How Automation Optimizes Healthcare Employee Scheduling

Managing and retaining talent can be challenging for healthcare organizations (HCOs). Fortunately, the automation of employee scheduling offers an effective solution. Mobile apps and web-based portals can simplify the management of work schedules and provide employees with the flexibility to coordinate their work-life balance from anywhere. These technologies are becoming an essential part of modern employment practices and are key in fostering employee satisfaction and organizational efficiency.

Advanced systems incorporate a clean interface and logical layout to make it simple for users to view their schedules, request time off, or swap shifts. These benefits enable considerable improvements in employee autonomy and flexibility.

For example, consider a trauma center nurse who’s able to adjust her shifts to accommodate a sudden personal event. She doesn’t need to come in to review and update her schedule or spend time going through the call list to coordinate a fill-in. It’s all done in minutes via a smartphone.

The convenience and synergy of an app/portal make it easier for teams to adapt to developing scenarios without a limbo period that can disrupt personal time or create uncertainty in scheduling.

For supervisors, schedule management can often feel like a game of whack-a-mole. A shift schedule drawn up today might change before it’s posted tomorrow, and it’s not likely to be the same midweek.

Imagine a wave of COVID-19 sweeping through your team of oncology nurses, causing the schedule to change by the hour. In this situation, a supervisor needs the ability to quickly coordinate shift changes to ensure the right skills are still present on the floor, even as personnel change.

In high-stakes healthcare environments, certainty is worth its weight in gold.

Is there anyone you can schedule for a last-minute shift who won’t go into overtime for the month? Can you swap two shifts to make a specific skill set available at a certain time? Scheduling goes beyond plugging holes and must be handled with tact. Data and automation are the answer.

As healthcare organizations and providers continue to navigate the complexities of talent retention, embracing new technology becomes an essential strategy.