7 Key Features to Consider in your Scheduling System

Selecting the right scheduling system can enhance operations, boost efficiency, and reduce labor costs. Here are the factors to consider when assessing a healthcare scheduling platform:

1. Integrate and utilize all available labor resources efficiently.

A scheduling solution that integrates all your labor resources paves the way for optimization.

Managing your various labor pools (including internal employees, PRN, float teams, agencies, etc.) across separate systems complicates decision-making and reduces visibility, potentially resulting in errors, overspending, and reduced control.

Centralizing access to all your labor pools within a single system empowers you to optimize scheduling, focusing on both cost-efficiency and quality. Consolidating your data in one location enables informed decision-making across all talent pools, ensuring the best possible outcomes.

2. Be straightforward to implement and operate

Scheduling systems should be designed to be user-friendly and easy to navigate.

Several scheduling platforms require up to a year for implementation, resulting in lost time and productivity that cannot be regained. Moreover, staff are likely to abandon systems that are challenging to learn and use.

Seek a scheduling system built on a modern platform, tailored for all end-users. Properly designed software should not be cumbersome to implement or use; it should feel intuitive.

3. Bring forth the necessary data.

Having access to all pertinent data will facilitate optimal staffing decisions.

Having timely access to accurate data empowers your organization to make informed staffing decisions that enhance quality and reduce costs, without question.

Utilizing comprehensive data and reporting that assesses past, current, and projected staffing performance is essential for making optimal staffing decisions. Complete access to your data is critical for improving operations and achieving cost efficiency.

4. Enable your teams to have flexibility.

Outmoded scheduling systems that lack flexibility should be consigned to history.

In healthcare, scheduling often involves a continuous cycle of reacting to changing situations, which can leave facilities scrambling to fill shifts. Scheduling software must be designed to effectively handle these fluctuating demands, staffing needs, and unexpected absences.

Modern workforce preferences prioritize schedule flexibility. A scheduling platform should support self-scheduling, shift-swapping, variability from week to week, and split shifts. Providing these features enhances employee engagement, retention, and job satisfaction.

5. Offer a comprehensive view of your workforce.

Who has worked when and where? How do actual hours compare to scheduled hours?

Manual time-keeping and billing procedures can obscure and postpone a clear understanding of your scheduling and staffing practices.

Cloud-based scheduling solutions with intelligent capabilities offer transparency across all labor pools, locations, and departments. To enhance your healthcare staffing strategy, gaining a comprehensive view of your operations is essential.

6. Facilitate communication among team members.

Team collaboration and effective scheduling are closely intertwined.

Coordinating schedules is a collaborative effort. Effective team communication is essential for successful scheduling. It's crucial for schedulers, staff, managers, and executives to stay connected to create well-informed and equitable schedules.

Your software should include user-friendly chat features for sharing ideas and keeping the team informed about upcoming shifts. It should also ensure HIPAA-compliance to safeguard sensitive data.

7. Enable automation of staffing decisions.

Your medical scheduling software should reflect and support your preferences and policies seamlessly.

Harness cost savings and drive financial success by adopting a scheduling solution that systematically enhances control over your staffing operations. This solution adjusts to your preferences and policies, offering features such as tiered shift access for favored talent pools and leveraging data and analytics to optimize your schedule with actionable recommendations.