ER departments are a very challenging medical specialty and their scheduling process is even more challenging since you need to factor in 24/7 physician staffing requirements and high physician burnout rates. In your scheduling process, you need to also address things like patient flow fluctuations, staff shortages, physician preferences and overcrowding.
You’re likely aware of hospital executives' growing pressure to improve hospital productivity and reduce costs. A few more reasons many healthcare executives, like yourself, are seeking more effective solutions like emergency physician scheduling software for increasing productivity are:
- Declining operating incomes
- Worsening physician shortage
- Smaller patient volumes
- Lower reimbursements
One 2018 survey by Navigant and the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) found 78% of hospital professionals think the labor budget of their organization will increase in the following year. On top of this, 18% think it will be a 5% increase in labor costs for their organization.
With the average labor budget cost being around 54.2% as of 2012 for total operating budgets, organizations might have already noticed a 60% or more labor increase of their general operating budgets.
Emergency medicine scheduling software takes the hassle out of your schedule process and helps you create fair schedules accurately and quickly. It takes into account holidays and preferences, and enables physicians and administrators to access schedules online or on their smartphones 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. It even supports multi-location healthcare networks. Here's what you need to know about physician scheduling software. Features of Emergency Medicine Scheduling Software Scheduling program features for the schedule administrator include: - Complete control over schedules
- Posting of updated online schedules
- Payroll reports with various structures of pay
- Shift balancing and staging of doctor requests
- Automated collecting of on/off and future requests
- Many other scheduling features
Scheduling program features for the physician: - Mobile apps to enter requests and view agenda
- 24/7 personalized schedule online access
- Manage requests, availability and confirm shifts
- Enter requests for time on/off, shifts and vacation
- Swap-meet for splitting of shifts and available shifts
It's safe to say most doctors prefer to work at a hospital that provides them with the absolute best work-life balance possible. While there are many contributing factors to this balance, various scheduling and shift options could play a big role in decreasing physician burnout. More satisfied physicians are better equipped at providing the best level of patient care which benefits all involved parties.
Emergency medicine has seen a lot of growth over the years and because of this growth, you must make changes to essential long-standing processes. That means if you are using antiquated scheduling methods, like spreadsheets or even pen and paper, it’s time to make the change to advanced technology. Shift scheduling software can benefit both physician retention and the quality of patient care, but only if you implement it.
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