The hospitalist field didn't start gaining momentum until the turn of the 21st century. It was fueled by the increase in hospital admissions severity disturbing clinical practices and a growing number of internists competing to gain even a little bit of primary care that caused the field to grow exponentially.
Although it's not known the exact number of U.S. hospitalists, there are quite a bit, with some estimates placing their number around 60,000 in the U.S. as of April 2020. They have become so popular that they now have their own day known as National Hospitalist Day, which falls annually on the first Thursday in March. While hospitalist positions are certainly prevalent in large hospitals and hospital networks, small and mid-sized hospitals, along with university and medical practices, benefits from their expertise, skills, and knowledge too.
This growth and the sheer number of them, along with their important and diverse responsibilities, make it a necessity to implement hospitalist scheduling software for efficiency.
About 10% of hospitalists' time, according to The Hospitalist, is spent in non-clinical activities which is divided into:
• Committee work (92%) • Quality improvement (86%) • Developing practice guidelines (72%) • Teaching medical students (51%) The latest survey results show 52% of them are involved in rapid response teams and another 19% of them are spending time on CPOE (computerized physician order entry) systems. This can make scheduling a little challenging.
Ways in Which Hospitalist Scheduling Software Can Help Address Schedule Challenges
Some ways shift scheduling software can help are:
1. Physician scheduling software can optimize work-life balance. Most likely hospitalists prefer joining hospitals that provide the absolute best work-life balance. This balance is contributed by many factors and various scheduling and shift options can play a significant role in decreasing doctor burnout.
2. Emergency medicine scheduling software can reduce open shifts by scheduling rotations first, backfilling with doctor flexible rules like night or call shifts, for example.
3. Hospitalist scheduling software can use advanced algorithms for processing complex schedule requirements. This can be particularly useful if you have hospitalists working throughout a network in different facilities.
4. Software for scheduling hospitalists can allow for even the most complete set of settings and parameters for configuring any rotation or shift scheduling combination.
6. Hospitalist scheduling software helps prevent mistakes and confusion by allowing you to make changes online. It provides hospitalists with real-time schedule access anywhere in and out of the hospital on any web-connected device.
7. Scheduling software can reduce hospitalist burnout. Since hospitalists are at a crossroads of cost containment, patient satisfaction, and reimbursement, it's crucial that hospitals handle concerns regarding burnout and scheduling. The ideal software can adapt to doctors' needs and ensure they, as well as their patients, can continue thriving.
Hospitalist scheduling software allows doctors to offer continuity of care as well as balance out their needs. This not only allows for the schedules to be optimized well, but keeps doctors happy.
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