For otorhinolaryngology (ENT), the period from around February to April, when cedar and cypress pollen is airborne, is the busiest season of the year with the most concentrated visits. Hay fever patients rush in all at once, waiting rooms become congested, wait times grow long, and the burden on reception and clerical staff surges. How you get through this period determines both patient satisfaction and staff working conditions. This article explains concrete methods to get through hay fever peak-season congestion by using an ENT reservation system and web questionnaire.
Three challenges during hay fever peak season
At an ENT clinic during hay fever season, the following challenges occur simultaneously.
- Longer wait times: Visits concentrate on specific time slots and days of the week, overflowing the waiting room
- Strained reception/phone response: The phone for reservations and inquiries won't stop ringing, and response to patients on-site falls behind
- Increased questionnaire/record burden: First visits and long-gap visits increase, and interviewing symptoms and history takes time
These arise not only from "the number of patients itself" but from the overlap of "visits concentrating at one time" and "each case's reception/questionnaire taking time." Conversely, if you level out the concentration and reduce the effort per case, congestion can be greatly eased even with the same number of patients.
Level out visits with a reservation system
The first effective measure is leveling out visits with a reservation system.
- Time-slot reservations: Spread out arrival times to prevent concentration on specific times
- Queue/call systems: A mechanism allowing patients to wait outside after arriving avoids crowding in the waiting room and also serves infection control
- Real-time visualization of congestion: Enable patients to choose an open time to visit
- Online cancellation/changes: Reduce the phone-response burden and make effective use of open slots
Because many hay fever patients have same-day needs ("I want medicine right now"), balancing reservation slots and same-day slots is important. An operation that accepts same-day visits while taking reservations can curb congestion without turning patients away.
Get ahead of pre-consultation information with a web questionnaire
Next effective is the use of a web (online) questionnaire. By having patients enter their symptoms on a smartphone before arriving or during the wait, information is ready before the consultation, yielding the following effects.
- More efficient consultation: Symptoms, onset timing, over-the-counter medication use, etc., are known in advance, so the physician can consult with focus
- Reduced reception/questionnaire burden: The effort of filling out, collecting, and transcribing paper questionnaires decreases
- Improved record quality: If the entered content can be imported directly into the chart, transcription mistakes are also prevented
Because many hay fever patients visit repeatedly every year, a web questionnaire that reflects past questionnaire and prescription history makes things even smoother.
Shortening wait times also hinges on speeding up "after the consultation"
While ENT turns over quickly with 1–2-minute consultations, if treatments, chart entry, and accounting take time, the overall flow stalls. Easing congestion requires speeding up not only the pre-consultation stage (reservation/questionnaire) but also the post-consultation stage.
- Faster treatment input: Turn frequently used nasal/ear treatment and nebulizer combinations into sets for instant entry
- Linkage of chart and accounting/billing: Care records are directly reflected in billing, shortening accounting waits
- Voice-based SOAP recording: Automatically generate records from the consultation conversation, compressing entry time
By connecting the whole flow of reservation, questionnaire, consultation, treatment, and accounting, you can shorten patients' stay time even in busy seasons.
Integrate reservations, questionnaires, and charts with AI Karte
"AI Karte," developed by Pottech, is an integrated rececon type (chart and accounting/billing on the same foundation) equipped with features such as reservations, web questionnaires, voice SOAP, and AI rezept checking. As a hay fever peak-season measure, it helps in the following ways.
- Linkage of reservations and chart: Reservation information connects directly into the care flow, smoothing everything from reception to accounting
- Import of web questionnaires: Questionnaire content entered by patients is reflected in the chart, eliminating double entry
- Faster treatment input: ENT-specific frequently used treatments are turned into sets for accurate recording in a short time
- Voice SOAP and AI rezept checking: Reduce the burden of recording and billing and prevent mistakes in busy seasons
Because the systems are integrated rather than fragmented, you can curb staff burden and shorten wait times even during periods of increasing patient numbers.
In closing
ENT congestion during hay fever season arises from the overlap of "concentration of visits" and "effort per case." By leveling out visits with a reservation system, getting ahead of pre-consultation information with a web questionnaire, and speeding up everything through post-consultation treatment input and accounting, you can greatly reduce wait times and reception burden even with the same number of patients. It is precisely in busy seasons that a mechanism integrating reservations, questionnaires, and charts shows its effect.
Through the provision of AI Karte, Pottech serves as the optimal business partner for clinics—supporting not only better working conditions for physicians, nurses, and medical clerical staff, but also helping clinics achieve to the fullest what they want to accomplish.
For details, please do not hesitate to contact us.