|
Over the years, ER department visits have been increasingly rising in the U.S. The influx of patients has resulted in many hospitals being overcrowded and the implementation of the "ambulance diversion" policy. This policy allows hospitals to close its ER temporarily to ambulances.
Redirecting low need patients to alternative sources of care and away from emergency care departments has been suggested as a possible solution to tackle the overcrowding that frequently occurs in hospitals.
But, it's not clear whether this practice is safe or actually works.
And, experts have found the practice of diverting ambulances doesn't really help with hospital overcrowding. Delays in patient care can frequently be attributed to issues with organization, such as the speed in which a patient is seen and evaluated, being placed in the right care unit and discharged, or there's not enough doctors scheduled to handle the influx of patients.
With the help of emergency physician scheduling software, more doctors can be scheduled effectively to ensure all patients are being taken care of and not diverted.
Reasons to Use Emergency Physician Scheduling Software to Avoid Diverting Patients
Here are some good reasons to implement physician scheduling software:
1. Save Valuable Labor Time
The most crucial component in hospitals is ultimately time, particularly in emergency departments. Within hospitals, physicians, nurses and other staff work in a high-stress, fast-paced environment. Hard-to-read, confusing call schedules can add to this stress while putting unnecessary pressure on doctors. Prolonged ER wait times have been associated with lower quality of medical care. When doctors have to decode their schedules, it takes them away from their top priority — treating their patients.
2. Faster Access to On-Call Doctors
Collaboration among team members in a hospital to care for patients has become progressively essential. If a nurse must call a doctor to modify a patient's care plan, delays in communication or inaccurate contact information negatively impacts patient outcomes. Shift scheduling software allows quick, direct contact to doctors who are needed to help with patient care.
3. Mobile Access
Emergency medicine scheduling mobile application gives doctors instant access to their schedule on their smartphones or tablets. They can view their schedules, see who they're working with and make requests. Also, the software syncs with your device calendar, helping to keep an up-to-date schedule. In today’s technological era, mobile access to physician schedules is a must, rather than a luxury.
4. Fast Request Processing
Physician scheduling software lets you process requests for shift swaps, vacation days, CMEs and more, all done automatically. It allows you to specify the types of requests you'd like to be automatically approved and those you prefer to review manually. It screens every request based on your policies and rules and blocks requests violating your requirements.
These are just four ways emergency physician scheduling software can help the divergence of patients in your hospital’s ER.
|