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The ER department is a specialty that presents many unique challenges. And, patient outcomes are directly impacted by these challenges as well as operational and workforce efficiencies and doctor overall satisfaction. However, is there an innovative, yet practical solution for addressing challenges like these? Can doctors manage their high patient volumes effectively while still making sure they provide sufficient patient care? Below, you'll learn five challenges ER doctors face regularly and how physician scheduling software, like ByteBloc Software, just may be the one genuine solution.
1. Dealing With Patient Demand
For emergency departments, high patient demand presents a huge challenge. During the interventional and diagnostic phase of the patient experience, ER physicians often have to perform various tasks, such as multiple imaging procedures and other tests, on a single patient. This is also typically the case for all patients. The patient demand and the volume of tasks doctors must perform daily can be confusing, tedious, and troubling not just for the doctors but for the involved patients as well.
2. Balancing Out Departments
While on shift, the number of patients doctors need to see is a challenge in itself, but not the only one. They're also needed in various other departments and potentially even in different hospitals during any given shift. Having to jump around from one hospital to the next or one department to the next can be a nightmare for doctors.
3. Staffing
Retention and recruitment are very challenging in a field where there's an ongoing requirement for qualified:
• Doctors
• Nurses
• Physician assistants
• Other healthcare professionals
It's crucial to optimize strategies for staff retention.
ER departments are open 24/7 all year round. Demanding emergency medicine scheduling systems and a fast-paced environment require focusing on the staff's work-life balance to avoid burnout, which is a significant factor in many emergency departments throughout the country.
4. Capacity
The biggest challenge is ER department capacity. More individuals are functioning with chronic disorders as the population has aged. ER departments are now having to treat more complex conditions and this means having a lot more time for each patient.
5. Technology
Technology is needed. ER medical records are still early in development and haven't improved effectiveness. It's actually added time to the doctor-patient encounter.
Over the past couple of years, EMRs have dramatically evolved, but a substantial amount of them continue to be isolated. There's a need for better communication between technology systems which will help manage patient flow and streamline care.
So, how can shift scheduling software like ByteBloc Software help with these and other challenges? It allows for a real-time, centralized database of physician schedules that leads to absolute transparency into where and when they should be at during a shift at any given time.
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