A small clinic can give out queue numbers without a ticket machine or a display screen. You start a queue in a web browser, print its QR code and put it at the door. Patients scan the code, take a number on their own phone, and see their place in the queue and the expected wait. Reception calls the next number from a phone, tablet or computer.
Why not a sign-in sheet or a ticket machine
Walk-in clinics usually choose between three methods, and each has a cost:
- A sign-in sheet shows each patient's name to everyone who signs in after them.
- A ticket roll gives a number, but the patient must stay in the waiting room to hear it called.
- A ticket machine with a display costs money, needs power and a place to stand, and has to be installed.
With a QR queue, the patient's phone shows the number and the place in the queue. Nothing has to be bought or installed.
How to set it up
Reception needs a phone, tablet or computer with a web browser. Patients use their own phone and do not install an app; the queue opens in the phone's browser.
- Open ezlinego.com and click Start a queue. Give it a name, for example "Dr. Smith walk-in". No registration is needed.
- Print the QR code. Put one copy at the entrance and one at reception.
- Patients scan the code and take a number. Their phone shows their place in the queue and the expected wait.
- When a patient is done, reception presses Call Next. The next patient sees on their phone that it is their turn.
A queue started without an account stays in that browser for 72 hours. To keep it, create a free account. The Free plan handles up to 200 people a day and can send push notifications to patients' phones, so patients can wait outside or in the car and still know when to come in.
Patients without a smartphone
Not every patient has a smartphone or wants to use it for this. For them:
- Reception presses Add Walk-in and tells the patient the number. The patient joins the same queue as everyone else.
- If you have a spare tablet, you can open it as a kiosk at the entrance. It shows the QR code and the number being called, and it can show a take-a-number button for patients without a phone.
The kiosk is an option, not a requirement. Any tablet with a web browser works; there is no special device to buy.
Numbers instead of names
Reception calls a number, not a name, so other people in the waiting room do not hear who is there. Patients who wait outside or in the car also leave more room for those who need to sit down. When the clinic is full or about to close, reception can pause the queue, so that no new patients join. Patients who are already in the queue keep their place.
Give the staff a short routine:
- Open the queue when the doors open.
- Call the next number as soon as a room is free.
- Add walk-ins for patients without a phone.
- Pause the queue at the time you stop taking new patients.
When the clinic grows
With Pro you can run several queues at the same time, for example one for each doctor. You can add team members and assign each one to their own service window. Pro can also notify patients by push or e-mail, and it shows wait times, the number of patients served and peak hours in a statistics view.
Some patients prefer an appointment to a walk-in queue. The booking page lets them book a time with a given doctor, cancel or move the booking themselves, and get a reminder e-mail before it. You set the opening hours, days off and public holidays once, and nobody can book a time when the clinic is closed.
Do it in the app
In EZLineGo you start the queue in the browser without registration, print the QR code, and patients take a number on their phone. A free account keeps the queue and serves up to 200 patients a day. Pro costs 15 EUR a month, adds several queues, e-mail notices, statistics and the booking page, and you can try it free for 30 days.