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How close is your panel to full?
Enter examiners, weekly slots, referrals, and no-shows. See utilization, capacity against demand, and when the backlog starts.
Examiner panel utilization planner
Enter panel size, slots, and referral volume. See utilization, capacity against demand, and when the backlog starts.
Active examiners who take files.
Used for context. Capacity is driven by slots, not this number.
Files referred per month.
Slots lost to no-shows. Effective capacity is 92% of gross.
Utilization
62.7%
80 referrals against 127.6 effective slots per month. Gross capacity 138.7.
Capacity vs demand
- Gross monthly capacity
- 138.7
- Effective capacity (after no-shows)
- 127.6
- Monthly demand
- 80
- Surplus or deficit
- +47.6
- Backlog starts
- No backlog at this volume
- One more examiner adds
- 15.9 files per month
Lever: add examiners
How the numbers move if you add examiners at the same slots and no-show rate.
| Added | New capacity | New utilization | Clears per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| +1 | 143.5 | 55.7% | +15.9 |
| +2 | 159.5 | 50.2% | +31.9 |
| +3 | 175.4 | 45.6% | +47.8 |
| +4 | 191.4 | 41.8% | +63.8 |
| +5 | 207.3 | 38.6% | +79.7 |
What the 6.5 hours means
The SEAK 2024 survey found about 6.5 hours of total examiner time per IME across review, examination, and report. That is the examiner, not the coordinator. Panel capacity in this planner counts exam slots per week, because slots are the binding constraint. Hours per file tell you what to pay, not how many files the panel can take.
How to use it
Four steps
- 1
Enter the panel
How many examiners are active, and how many exam slots each one offers per week.
- 2
Add demand and no-shows
Monthly referrals in, and the no-show rate that takes slots away.
- 3
Read utilization
Demand divided by effective capacity. Over 100 percent means the backlog grows.
- 4
Check the lever list
See how many extra files one more examiner would clear each month at the same slots.
Background
What the numbers mean
Why utilization matters before wait times do
A panel can look fine until it is not. Referrals rise by ten percent, a no-show rate ticks up, and suddenly the wait to book stretches by weeks. Utilization tells you how close you are to that edge. Above 85 percent there is no slack for sick days or a surge. Above 100 percent the backlog grows every month.
What 6.5 hours does and does not tell you
The SEAK 2024 survey of more than 325 providers found about 6.5 hours of total examiner time per IME across review, examination, and report. That figure prices the work. It does not set the capacity. Capacity is slots per week, because an examiner has a fixed number of appointment hours. Use hours to set fees and slots to set throughput.
How to use the lever list
Adding one examiner at four slots a week clears about 16 files a month, less after no-shows. That one line tells you whether recruiting closes the gap or whether you also need to change the no-show rate, the slot count, or the turnaround promise. A small change in no-shows often beats a large change in panel size.
FAQ
Questions people ask
What counts as utilization in this tool?
Monthly referrals divided by effective monthly capacity, where effective capacity is gross capacity minus no-shows. Gross capacity is examiners times slots per week times 52 divided by 12.
When does the backlog start?
The first month where demand exceeds effective capacity. If demand stays below capacity, there is no backlog at the current volume.
Why is no-show rate in a capacity planner?
Because a no-show wastes a slot you cannot reuse that week. A panel at 90 percent utilization with an 8 percent no-show rate is tighter than it looks.
Does this book appointments?
No. It plans capacity. It does not schedule patients or examiners.
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