheduled until a provider formally orders them. With clinic slots clogged, those orders are delayed. The result is procedure rooms sitting empty while patients with urgent needs wait for weeks or months.

A better way forward

What we’re facing isn’t a capacity crisis—it’s a workflow crisis.

At WovenX, we work with health systems to address the real underlying issues, unlocking latent capacity in the process. Our AI-enabled intake platform and specialty-trained APPs evaluate patients quickly, order the right workups, and route the right patients to the right provider. Physicians are freed to focus on complex care. Procedure suites are used more effectively. Systems capture revenue that would otherwise be lost to leakage or ER diversions.

Here’s what changes:

• Patients get seen in minutes (typically <30), not months.
• APPs practice at the top of their license, backed by oversight.
• Physicians focus on complex care and procedures.
• Systems reduce leakage, improve throughput, and grow profitably.
  
  

The Impact Is Measured in More Than Dollars
Faster access means patients are treated sooner. Families avoid the harm and uncertainty of waiting. Physicians are supported to do the work that matters most: complex diagnostics, high-value procedures, and leading care delivery.

But the dollars make sense too, and we’re helping practices convert access into action:

• In one partner system, over 65% of new patients required a procedure
• Endoscopy suite utilization is up by more than 5%
  Revenue is growing—millions annually—driven by both new patient acquisition and better retention of existing patients

These are not theoretical gains. They’re real results from systems that have restructured their intake and routing models to unlock latent capacity and deliver care at the speed of need.

The urgency of change

No one should progress to late-stage disease because they couldn’t get seen. No provider should be stuck managing inboxes while their training goes to waste. And no health system should lose revenue while empty rooms and staff go underutilized.

The capacity exists. The technology exists. What’s missing is the will to change how we deliver specialty care. It’s time to stop asking patients to wait, and start asking why we’re still letting the system sit idle.