The challenge isn't effort. It's what happens after intake is closed.
Across Ontario, patients actively search for primary care, clinics manage intake responsibly based on capacity, and government attachment programs work to match supply and demand.
Yet one issue persists across the system: information does not move when care decisions actually occur.
Patients frequently contact clinics that are not accepting new patients. When intake is closed, they are often told "we're not accepting" with no clear next step. Many then place themselves on multiple clinic waitlists or continue calling other clinics, restarting the search repeatedly.
When a patient eventually becomes attached to a clinic, that attachment is rarely communicated beyond the clinic that accepted them. Other waitlists remain unchanged, outreach continues unnecessarily, and system-level demand signals drift further from reality.
This is not a failure of clinics, patients, or public programs. It is a coordination gap.
Why primary care waitlists stay inflated
Today, most primary care waitlists are:
- Fragmented across thousands of independent clinics
- Maintained manually through spreadsheets, inboxes, or local tools
- Populated by patients who often join multiple lists at once
- Unaware when patients become attached elsewhere
Once a patient finds care, there is no reliable exit signal. The downstream effects are significant:
- Clinics follow up with patients who no longer need care
- Patients remain "on lists" they should have exited
- Centralized attachment programs observe inflated demand
- Planning decisions rely on delayed or distorted signals
The system accumulates demand, but lacks motion.
How ClinicHub begins improving coordination today
ClinicHub operates at the moment where coordination problems first appear: when a patient learns a clinic is not accepting new patients. Instead of ending the interaction there, ClinicHub changes what happens next.
What ClinicHub does for clinics today
ClinicHub allows clinics to clearly signal their intake status without expanding capacity or changing workflows. In practice, clinics:
- Set a simple intake status (accepting or not accepting)
- Reduce repeated new-patient inquiries they cannot act on
- Ensure every patient receives the same, up-to-date intake message
- Offer patients a constructive next step without manual follow-up
Clinics do not manage patient searches, outreach, or alerts. They simply keep their intake status current. This reduces administrative friction while preserving clinic autonomy.
What ClinicHub does for patients today
For patients, ClinicHub's value begins after intake is closed. Instead of being told "we're not accepting" with no guidance, patients are offered an optional SMS link that allows them to:
- View nearby clinics that are currently accepting new patients
- See where intake may open again, rather than guessing or calling repeatedly
- Sign up for alerts when clinics in their area open intake
This moves patients out of one-off interactions and into a persistent, patient-controlled pathway. Patients no longer need to restart their search each time. They receive updates only when availability actually changes.
Why the SMS link matters
The SMS link is the coordination mechanism. It:
- Shifts patients from repeated calls into an updateable channel
- Provides a clear next step when intake is closed
- Reduces duplicate patient effort across the system
- Improves visibility into unmet demand without creating new waitlists
Importantly, the SMS link is opt-in and patient-controlled. It does not collect medical information, assign care, or guarantee attachment. It simply keeps patients informed.
How a coordination flywheel emerges
ClinicHub is designed to create a self-reinforcing coordination loop—not through mandates or centralization, but through incremental improvements at each step of the patient journey. The flywheel works as follows:
- Clinics signal intake status clearly — Clinics update whether they are accepting new patients, creating a reliable, real-time signal at the front door of primary care.
- Patients are redirected into a shared SMS pathway when intake is closed — Instead of restarting their search, patients receive a clear next step: viewing available clinics or signing up for alerts.
- Duplicate calls and administrative noise decline — Patients stop calling closed clinics. Clinics reduce unresolvable inquiries. Demand becomes more visible and less fragmented.
- Signal quality improves across the system — As patients move through a shared pathway, demand signals become cleaner and more representative of reality.
- Waitlists can begin to move responsibly — With patient-controlled updates and cleaner demand, patients can be removed from other waitlists once attached—creating list motion instead of accumulation.
Each step reinforces the next. As participation grows, coordination improves—without requiring centralized control.
What if waitlists could move across Ontario?
Imagine a system where:
- Clinics maintain waitlists only when appropriate
- Patients join responsibly, rather than indiscriminately
- When a patient becomes attached to a clinic, they are automatically removed from other waitlists
- Lists stay current across Ontario, not just locally
Not through a centralized registry. Not through mandated reporting. But through clinic-led participation and patient-initiated signals, aligned with how care actually happens.
This would turn static waitlists into living lists.
Why clinics enable the coordination layer
Clinics already hold the most accurate signals:
- When intake opens or closes
- When capacity changes
- When a patient becomes attached
What's missing is a low-friction way for those signals to travel beyond individual clinics. When clinics manage waitlists in one place, a coordination layer becomes possible—allowing patients to exit other waitlists once care is established, without adding reporting burden or reducing clinic control.
Clinics remain autonomous. The system becomes more accurate.
Smart Waitlist Management
Target: Q2 2026
ClinicHub's Smart Waitlist Management builds directly on the SMS-based foundation already in place. It is designed to add:
- AI-assisted waitlists with proactive SMS outreach
- Tools for clinics to manage demand when intake is closed but a waitlist is appropriate
- A mechanism that enables province-wide list coordination by removing patients from other waitlists once they find care
As adoption grows, waitlists begin to self-correct—reducing duplication and improving signal quality over time.
System benefits—without centralization
For Patients
- Fewer repeated applications
- Clear next steps and closure once attached
- Less time restarting the search
For Clinics
- Cleaner, more accurate waitlists
- Reduced unnecessary outreach
- Lower administrative friction
For Health System Planning
- More accurate attachment and demand signals
- Improved regional visibility into capacity
- Reduced noise in centralized attachment programs
- Stronger evidence for planning and resource allocation
All without accessing identifiable patient data.
Privacy and trust by design
Privacy by design
Effective coordination does not require surveillance. This concept deliberately avoids:
- Medical records
- Diagnoses or clinical data
- Individual-level reporting
System insights can be aggregated, anonymized, and time-based—preserving trust while improving accuracy.
