What is the difference between median and average wait time?
A median wait time is the point in time when half of the patients received their treatment performed. For example, if a median wait time for surgery is four weeks, half of patients have waited less than four weeks and half have waited more than four weeks. The median wait time reflects what a “typical” patient might have experienced. Unlike the average, the median wait time is not influenced by one or two very unusual cases (long or short wait time), and is therefore a more accurate measure of wait times you might expect as a patient. The average wait time is occasionally reported on this site. The average wait time is calculated by totaling all individual wait times and then dividing by the number of patients that received the treatment.
