Cellma: How an ENT EHR Can Help Streamline Workflow

As 1 in every 6 adults in the UK suffers from hearing loss and ENT departments become even more stretched, how an ENT EHR will streamline your operations is a question many trusts are actively seeking to answer. From scheduling audiology caseloads through to care management for tinnitus, cochlear implant, and complex balance patients, effective digital systems are now not a matter of choice, but a must. As of 2024, there are over 11 million people in the UK with hearing loss, yet only 2 million use hearing aids, and the majority are undiagnosed, according to BAA Audiology. This unseen disability needs smarter workflows, connected care, and instant access to information all of which Cellma provides. 

NHS-Compliant and Fully Integrated 

Cellma’s ENT EHR complies with all major NHS requirements, ensuring trust-wide interoperability and conformity: 

• NHS Spine integration for Summary Care Records and live demographic updates by PDS. 

• SNOMED CT coding for structured clinical documentation. 

• Audiology Data Set (ADS), Community Services Data Set (CSDS), and Commissioning Data Sets (CDS) for secondary care tracking and reporting. 

• Complete integration with e-Referral Service (e-RS) for efficient referrals from GPs to ENT specialists. 

• Compliance with Accessible Information Standard (AIS) for hearing-impaired patients. 

• Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT) qualified, with Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation for complete data security.

   

Challenges in ENT Services 

ENT clinics experience increasing clinical pressures: 

• Hearing aid fittings delayed through manual booking. 

• Disjointed referrals between GPs, audiologists, and surgical teams. 

• Invisibility over patient pathways from diagnostics through to rehabilitation. 
• Struggling to manage patients with double pathologies, e.g., tinnitus and vertigo, because of fragmented documentation.

   

This is exactly how an ENT EHR can help streamline your workflow with a solution like Cellma. 

How Cellma, an ENT EHR Can Streamline Your Workflow 

Cellma provides a specialist ENT EHR that addresses the complete care pathway from referral and diagnosis through to surgery and follow-up. Clinically informative modules tailored specifically for ENT and Audiology, this is how an ENT EHR can streamline your workflow while supporting NHS compliance and enhancing patient outcomes. 

Patient Administration System (PAS) 

Cellma’s PAS module has been created specifically to handle the complex scheduling and tracking demands of ENT services. ENT clinics often have flawed appointment flows, from the first GP referral, to diagnostic work-ups and follow-up reviews. The PAS accommodates multi-provider appointment bookings, flagging of priority cases (e.g. sudden sensorineural hearing loss), and cohort tracking for high-risk patients such as cochlear implant recipients. By linking appointments with consultant caseloads and clinic availability, it ensures patients aren’t lost in the system, a crucial way how an ENT EHR can help streamline your workflow from the first point of contact. 

Electronic Patient Record (EPR) 

ENT assessments require structured clinical documentation that captures nuanced data. Cellma’s EPR module enables clinicians to log otoscopy findings, nasal endoscopy results, and flexible nasendoscopy impressions using SNOMED CT coded templates. It also captures full hearing histories, including noise exposure, prior infections, tinnitus characteristics, and vestibular symptoms. Inbuilt clinical pathways support NICE NG98 for hearing loss and NG146 for balance disorders so that standardised but flexible documentation is possible. This is central to how an ENT EHR can simplify your workflow so that nothing clinically relevant is missed. 

Document Management 

Cellma’s Document Management system guarantees that all paper records, from audiograms to tympanoplasty consent forms are digitised and made centrally available. This includes scanned referral letters, surgical reports, auditory rehabilitation notes, and cross-department communications. ENT departments often coordinate across disciplines (e.g., neurology, oncology), so having a secure, structured, and searchable repository is critical to reducing delays in decision-making. Central access to these records shows how an ENT EHR can help streamline your workflow and enable true team-based care.

Imaging Integration 

ENT diagnoses often depend on imaging like CT scans (for sinus or mastoid pathology) and MRIs (for acoustic neuromas or cochlear anomalies). Cellma can be easily integrated with PACS and radiology systems, bringing images and reports directly into the patient file. This reduces the need for clinicians to change systems or keep track of results manually. Flags can be arranged for results to warn the clinician when review is necessary. Real-time access to imaging data is yet another example of how an ENT EHR can help streamline your workflow, particularly in surgical or oncology-driven pathways.

Labs Integration 

Blood work is an important part of ENT, especially when treating conditions such as autoimmune inner ear disease (AIED), certain infections, vertigo or tinnitus. Cellma interfaces with laboratory information systems for real-time ordering of tests, tracking of results, and flagging abnormal values. Clinicians can review inflammatory markers, autoimmune panels, or ototoxic drug levels within the same system. This lab-data visibility is essential to diagnostic accuracy especially when ENT symptoms may have systemic causes and reinforces how an ENT EHR can help streamline your workflow across specialties. 

E-Prescribing  

Some drugs are ototoxic or interaction-sensitive drugs, from aminoglycosides through to systemic corticosteroids. Not only does Cellma’s E-Prescribing module facilitate safe ordering of medications with allergy verification and drug interaction warnings but also administers device-based prescriptions such as hearing aids and earmoulds. ENT-specialist formularies are combined, and NHS EPS integration enables sending electronically directly to pharmacies. Secure, rapid prescribing is a fundamental component of the ways an ENT EHR can simplify your practice, particularly with geriatric or comorbid patients. 

Theatre Management 

ENT surgeries, whether routine like grommet insertion or complex like laryngectomies require tightly coordinated theatre planning. Cellma’s Theatre module supports everything from pre-op assessments, anaesthetic reviews, to operation notes and post-op documentation. Surgeons can access integrated checklists (e.g., WHO Surgical Safety), schedule procedures based on urgency, and view imaging/lab reports without leaving the module. Linking theatres with recovery tracking and discharge plans is a powerful example of how an ENT EHR can help streamline your workflow from OR to outpatient care. 

MDT Collaboration 

ENT care often intersects with audiology, speech therapy, oncology, and paediatrics. Cellma’s MDT module supports coordinated case reviews by allowing teams to share clinical notes, goals, and plans in real time. Clinicians can assign actions (e.g., MRI scheduling, audiologist follow-up), flag risks (e.g., deteriorating balance), and document consensus decisions with legal traceability. MDT notes feed into the EPR and patient portal for visibility. This cross-specialty collaboration is at the heart of how an ENT EHR can help streamline your workflow, especially in cancer care or complex vestibular cases. 

Business Intelligence (BI) Reporting 

With the GIRFT (Getting It Right First Time) programme by NHS driving ENT reforms, Cellma’s BI module empowers clinicians and managers to monitor key metrics: surgical wait times, hearing aid provision rates, DNAs, referral-to-treatment intervals, and outcome improvements post-intervention. Dashboards are tailored to ENT needs and exportable for CQC, NHS England, or internal audits. Quantifiable improvements are core to how an ENT EHR can help streamline your workflow not just in theory, but in day-to-day service delivery. 

Patient Portal 

Cellma’s Patient Portal gives ENT patients direct access to their records, audiology results, surgery dates, and educational material on tinnitus or otitis media. Patients can self-report symptom changes, access appointment schedules, and complete validated tools (like Tinnitus Handicap Inventory) from home. This improves engagement and reduces call volumes. The portal is fully accessible, meeting AIS standards which is particularly valuable for hearing-impaired users. Empowering patients like this is a clear example of how an ENT EHR can help streamline your workflow by shifting some tasks outside clinic walls. 

Referral Portal 

An efficient referral system is the true bedrock behind the success of the ENT services. The Referral Portal from Cellma standardises and speeds up the whole referral procedure, interacts with e-RS and GP systems to take in structured referrals together with the urgency flags, clinical history, and previous audiology report. ENT triages may issue appointments, request extra information, or request imaging, all from within one single interface. For acute conditions such as sudden hearing loss or head-and-neck masses, time is everything!  

Why It Matters to Patients, Providers, and the NHS 

When you recognise how an ENT EHR can streamline your workflow, the ways it matters for patients, providers, and the NHS become apparent: 

For patients: Quicker hearing aid fittings, prompt diagnosis, and improved continuity of care. 

For providers: Less admin, more time to care for patients, and simpler treatment pathways. 

For the NHS: Improved data collection, decreased waiting times, and adherence to NICE and NHSE ENT pathway guidelines. 

Robust Security 

Data protection is central to how an ENT EHR can streamline your workflow. Cellma is certified Cyber Essentials Plus, GDPR-ready, and complies with NHS DSPT guidelines to keep patient data secure and auditable at all times. 

Cellma’s AI Integrations 

Cellma, the best of the EHR software, leverages AI as a way of expanding ENT management and enhancing care quality. Some of the exemplary features, such as NLP capability and drug interaction AI-based alertness, distinguish Cellma. 

• Natural Language Processing: NLP enables the immediate processing of raw text-based information, e.g., clinical notes and patient histories, directly for medical professionals. NLP summarises the most crucial information simultaneously for real-time diagnosis and decision-making. By detecting trends and top-level insights, NLP further helps in catching early warning signals and enhancing the effectiveness of addressing more complicated cases. 

• AI-Based Drug Interaction Warnings: Cellma, the top-ranked EHR software, has AI-based interaction warnings with cross-matched patient histories in a given database and automatically detects possible drug conflicts. Hence, it lessens chances of the occurrence of adverse drug events and enhances patient safety through more individually tailored treatment.

These AI functionalities advance the provision of healthcare, efficiently and accurately, leading to improved ENT care and greater patient safety. 

In a world where demand for ENT is increasing and clinical capacity is constrained, how an ENT EHR can streamline your workflow is no longer a question, it’s a necessity. With Cellma, ENT departments can provide quicker, safer, and more intelligent care from initial referral to ultimate discharge.