Scheduling software/AI app

[Katheudontas parateroumen]

Hello all,

I’ve been tasked with helping with scheduling. It’s a huge pain in the butt because we have a shift system, and half of our physicians or more are ICs/locums. Therefore there are tons of scheduling requests and random shifts to fill etc.

Do you guys know or have used any AI/scheduling app software to help auto generate a schedule?

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[nimbus]

It is an huge pain in the butt. Are you getting paid to do it?

We pay one of our own guys $3k/mo to do it. I think we are getting a great deal. He does a fantastic job. We have a department of 17 permanent members with 2-3 new hires “rotating” through each month. Our schedule is complicated because all the permanent members are 0.8 FTE. The permanent members pay just under $170/mo for scheduler services. Can’t imagine any AI can understand each department members preferences and idiosyncrasies as well as he can.

We start with a Qgenda generated schedule. Vacations for following year are awarded by lottery in October. 8 weeks are initially awarded. Unfilled weeks can be added on Qgenda. We email our scheduler for any special requests/days off. Our scheduler somehow manages to accommodate requests 100% of the time. We do have some flexibility because we are 0.8 fte and people are willing to give up a day off if one of our partners needs it.

 

[teacher2md]

It is an huge pain in the butt. Are you getting paid to do it?

We pay one of our own guys $3k/mo to do it. I think we are getting a great deal. He does a fantastic job. We have a department of 17 permanent members with 2-3 new hires “rotating” through each month. Our schedule is complicated because all the permanent members are 0.8 FTE. The permanent members pay just under $170/mo for scheduler services. Can’t imagine any AI can understand each department members preferences and idiosyncrasies as well as he can.

We start with a Qgenda generated schedule. Vacations for following year are awarded by lottery in October. 8 weeks are initially awarded. Unfilled weeks can be added on Qgenda. We email our scheduler for any special requests/days off. Our scheduler somehow manages to accommodate requests 100% of the time. We do have some flexibility because we are 0.8 fte and people are willing to give up a day off if one of our partners needs it.

Why are all of the partners 0.8 FTE? Are all new hires 1.0 FTE?

 

[aneftp]

AI doesn’t work with ur hybrid full time and 1099 docs.

Why are all of the partners 0.8 FTE? Are all new hires 1.0 FTE?

because no one wants to be available to work all 5 day a week folks.

Compressed the schedule for 1.0 fte while keeping 40 hr weeks and double the vacation. Or go part time.

0.8 fte while keeping full health benefits is why partners are working like that also.

 

[maxxor]

I have not used this, but I have heard about them in rad/tech circles. Maybe ask for a proposal?

Durate - Physician scheduling, fixed

Manage scheduling all in one platform. Create schedules, maintain coverage, and handle sick calls with an easy to use, adjustable, and powerful platform.

www.durate.com

 

[nimbus]

Why are all of the partners 0.8 FTE? Are all new hires 1.0 FTE?

The rotating new hires are 1.0 fte but all permanent people (partners and not yet partners) are 0.8 fte at the moment. 0.8 FTE means 1 guaranteed weekday off per week. The goal at our site is for everybody to be 0.8 fte. OB is completely optional at our site but highly desirable. Some people cover OB or work at OPSCs on their day “off”. Other people just take the day off. It gives us greater flexibility. We have other sites in our practice where people prefer to work more. The rotators who prefer to work harder (a full fte) and maximize their income go to those other places.

 

[aneftp]

The rotating new hires are 1.0 fte but all permanent people (partners and not yet partners) are 0.8 fte at the moment. 0.8 FTE means 1 guaranteed weekday off per week. The goal at our site is for everybody to be 0.8 fte. OB is completely optional at our site but highly desirable. Some people cover OB or work at OPSCs on their day “off”. Other people just take the day off. It gives us greater flexibility. We have other sites in our practice where people prefer to work more. The rotators who prefer to work harder (a full fte) and maximize their income go to those other places.

I could never work 5 full days a week anymore as w2.

Hourly yes 5 days a week/60 hrs guarantee. But not even 7-3 hours is worth it.

You pretty much nail it.

And that should be the message to all those on this message board. Do not take a full time job that requires ur services 5 day a week unless u are getting an insane amount of vacation time off.

 

[teacher2md]

The rotating new hires are 1.0 fte but all permanent people (partners and not yet partners) are 0.8 fte at the moment. 0.8 FTE means 1 guaranteed weekday off per week. The goal at our site is for everybody to be 0.8 fte. OB is completely optional at our site but highly desirable. Some people cover OB or work at OPSCs on their day “off”. Other people just take the day off. It gives us greater flexibility. We have other sites in our practice where people prefer to work more. The rotators who prefer to work harder (a full fte) and maximize their income go to those other places.

That’s an interesting model— makes sense though.So are people still taking 8-10 weeks vacation in addition to working 4d/week?

 

[nimbus]

That’s an interesting model— makes sense though.So are people still taking 8-10 weeks vacation in addition to working 4d/week?

Yes. Some people take 12 weeks. But we also work 1 weekend per month and about 20 overnight in-house calls per year.

 

[aneftp]

Yes. Some people take 12 weeks. But we also work 1 weekend per month and about 20 overnight in-house calls per year.

Prolongs careers. Lessens burnout. (Full time job)

Excellent model
But still gives incentive to people to try to make more money internally.

 

[MirrorTodd]

It is an huge pain in the butt. Are you getting paid to do it?

We pay one of our own guys $3k/mo to do it. I think we are getting a great deal. He does a fantastic job. We have a department of 17 permanent members with 2-3 new hires “rotating” through each month. Our schedule is complicated because all the permanent members are 0.8 FTE. The permanent members pay just under $170/mo for scheduler services. Can’t imagine any AI can understand each department members preferences and idiosyncrasies as well as he can.

We start with a Qgenda generated schedule. Vacations for following year are awarded by lottery in October. 8 weeks are initially awarded. Unfilled weeks can be added on Qgenda. We email our scheduler for any special requests/days off. Our scheduler somehow manages to accommodate requests 100% of the time. We do have some flexibility because we are 0.8 fte and people are willing to give up a day off if one of our partners needs it.

I'd really like to talk to your scheduler guy.

 

[cchoukal]

We pay our guy $4K/mo and I don't think it'd be enough for me to want to do it. He does an excellent job and deals with a lot of BS with a great attitude. We use EZCall (since no one else has mentioned that one), and that interfaces somewhat with our payroll system, which is nice.

 

[jwk]

It is an huge pain in the butt. Are you getting paid to do it?

We start with a Qgenda generated schedule. Vacations for following year are awarded by lottery in October. 8 weeks are initially awarded. Unfilled weeks can be added on Qgenda. We email our scheduler for any special requests/days off. Our scheduler somehow manages to accommodate requests 100% of the time. We do have some flexibility because we are 0.8 fte and people are willing to give up a day off if one of our partners needs it.

We've used Qgenda for years. It is quite robust - it handles our department of nearly 300 providers, including docs, anesthetists, acute and chronic pain staff. We cover 3 hospitals and at least 15 AMCs - all one group. We self-cover shortages, incentivizing both docs and anesthetists to work on days off rather than paying outrageous locums compensation.

In the case of the docs - every shift has a value, starting at 1 for a basic 7-3 M-F and up to something like a 4 for a night holiday shift. The longest doc shifts are max scheduled 12 hours regardless, but depending on the day they frequently are out early on many shifts. Nobody works day after call.

We run over 100 operating locations every day - 60% of those can run after 3pm. We have both docs and anesthetists in-house 24/7 as well as one of each on call at all three hospitals. Anesthetists have a number of options, from PT/PRN, 40 hr weeks, and a group that takes heavy late assignments that averages 55-60 hours on a lot of weeks.

 

[nimbus]

We've used Qgenda for years. It is quite robust - it handles our department of nearly 300 providers, including docs, anesthetists, acute and chronic pain staff. We cover 3 hospitals and at least 15 AMCs - all one group. We self-cover shortages, incentivizing both docs and anesthetists to work on days off rather than paying outrageous locums compensation.

In the case of the docs - every shift has a value, starting at 1 for a basic 7-3 M-F and up to something like a 4 for a night holiday shift. The longest doc shifts are max scheduled 12 hours regardless, but depending on the day they frequently are out early on many shifts. Nobody works day after call.

We run over 100 operating locations every day - 60% of those can run after 3pm. We have both docs and anesthetists in-house 24/7 as well as one of each on call at all three hospitals. Anesthetists have a number of options, from PT/PRN, 40 hr weeks, and a group that takes heavy late assignments that averages 55-60 hours on a lot of weeks.

That’s huge! How many people are involved in making the daily/monthly schedules? Seems like a big enterprise with flexible scheduling where people can get the schedule they want.

 

[Katheudontas parateroumen]

3-4K/mo??? Holy crap. I’m only getting 1.5k/mo.

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I was hoping for something even as simple as something that autogenerates based on availability. I just haven’t looked into it. I didn’t know QGenda could auto template a schedule. That’d be a good start. We use QGenda but most people just email preferences.

 

[maxxor]

If you already have qg, then call their support and set up a session where they go over the automation tools.

They honestly take a lot of time to set up (and may be too brittle to do what you need), but there’s a lot built in there to start.

 

[Dawkter]

Hello all,

I’ve been tasked with helping with scheduling. It’s a huge pain in the butt because we have a shift system, and half of our physicians or more are ICs/locums. Therefore there are tons of scheduling requests and random shifts to fill etc.

Do you guys know or have used any AI/scheduling app software to help auto generate a schedule?

Only way to do this fairly is to limit the number of monthly requests per month to 4-8 requests and allow people to swap shifts easily on the app.

 

[Howard888]

What’s the most you would pay for scheduling? I’d say with AI no more than 50k per year…. Don’t care how complex your group is or the details. That’s software, manpower everything. Honestly ChatGPT would probably do a better job for free

 

[aneftp]

Wow. 50k per year to make schedule?

I think team health only pays their chief 25k a year and envision pays their chiefs 50k to make the schedule for their perspective divisions.

Seems like they need to up their chief stipends to at least 100k a year if they are responsible for schedules

 

[BlueRug]

Scheduling pay should not be based on numbers of people. It should be based on what kind of people and cases are involved.

If every player is interchangeable, it’s easy.

If there is nuance because of case type/trainee/staffing ability/surgeons/patient sickness, the pay needs to be the same as call pay.

This is usually lost on admin and leads to major issues.

 

[DesiredMemberName?]

The rotating new hires are 1.0 fte but all permanent people (partners and not yet partners) are 0.8 fte at the moment. 0.8 FTE means 1 guaranteed weekday off per week. The goal at our site is for everybody to be 0.8 fte. OB is completely optional at our site but highly desirable. Some people cover OB or work at OPSCs on their day “off”. Other people just take the day off. It gives us greater flexibility. We have other sites in our practice where people prefer to work more. The rotators who prefer to work harder (a full fte) and maximize their income go to those other places.

Are you counting postcall days off as the guaranteed day off?

Or is the day off in addition to postcall days off?

 

[nimbus]

Are you counting postcall days off as the guaranteed day off?

Or is the day off in addition to postcall days off?

No. If I take call during the week, I get precall day off (not guaranteed-might be called in for addon/trauma/stroke for 2-3 hrs about 10-20% of the time). Call starts at 5pm and finishes at 7am. Postcall is guaranteed off. Job share day is in addition to pre and postcall days.

For example if I’m on night call on a Tuesday, my schedule might look like this.

Monday-work all day
Tuesday-“precall”off or work 2-3 hours
Tuesday night-in-house 5pm-7am
Wednesday-guaranteed off “postcall”
Thursday-off (jobshare)
Friday-work all day.

The jobshare day could be Monday, Thursday, or Friday. Pre and postcall days don’t count toward jobshare. We do about 20 in-house night calls per year so it’s just 1-2/month. If I don’t have an overnight call during the week, I’d work 4 days.

 

[Howard888]

Wow. 50k per year to make schedule?

I think team health only pays their chief 25k a year and envision pays their chiefs 50k to make the schedule for their perspective divisions.

Seems like they need to up their chief stipends to at least 100k a year if they are responsible for schedules

Being a chief usually entails much more than doing the schedule. Purely doing a schedule should not require a physician. Someone in admin should be able to be trained to do. I don’t care how complex. Explain the system, explain the rules, inputs, outputs…waste of time for a physician to do

 

[aneftp]

No. If I take call during the week, I get precall day off (not guaranteed-might be called in for addon/trauma/stroke for 2-3 hrs about 10-20% of the time). Call starts at 5pm and finishes at 7am. Postcall is guaranteed off. Job share day is in addition to pre and postcall days.

For example if I’m on night call on a Tuesday, my schedule might look like this.

Monday-work all day
Tuesday-“precall”off or work 2-3 hours
Tuesday night-in-house 5pm-7am
Wednesday-guaranteed off “postcall”
Thursday-off (jobshare)
Friday-work all day.

The jobshare day could be Monday, Thursday, or Friday. Pre and postcall days don’t count toward jobshare. We do about 20 in-house night calls per year so it’s just 1-2/month. If I don’t have an overnight call during the week, I’d work 4 days.

That’s the only way to stay mentally healthy

Working or being available 5 days a week is mentally grueling unless it’s 1099 work per hour to get yourself motivation.

 

[jwk]

That’s huge! How many people are involved in making the daily/monthly schedules? Seems like a big enterprise with flexible scheduling where people can get the schedule they want.

Sorry - been out of town.

We have three people in our office whose primary job is all scheduling for both docs and anesthetists. That includes monthly schedules, daily assignments, and handline vacations. It used to be just me doing the anesthetists but they decided I was too expensive to be doing office work. It's computer-generated for the monthly schedule. QGenda wrote an integration script with the hospital OR scheduling software, so when they do the next day's schedule, a list pops up with all the available staff, and it's drag-and-drop the anesthetists into the OR schedule. Unless docs are in an OR, their regular schedule determines where they are and the daily charge doc does the doc assignments for their area depending on the caseload and acuity. We have no specialty teams except a sub-group of block docs. Pretty much everyone does everything.

 

[rick roller pump]

I do our schedule in Amion. We do peel out system. So I assign one person call and everyone else gets a number in order of when they peel out. That's all that goes into Amion. This takes me only about several hours per quarter. Then the daytime charge MD makes room assignments based off this info the evening before and sends it out as a text.