Rising Wait Times, Shrinking Access: A National Look at Physician Availability
Patients are waiting longer than ever to see doctors—especially in primary care and key specialties like OB/GYN and cardiology. According to AMN Healthcare’s newly released 2025 Physician Appointment Wait Times Report, average wait times in major U.S. cities are now surpassing 30 to 40 days, with access disparities growing between regions. While some cities have made modest improvements, others—particularly those with fast-growing populations—are falling further behind. This disparity suggests that without systemic changes, patients in certain areas will continue to face prolonged delays, potentially impacting health outcomes and satisfaction.
For healthcare organizations, these findings highlight a critical need to reimagine how patients access care. Traditional models are no longer sufficient in the face of mounting demand, workforce shortages, and rising patient expectations. To stay ahead, leading health systems are turning to intelligent, scalable solutions that optimize provider capacity and streamline care navigation.
Tools like Clearstep’s Smart Care Routing™ platform are purpose-built to address these access challenges—guiding patients to the right level of care in real time, reducing unnecessary visits, and improving scheduling efficiency across service lines. By intelligently matching patient needs with available resources, Clearstep helps organizations close care gaps, reduce strain on providers, and deliver a more seamless patient experience.
As healthcare continues to evolve, adopting AI-driven access solutions isn’t just a competitive edge—it’s a critical requirement for delivering timely, efficient, and connected care.
In Other Smart Health Access News
Solving the Multi-Site Scheduling Puzzle With AI For patients, navigating appointments across multiple locations in a health system often feels disjointed—leading to confusion, delays, and missed opportunities for care. Clearstep’s Capacity Optimization Suite tackles this challenge head-on, bringing real-time visibility to provider availability across all sites in a system. By unifying and intelligently coordinating scheduling workflows, health systems can reduce friction, maximize capacity, and ensure patients get the right care, at the right place, without the wait.
Elevate Care, Eliminate Burnout: How Smart Automation is Transforming Healthcare Healthcare burnout has reached crisis levels—pushing clinicians to their limits with mounting administrative tasks that sap time, energy, and focus. But what if there was a way to break this cycle?
Enter Clearstep’s Smart Access Suite: intelligent, AI-powered automation built to streamline workflows, reduce human error, and empower clinical teams to operate at the top of their license. By automating everything from patient intake and triage to appointment rescheduling and care navigation, Clearstep lightens the administrative load—restoring providers’ focus and morale while ensuring patients get the right care at the right time.
Discover how leading health systems are leveraging Clearstep to protect their workforce, boost efficiency, and deliver sustainable, patient-centered care.
Turning Call Centers Into Smart Access Hubs
By integrating intelligent triage and automation, health systems can reduce operational burdens, enhance patient experience, and improve access equity. From smart routing to dynamic scheduling, this blog shows how care today should begin.
Upcoming Events
🗓️ Clearstep at HLTH 2025: Meet Us in Las Vegas
October 19–22 | The Venetian Expo Center | Booth #3957
We’re proud to once again join the industry’s top AI innovators at HLTH 2025, leading the conversation on how intelligent technology is reshaping healthcare. 🎫 Save $150 on registration with code: Clearstep150
Visit our booth in the AI@HLTH Zone to explore real-world success stories from our partners, experience live demos, and see how Clearstep’s navigation and triage tools are driving better access, streamlined care journeys, greater operational efficiency, and substantial ROI.
Explore Smart Care Routing™ in Action: Discover how Clearstep improves patient access and boosts operational efficiency. Schedule a Demo
Vice President of Clinical Services at Inspira Health Network
2moThe need for AI solutions in this space is greatly needed. Distinguish your services. Contact ClearStep to demonstrate to your patients your organization is committed to providing high quality services, patient safety, and access to appropriate services when and where your patient wants them. Be ahead of your competitors, contact ClearStep today.