Errors in the healthcare begins with Scheduling

Over budget, overwhelmed, and overworked -and experienced in how to convert business
that is our health system. Talk to any healthcarestrategies into a computer model that automates
worked today and they will tell you.the strategies. This caliber of person is hard to
Errors in the health system, begins with stressed,find and maintain in a routine job like scheduling.
overworked and unsatisfied employees. ImagineNow the question arises how are you going to
scheduling an employee pool of 50 to 2,000build & maintain finite capacity scheduling models
employees in a 24/7 facility - with a slender or noand perform scheduling that is:
profit margin. Add variable job start and end- Unbiased schedules and rosters
times, rotating patterns, overtime assignments,- Up to the minute equalization - using several
seniority rights, equalization, different classes offactors
employees, multiple departments and crews, all- Build finite capacity scheduling models and using
the absentee conditions you can imagine alongadvanced tools
with regular requests for time off and ongoing- Maintain those models and you will no longer
shift swapping requests. Assume employees eachhave to worry about losing your investment in
have from one to 40 or more unique jobthe tools or the models when a key scheduler
qualifications, as well as preferences for certainchanges jobs
jobs.- Instantly being able to access the best qualified
One nurse calls in sick. Another nurse runs late onpeople in the field
a job. Still another discovers they have been- Guarantee improvements in asset utilization,
overbooked. One of your nurses is stuck in trafficworking capital and customer service
and is going to miss the first part of her shift. At- Determine the frequency that you want to
the same time, two new patients come in thatreschedule then send a file electronically, in a
require immediate care with in next four hours ormatter of minutes
will result in chaos and possible fatality. How should- Electronically send shift changes, rosters and
the schedule be adjusted to compensate for all ofschedules files to managers/employees
these conditions? This is just an average day for- Have a dedicated 24/7 scheduling line for all sick,
many, in-charge nurses, dispatchers, schedulers orvacation, floats and switches.
supervisors, and they usually have some- Detailed schedules, down to the unit operation,
interesting ways to solve the problem. Not byby hour/minute with a planning horizon of several
following a simple set of rules, typically, but theweeks to a year
ability to make trade-offs between different- Decreased stress levels and improve efficiency
options. The problem is that as the options growCredit Valley hospital has used a system called
more complex and there are more factors toProScheduling, that tackles all those problems and
consider and they can only handle so much.the results are direct cost savings, fewer errors,
Subdividing nurses, housekeepers, technicians andand information that allows the facility and its
dispatchers to territories can help, but thatoperations management to increase efficiency.
simplification does not allow for optimizationThis is what Gary Raycraft had to say about it
across the facility. How can the trade-offs"Since using ProScheduling, our day to day
between schedule attainment and productivity bescheduling issues have been eliminated. We now
managed? Summing it all up scheduling becomeshave up to date equalization information and we
the job from hell.have significantly decreased scheduling errors. The
In these scenarios when facing last-minutesystem validates all relevant data and becomes a
changes or other swings in staffing requirementssimple process that the scheduler can use to
even a skilled scheduler is unable to optimize thecapture what has happened. The flexibility of the
allocation of the entire workforce. In an era whensystem allows it to handle the complexities of
computers can handle almost everything, whymaintenance and operations departments while it
does the in charge scheduler still rely on spreadalso can be deployed organization-wide to handle
sheets, clipboards, 3X5 cards and lots of armtime entry needs of every kind."
twisting? It's not unusual to find that managersThe scheduling of employees is both a dynamic
have a difficult time keeping good people in theand critical element of business planning. The ability
largely thankless job of scheduler.to create employee schedules that meet staffing
Often, hospitals and other large institutionrequirements, in a way that optimizes the process
compartmentalize scheduling. Different supervisorsof matching available and qualified employees -
handle it for different departments or crews,while minimizing labor costs through a combination
sometimes using very different interpretations ofof lowered absence rates, turnover, payroll costs,
the rules and policies. Like sweeping things underwaste, reliance on premium labor, and downtime,
the carpet, this seems to work, however there isand increasing the quality and timely delivery of
no way to coordinate and review the schedulingpatient services - will take on a real, strategic
needs of the entire facility. Inevitably, there aresignificance. Companies need a reliable, flexible, and
errors.robust workforce management solution to be
Scheduling is a very complex and tedious taskcompetitive in today's marketplace. The results will
that changes as often as the business strategiesbe a leaner, more efficient, and more competitive
change. The new tools require the personenterprise.
in-charge of the schedule to be computer literate