Long wait time tags appear in the Visits list in Vital Care Team when a patient's wait at any step exceeds the expected threshold for that facility. They give staff a real-time signal to act on without needing to manually monitor wait times or rely on patient escalations. Use the Tags filter to surface patients by wait status.
On facilities that use the earlier Visits list, long wait tags and the Tags filter do not appear.
The Visits list with Experiencing Long Wait and Long Wait tags on patient rows
The Two Tags
A visit displays only one of the two tags at a time. While Experiencing Long Wait is displayed, it takes the place of Long Wait.
Experiencing Long Wait
The patient is exceeding the wait threshold on their current step right now. When the patient moves to their next step in the ED, or the visit ends, this tag is replaced by Long Wait. The long wait stays on the visit as a permanent record.
This is the tag to act on. Stop by and check in: introduce yourself, acknowledge the wait, and let the patient know they have not been forgotten.
Long Wait
Marks that a wait threshold was exceeded at some point during this visit. The tag names the first step at which a long wait occurred (for example, Long Wait: Triage or Long Wait: Registration). It stays on the visit permanently as a record, even as the patient advances through later steps. A later long wait on another step does not change the step it names.
How Tags Are Triggered
Vital's prediction engine monitors each visit step. When a step begins, a check is scheduled for the point at which the predicted wait time upper bound will be reached. If the patient is still on the same step when that check fires, the tag is applied.
The threshold is the upper end of the wait prediction the patient was shown, capped by any display limit the facility has configured for that step. There is no fixed number of minutes: a step tags as a long wait once the patient has waited past what the estimate promised. The Vital point of contact can confirm the display limits configured for a facility.
Filtering the Visits List
The Tags filter narrows the Visits list by three tags: Experiencing Long Wait, Long Wait, and Has Logged In. Each can be set to Include, Exclude, or cleared with Clear. Select Apply to filter the list.
Include Experiencing Long Wait to see every patient who needs attention right now, or combine tags. For example, include Experiencing Long Wait and exclude Has Logged In to find patients in a long wait who have not yet engaged with Vital and may need extra outreach.
The Tags filter, with Include and Exclude for each tag
Frequently Asked Questions
What should staff do when an Experiencing Long Wait tag appears?
Stop by and check in. Introduce yourself, acknowledge the wait, and let the patient know they have not been forgotten. Staff do not need to have answers. Being seen and heard is often enough to reset the experience.
Will the tag clear once staff check in?
No. Tag state is not affected by staff interaction. The Experiencing Long Wait tag only changes when the patient advances to their next step in the ED, or the visit ends. At that point a Long Wait tag appears in its place.
What if a tag seems to have triggered incorrectly?
Note the patient, step, and approximate time and flag it to the facility's Vital point of contact. Threshold edge cases are tracked and reviewed at the next ops touchpoint.