Growing patient capacity by 31% with the same team

The challenge

Brightline runs eight clinics, and every one of them had a waiting list. Patients waited up to five weeks for a first appointment, and the clinical team was working long days just to keep up.

Hiring was not an option. There simply were not enough qualified people available, and the ones Brightline did hire were burning out within a year. The leadership team needed more capacity from the team they already had, without asking anyone to work harder.

Our approach

We spent the first month inside the clinics, timing a normal day from opening to close. The finding surprised everyone: clinicians spent almost a third of their day on work that did not need a clinician at all.

What we did:

• Redesigned the weekly schedule around demand, not around habit

• Moved notes, referrals and follow-up calls to a small admin team

• Introduced short, standard appointment types for routine visits

• Set up a 30-minute weekly capacity review in every clinic

For the first time in years, I go home on time. And I see more patients than I did before.

Nadia Brooks, Senior Nurse, Brightline Health

The result

Six months later, Brightline was seeing 31% more patients every week, with no new hires. The average wait for a first appointment fell from five weeks to under two.

Staff satisfaction rose by 18 points in the annual survey, and two clinicians who had planned to leave decided to stay. The weekly capacity review is now part of how every clinic runs.