BUFFALO, N.Y. — The only thing worse that waiting is waiting at the emergency room.

Kaleida Health has launched a new online check-in feature for both Millard Fillmore Suburban and DeGraff Memorial Hospitals so patients there can spend some of their waiting time in the comfort of their own homes.

Patients can check-in to be seen before leaving for the ER. 

"This allows the patient to look at the site and see what time works for them and hopefully see when the ER has less volume so they can be seen more quickly," said Michael Mineo, director of emergency medicine at Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital. 

It's fairly simple to use. A patient goes to the hospital's website, picks a check-in time and fills in some personal information.

From there, the patient receives get real-time updates on the status of their check-in.

"If we recognize we won't be able to see them at that time, we'll attempt to contact them and send them a notification requesting they come earlier or later based on ER volume and flow," said Mineo. 

It's important to note this isn't an appointment and those with serious or life-threatening conditions will be treated as a higher priority and seen first. 

At the same time, if a person's condition sounds more dire than originally thought, the ER staff won't take any chances.

"We built it into the software," Mineo said. "If a patient has a condition we think is life-threatening, like chest pain, it won't let them make them make a time slot. It will urge them to call 911." 

If all goes well, the service could be expanded to other area hospitals, but for now it is limited to Millard Fillmore and DeGraff.