I am developing a free automated ER scheduling software

[digitaltrader]

I am in the process of developing a scheduling software to use in our residency program at UTSW/Parkland and would like to make it a complete solution that may be useful to most residency programs. I plan on eventually sharing my software after completion. I would like some early input from residents at other programs as to what type of options they would like to see included in a scheduling package. Currently I have developed a web based user interface that allows online requests for days off, vacations preferences, tracking of work hours and weekend days worked within a given month. I am still working on the logic of the scheduler to allow for smooth transitions between night and days and maximizing days off in a row. It will abide by all current RRC guidelines as well. Any requests, suggestions or recommendations based upon how you currently compose your department's schedule would be appreciated.

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[Jeff698]

Strong work, digital!

If you're using a web interface, it would truly rock if you could enable some type of bidding/trading system that would allow for residents to bid for shifts they wanted/didn't want as well as allow online trading of shifts.

Thanks for doing this. It will be very, very helpful.

Take care,
Jeff

 

[digitaltrader]

Strong work, digital!

If you're using a web interface, it would truly rock if you could enable some type of bidding/trading system that would allow for residents to bid for shifts they wanted/didn't want as well as allow online trading of shifts.

Thanks for doing this. It will be very, very helpful.

Take care,
Jeff

I am going to use some sort of swap/trading system and was considering using a point system where a user gets 100 points at the beginning of the year and every trade he/she requests can be bid on by other users and the shift swap goes to the lowest bidder. The collected points would then be used for priority bidding on holiday and night shifts off. I haven't worked out the details yet and would like to get some feedback on this idea.

 

[rxfudd]

Just out of curiosity, are you able to use this as your scholarly project? I imagine you could sell it as an administive project...

 

[digitaltrader]

Just out of curiosity, are you able to use this as your scholarly project? I imagine you could sell it as an administive project...

I've already completed my scholarly project by writing a chapter for a soon to be released EM book in which the primary author is at UTSW. I have just been surprised that a solid automated scheduling program doesn't exist that has become the standard across EM residencies. Most of the software out there is either really expensive or too simple and not applicable to ER staffing. I hope to have a fairly simple to use interface that will be applicable to most of the EM residency programs. That's why I'm trying to get as much early direction and input as possible up front.

Also any likes or dislikes about any current software/programs you currently use would be appreciated.

 

[oldManDO2009]

What language are you writing it in? Where will the data reside and will the data be portable (e.g. synch with many locations)?

How extensible is the resident dataset for adhoc queries. For example could I look up all residents that worked that last 4 Thursdays between 3PM and 4 PM, will licensing and certifications expiration be a schedule event, will other resident be able to check other resident’s schedule? I could probably go on for hours having written several scheduling and education/testing applications - just curious what your dataset looked like. I got nostalgic for the good old days of software development 🙄

I have exams coming up in next couple of weeks but if you want some feedback on your database architecture let me know....

 

[Sessamoid]

I'd suggest open-sourcing it if you're looking to "share" it. Personally I prefer the GPL for this kind of project. Using a language that's cross-platform would be a big plus, too.