A New Open Scheduling Initiative Connects ORL Physicians Directly with Their Patients

December 1, 2023

open scheduling buttonIn the past, when patients booked an appointment with a doctor at UT Physicians Otorhinolaryngology through its website, office staff members worked behind the scenes to make that office visit happen. Now patients may schedule directly with all physicians in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston through an online portal or through MyUTHealth, the app for patient portal, and an automated system confirms the appointment and triggers the process for insurance authorization.

“We’re finding that more and more patients are savvy about the care they need, and that they like having more control over their choice of doctors and the scheduling of appointments,” says rhinologist Martin J. Citardi, MD, professor and chair of the department. “Patients have the greatest investment in getting well, and many find us through online searches. To help them connect with us, we’ve developed a series of disease-specific and location-specific landing pages and added scheduling widgets to these pages. The new system eliminates the need to talk with an office staff member who will then assign them to a physician.”

Most patients choose to download the app and communicate directly with their physician. Those who prefer not to add it to their phones can schedule as “guest patients.” The app gives both physicians and patients the ability to manage appointments using their phones.

All faculty profile pages on the Department of Otorhinolaryngology website have scheduling capability. They can be found at https://med.uth.edu/orl/category/profile.

Faculty profile pages on the UT Physicians website can be found at https://www.utphysicians.com/otorhinolaryngology.

Locations with direct scheduling are:

Specialty-specific web pages with direct scheduling are:

Disease-specific web pages with direct scheduling are:

Schedule an Appointment

Patients can schedule an appointment over the telephone (713-486-5000), by booking directly onto physician schedules online, and through MyUTHealth, our patient portal.