Learn how a solution like RingRx tackles physician scheduling challenges to help you avoid 7 common mistakes so you can run a more efficient practice.
Managing physician on-call and staffing schedules is both complex and tedious. Managing physician schedules manually or with outdated, improper software is even more time consuming. Not to mention there are real-world consequences for making any type of mistake. A less sophisticated system cannot handle all the nuances of a challenging system like healthcare physician scheduling.
Learn how a solution like RingRx tackles these challenges and helps you avoid 7 common scheduling mistakes so you can run a more efficient practice.
Lack of Contingency Plan
Doctors are humans too. They get sick and have emergencies that can cause mishaps in scheduling. A dynamic scheduling solution that makes it easy to understand who is on call means you have a contingency plan in place to keep things running smoothly in case there are any last minute scheduling changes.
Undecipherable Printouts
Hard print outs can cause a lot of confusion, especially if people start switching shifts or an emergency comes up with a staff member. With a scheduling solution that offers real-time updates, different scheduling views, syncing to multiple devices, and notifications this type of headache will become a thing of the past.
Lack of Access to Schedules
Some healthcare practices still post their physician schedules on a bulletin board. This method is inefficient, wastes resources, and is accurate for about as long as it takes to actually push pins into the board. Most importantly, doctors and other staff members don’t have ready access to the schedule. This can result in a multitude of problems and patients become negatively impacted. RingRx provides an easy scheduling solution that includes an online portal so team members can view schedules in real-time, 24/7/365.
Scheduling a late night shift right before a morning shift
A doctor’s schedule needs to keep health and mental wellness top of mind so a patient does get mediocre or risky treatment due to lack of sleep. An efficient clinician scheduling solution can track consecutive shifts and ensure that this issue isn’t overlooked and accidentally booked.
Understaffing during the busiest times of day
There are always peaks and valleys during certain times of day, week, and seasons. Every practice will have a different type of heat map depicting when days are the busiest vs. slowest. It is important to have software that allows you to schedule enough physicians at your busiest hours, know who is on call if your clinic reaches a staffing tipping point, and can easily throttle back during slower times.
Missing important day off requests
Requests can be hard to keep track of especially if they are submitted by email, text, or in person. A scheduling solution that allows a physician to input the exact days and times they are available to work makes sure these requests don’t get lost in the shuffle and your practice is accidently left unattended.
Not using software developed specifically for physician scheduling
Physician scheduling is not a one-size-fits-all type of system. There are a lot of ins-and-outs to be considered when creating a medical scheduling system and you will need a combination of shift types, reminders, and rotational patterns to run things efficiently. By trying to make software work that wasn’t designed with the complexity of healthcare scheduling in mind you are asking for a shift scheduling disaster.
Certain mistakes can be avoided when you couple the power of technology with a team of individuals who have dedicated their life to creating scheduling and phone system software meant specifically for healthcare practices. See how easy shift scheduling can be by clicking here to start your free 30 day RingRx trial.
