- Digital transformation can help reduce healthcare waitlists. The use of integrated data, artificial intelligence, and telemedicine improves hospital management, optimizes resources, and accelerates timely access to consultations, diagnoses, and treatments.
- Chile is using real-time data to manage waiting lists and wait times. Platforms such as the Healthcare Management Repository consolidate information from hospitals and specialties, enabling demand monitoring and improved decision-making within the healthcare system.
- Telemedicine and tele-consultations expand access to specialists and reduce delays. Remote consultations and digital patient follow-up allow cases to be resolved more quickly, strengthen primary care, and improve continuity of care.
Waiting lists exist in all healthcare systems. The problem with them arises when the wait is so long that it directly affects people’s health: a delayed diagnosis, treatment that does not begin in a timely manner, or a priority consultation that does not take place. That is why, when managing the quality of care, health systems must consider timeliness—that is, ensuring services are provided at the clinically appropriate time.
The good news is that information technologies offer concrete tools to streamline care and reduce waiting lists. Telemedicine, artificial intelligence, and robust, interoperable information systems can reduce wait times, optimize resources, and expand access. The digital transformation of healthcare aims to drive organizational change that integrates these technologies into daily practice, enabling patients to navigate the system seamlessly, bringing specialists closer to remote health centers, and empowering clinical staff to make better decisions with real-time data.
In this way, the IDB has been working alongside the Chilean Ministry of Health (MINSAL) to design and implement strategies to reduce wait times and improve care. In this article, we share three key advances from this joint effort.
Chile is one of the few countries in Latin America and the Caribbean that publishes official data on waiting lists and wait times. This is made possible by a sustained institutional effort to integrate a large volume of data from various sources.
One example is the Healthcare Network Management Repository: a central repository that consolidates information and enables the generation of automatic reports to monitor the performance of hospitals and specialties in real time. How many patients are waiting? In which specialties? For how long? Having this data facilitates more timely decision-making, improves resource allocation, and allows for the identification of bottlenecks before they result in longer wait times for patients. Currently, MINSAL is working on the development of a sophisticated monitoring dashboard for primary healthcare (PHC)-related health indicators.
In the most complex cases, such as cancer, it is not enough to reduce wait times at a single stage of the process: it is essential to ensure that each patient progresses without interruption throughout their entire treatment. This requires systems that enable continuous monitoring, coordinate multiple services, and alert staff to potential delays.
With this objective in mind, SIGO was developed, a digital tool designed to record, report, and manage cancer cases within the healthcare network. The system allows for tracking each patient’s journey, enhancing the traceability of their care and facilitating coordination across different levels of the system.
Through this tool, clinical teams can monitor the stage of each case, verify whether defined deadlines are being met, and take timely action when deviations are detected. In this way, SIGO helps ensure that treatments are administered within clinically appropriate timeframes, reducing risks associated with delays and improving the quality of care. The Oncology Health Alert announced by the government aims to strengthen care by focusing on management, and SIGO will contribute significantly to that goal.
Telemedicine has transformed access to medical care, but its adoption in the region’s public systems remains slow. Chile has made progress in this area: since 2020, it has had a remote care platform that allows patients to schedule appointments with specialists and receive care via video consultation, regardless of where they live. This means shorter wait times, fewer trips, and greater access.
The year 2024 marked the consolidation of these alternatives. Total service delivery increased by 17% compared to 2023, while synchronous telemedicine saw a 16% increase in service delivery; asynchronous telemedicine led the growth with a 25% increase, consolidating key specialties; and remote diagnostic support grew by 16%.
However, one of the main challenges facing healthcare systems is ensuring that more cases are resolved during consultations through primary healthcare (PHC). The Tele-Consultation Platform directly addresses this issue: it connects the primary care physician with a specialist remotely. The specialist reviews the case, provides a diagnostic opinion, and guides the treating physician. The result is twofold: the patient receives a faster response without having to travel, and the local healthcare team learns how to manage similar cases in the future. The strategy is expanding, incorporating more and more facilities.
Implementing these solutions is not automatic. It requires a deep understanding of how clinical processes work, close collaboration with healthcare teams, and always putting the patient at the center. There are no one-size-fits-all solutions for reducing waiting lists and wait times for healthcare.
What does exist is growing evidence that when technology is used well, in the service of people and with adequate technical support, the results are real: less time waiting, better use of resources, and fairer care for those who need it most. Chile’s experience, with support from the IDB, points in that direction.
Learn more about the IDB’s work with the Chilean Ministry of Health in this video.