|
Creating a schedule for on-call staff can be a challenge for both clinic or practice's scheduling manager and the staff member who has to work. The following factors present definite challenges:
- Vacation requests
- Sick days
- Creating/working a fair schedule
- Viewing/accessing the schedule
- Shift swaps
All of these factors can lead to mistakes, including unfair scheduling and having to work too many on-call shifts. It's easy for a scheduling manager juggling too many requests to forget or miss one, especially when several employees want to take the same days off or switch their usual shifts.
Fortunately, there is one tool that helps alleviate the challenges associated with creating an on-call schedule: shift scheduling software.
Emergency medicine scheduling software provides a wealth of benefits for both scheduling managers and the employee who has to work the on-call schedule. Here’s a look at some of the benefits that this type of software can provide.
Benefits for Physicians and Staff
Physician scheduling software offers the following benefits for doctors and any other staff members who have to work on-call shifts:
- A way to electronically request vacation time and days off
- A painless method to view the tally reports for each on-call job that has been worked, as well as for days off and vacation requests
- An easier way to view the schedule once it has been created, as it can be viewed from a laptop, desktop, smartphone, tablet or any other device that has access to the Internet
- A modern way to actually view schedules that have been created through the calendar on a smartphone and not via an app
- An easy way to make requests to swap shifts
Benefits for the Scheduling Manager
Physicians and other staff members aren’t the only ones who can benefit from on-call scheduling software; the scheduling managers who create a practice's on-call schedules will also see advantages:
- Access to tools that can easily collect and manage vacation time and requests for days off
- Access to a manual scheduling tool that can pre-enter certain information, such as holidays and other important, non-random assignments
- The ability for scheduling managers to self-configure rules
- Access to an auto-scheduling engine, which can be used on some or on all jobs
- The ability to tally reports by the job, as well as for days off and vacation time
- A simpler way to check the availability of physicians and other on-call staff members
- A easier method to adjust schedules and make any changes that may be necessary
By utilizing on-call scheduling software, both scheduling managers and the staff members the schedules are created for can enjoy less stress and greater productivity. Additionally, patients will be able to benefit from an emergency department that is properly staffed.
|