Physician scheduling software was once thought to be an indulgence. But now it’s tremendously sought after. When you compare it with traditional emergency medicine scheduling methods, it's a more patient-centric tool, and it could actually enhance health outcomes because of improved health care access.
Distributing your doctors' work time optimally is an essential component for the success of your hospital. But, you're likely spending more time optimizing your schedules than you should be. Shift scheduling can be chaotic and time-consuming, particularly when using antiquated methods. It can really take up a lot of your time and cause a major headache when you're having to manage piles of:
• Timetables
• Calendars
• Time off requests
• Spreadsheets
Not to mention, having to keep up with continuously changing schedules and assigning doctors to multiple locations can all become a hassle as well.
Shift scheduling doesn't need to be complicated. Scheduling software is a huge step in your hospital. Here are six problems it can help solve:
1. Customization of Schedules
A physician scheduling program is extremely powerful and makes it easy to customize the schedule. Once you configure the system to your specifications, it becomes simple to create a schedule with a single button.
2. Unexpected Changes
With spreadsheets, your doctors have to call you each time they need to make a change to their work schedule and you'll have to make these changes manually. This isn't a fast or easy task. Often, it can lead to errors. Having a web-based system offering real-time updates is essential in today's dynamic and challenging times.
3. Requests for Future Time Off and Shift On/Off
With scheduling software, you can:
• View shift requesters and availability
• Record shift preferences as wish off, need off, etc.
• Handle online requests of time off, shifts and vacation
• Enter future shift requests and confirm requested shifts
Having these types of features within your medical staffing software capabilities can help to reduce physician burnout, decrease turnover, and increase staff loyalty to your healthcare organization.
4. Problems of Visibility and Accountability
When you manage schedules manually, you can't have complete control over everything going on at the moment and total visibility into your doctors' availability. This can pose a risk of unintended attendance, overlapping shifts, and time violations since doctors might not be aware of changes at the last minute. Plus, it doesn't optimize the use of your healthcare staff.
5. Multi-Location Schedules and Advanced Scheduling Features
With shift scheduling software, you can:
• Print schedules with a calendar appearance
• Highly customize summary statistics by providers or sites
• Simultaneously coordinate schedules across locations
• Customize the fonts, print layout and pages Today's healthcare organizations are becoming increasingly networked, so having an integrated medical staffing software system is key.
6. Errors
Spreadsheets are susceptible to errors. They may even show the lowest schedule accuracy and could result in:
• Cancellation mistakes
• Wrong data
• Lost time
• Poor productivity
• Missed shifts
If your healthcare organization is experiencing any of the above problems, it’s time to look into medical staff scheduling software to solve them.
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