3 Things to Consider When Investing in On-Call Scheduling Software

On-call scheduling software modernizes the way healthcare administrators assign responsibilities to care team members. The software helps create an equitable workforce among care teams and eliminates manual errors during the on-call scheduling process. 

Administrators can set up digital schedules to contact the right clinicians at the right time. This ensures that on-call providers quickly resolve patients’ issues to improve patient experience. At its core, on-call scheduling systems improve the productivity and response time of care teams.

Executives interested in on-call scheduling software must consider three things when investing in the technology. This article will provide you with the definition of on-call scheduling software, and discusses how administrators can successfully deploy on-call scheduling software in their organizations with the following three considerations:

1. Replacing paper on-call schedules with automated scheduling functionalities
2. Eliminating alert fatigue and physician burnout
3. Simplifying the management of care team members’ contact information

Defining On-Call Scheduling Software

On-call scheduling software is subscription-based technology that can be accessed through a web console or interface. The technology allows for on-call staff rotations, escalation orders and contact information management. On-call scheduling software gives administrators the flexibility to implement multiple schedules or make changes to existing rotations. 

Administrators can leverage a secure mobile alerting application to augment the functionality of on-call scheduling software. When incidents occur, digital schedulers automatically route prioritized messages to the right provider via the smartphone alerting app. Distinguishable, loud push notifications ensure that on-call clinicians are fully aware of patients’ high or low-priority needs.

Three Things to Know When Purchasing a Digital Scheduler

Administrators must examine vendors’ scheduling platforms to determine whether the systems improve on-call management at reasonable prices. The perfect digital scheduler is a reasonably priced solution that streamlines clinical communication and collaboration for on-call providers. It also accelerates patient care delivery to improve patient satisfaction.

Administrators can successfully invest in the right on-call scheduling software by considering whether the technology can:

1. Replace paper on-call schedules with automated scheduling functionalities

Organizations complicate the on-call scheduling process when they rely on paper schedules and whiteboards. Committing information to outdated scheduling methods often results in more manual work and is more likely to lead to scheduling mistakes. For instance, administrators must always fax schedules to care teams when changes are made to paper schedules. They must also review the updated schedules to determine whether they are generated accurately. This manual process wastes valuable time and causes confusion for administrative staff.

In contrast, digital schedulers accelerate the scheduling process through powerful real-time automation. Administrators can use scheduling software to make quick, efficient changes to schedules and simplify the management of on-call assignments or rotations.

2. Eliminate alert fatigue and physician burnout

As previously mentioned, mobile alerting applications complement and enhance the functionalities of on-call scheduling software. These applications minimize the prevalence of unimportant alerts and elevate high-priority communication for critical issues. By decreasing the number of false or unimportant alerts that on-call staff receive, alerting apps can eliminate practitioners’ alert fatigue to improve overall patient care.

The perfect scheduling solution helps administrators distribute the on-call workload across care teams. Fair work distribution ensures that on-call clinicians are always refreshed and ready to resolve patients’ medical issues. Simply put, scheduling software enhances the collaboration and productivity of care teams during life-and-death situations.

3. Simplify the management of care team members’ contact information

Effective scheduling technology consolidates user details into one platform and allows for the management of clinicians’ contact information. Having a clinician directory in the scheduling system saves valuable time when attempting to contact providers. Administrators can quickly select the on-call care groups or members that will receive prioritized notifications on a secure alerting app. 

The perfect scheduler gives administrative staff the power to assign roles and grant permissions. This extra level of security prevents unauthorized access to clinicians’ confidential contact information. Clinicians can rest assured that their personal details are never compromised by malicious actors. Effective scheduling software also integrates with leading active directories, such as Microsoft Azure AD, to create or remove users from one centralized location. 

Deploying On-Call Scheduling Software in Healthcare Facilities

Administrators can ensure the successful deployment of a scheduling solution by presenting the functionalities of the system to other executives. The objective is to simplify the onboarding process for administrative staff and ensure they know the steps required to schedule or manage care teams. 

The deployment process must be a collaborative project that welcomes the free exchange of questions, answers and ideas relating to the new scheduling technology. This level of collaboration ensures that care team administrators quickly become on-call scheduling experts in their organizations.

In the case of onboarding challenges, administrators can simply contact their software vendor’s support team for technical answers or solutions. The ideal support team helps make technology implementation an easy, stress-free endeavor for care team administrators. Vendors that provide exceptional, high-quality support are more likely to build strong relationships with their healthcare customers.

Conclusion

On-call scheduling software revolutionizes care team management for healthcare organizations. The systems eliminate paper schedules and seamlessly integrate with alerting applications to reach the right clinicians on mobile. Whether to modernize on-call management or improve incident resolution time for hospitals, scheduling systems help healthcare administrators achieve and exceed all their organizational objectives.