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Making sure doctors are where they need to be is tough on the person who needs to make it happen. Shift scheduling must cover weekdays, weekends, evenings, overnight calls, Saturday morning, urgent care 24/7, hospital rounds - it’s never ending.
Doing this by hand just takes too long. There’s a better way. Physician scheduling software can make the process faster, more reliable and easily accessible.
All the Data in One Spot
Scheduling software puts all the information in one location. After inputting the current data about time off, sick time, and individual schedules, the software produces a single schedule that factors in all the variables. You can then post it online, accessible to everyone affected.
As a scheduler, here are just a few possible scenarios you need to accounts for:
Midnight in the ER and a heart attack patient arrives. Who do you call, where is he, who is the backup? The next morning the person in room 412 who had hip replacement surgery is waiting not so patiently to be discharged. Where is the doctor? Can someone else do this? The son of a cancer patient just flew in to see his dad and want to talk about the prognosis with the doctor. He doesn’t have a lot of time. Where is he? When can it be arranged? Sound familiar? Issues come up very day of the week in all types of healthcare facilities that deal with patient care, treatment and even their lives, as well as their satisfaction and that of their family. The efficiency of the facility and the wellbeing of the patient depends on finding the right doctor at the right time.
Efficiency, Productivity and the Bottom Line
Knowing where you doctors are is critical to patient care and communication. Your doctors have home lives and complex professional commitments. With software that handles both emergency medicine scheduling and basic shift scheduling, you can meet these essential requirements for the effective running of a healthcare facility.
If physicians aren’t where they need to be, critical minutes are lost for patient care. This leads to anxiety and frustration. It also adds to the cost of healthcare. The Journal of Health Management estimates that scheduling issues can add $12 billion annually to the operating costs of hospitals
How It Works
Having to deal with multiple locations, being available 24/7/365, with many doctors, staff, and lab workers, while trying to schedule this manually is ineffective and inefficient. Schedules are out of date as soon as they were posted.
After switching to an automated shift scheduling system, the process becomes reliable and routine. Everyone has immediate access to the latest information. Empty shifts are clearly marked, allowing those looking to make extra money to sign up quickly. Physicians, staff, and the scheduler are in immediate communication via email. If a last minute change occurs, everyone from the doctor to the office manager gets notified right away.
Having physicians available to treat patients, whatever the time of day or location, is not optional. But you do have a choice of how you do it. An automated physician scheduler system brings reliability, transparency, and speed to the process.
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