Backlogs and limited appointment availability driving patient dissatisfaction and leakage

Across all payer classes and contracts, if approximately 5% of referred patients (about 5 of every 100 weekly referrals) leak to competing therapy providers due to backlogs and poor access at an average of $100 per visit over a 10-visit plan, the organization loses roughly $5,000 per week (~$260,000 per year) in downstream revenue, plus additional unmeasured losses from under-utilized therapist capacity during poorly filled blocks. • When backlogs and poor access cause even ~5% of referred or existing patients across all payer types (e.g., 5 out of 100 weekly referrals) to abandon care or go to other providers at roughly $100 per visit over a 10‑visit plan, the practice loses around $5,000 per week (~$260,000 per year) in downstream revenue, not including additional losses from higher no‑show rates, underutilized mid‑day slots, and lost volume from school and facility contracts that redirect patients due to poor availability.

Front office and billing staff manually reshuffle schedules, overbook favored time slots, keep informal priority lists, and negotiate exceptions by phone and email to squeeze patients in or move them between therapists and days. • Front office and clinicians manually reshuffle schedules, overbook popular time slots, and maintain ad‑hoc waitlists and priority lists using Excel, paper binders, sticky notes, and memory; they call/text patients one-by-one to fill last-minute openings and extend hours informally (early/late/Saturday) without a coordinated capacity model.