HIPAA Compliant Physician On-Call Scheduling Software
The Advantages of Using Physician Scheduling Software
Physician practices and hospital systems have historically struggled to centralize their providers’ schedules. Picture a nurse trying to reach an on-call cardiologist for a critical result on a patient she has been taking care of throughout the night. Typically, she will need to go through an operator, an office coordinator, and a paging system just to be able to send a one-way string of data in the form of a call back number.
Role-Based Communication
Most physician on call scheduling software employs a matrix of convoluted rules and roles. They require meticulous planning and execution, and most importantly, maintenance. Many hospital systems and physician practices employ entire teams dedicated to physician scheduling, but usually end up with a fragmented combination of physician scheduling software systems that are more focused on administrative functionality versus enabling colleagues to accurately know who is on-call at a critical time.
Improving Patient Outcomes
Healthcare is about patient outcomes, and every clinical application within health system should have that focus in mind – physician scheduling systems included. To that end, the role of an on-call scheduling software system is not only to make a scheduler’s job easier, but more importantly to drive communication among physicians, nurses and any other hospital staff to ultimately improve the care delivered.
The solution is a unified and system-wide scheduling system that connects physicians and nurses through schedule-based communication. This requires an intuitive interface that makes designing, releasing and maintaining schedules as simple as possible, while also providing a centralized schedule that facilitates communication for all clinicians within the broader care community. As we’re all aware – clinicians don’t just collaborate with colleagues within their down departments. Their communication extends beyond the walls of an acute care facility, making the ability to connect with colleagues across the entire organization of the utmost importance.
Flexible User Interface
One of the more advanced features an on-call scheduling system needs to offer is the ability to prospectively schedule clinicians to a team or a role, while also allowing users to manually swap or change roles on the fly. This real-time flexibility is what drives the workflows behind a Clinical Communication Platform. The intuitive user interface needs to allow for the unexpected needs that arise every day, giving providers the ability to easily pick up a call or trade a shift. At the same time, a scheduling system that is limited to manual role assignments (lacking prospective assignment) is exposed to delays in care. Delays in care translate not only to poor financial and quality results, but more importantly, unfavorable patient outcomes. It’s is imperative to rely on a scheduled-based role assignment so that actionable real time communication is routed to the right role and the right person at the right time.
Halo Schedules was developed by a team of clinicians and scheduling experts who understand the sophisticated process of clinical workflows. Halo Schedules moves from simply adding names to a schedule to helping health systems understand the role each person serves and how to most effectively enable end users to communicate with those roles in real time.
Key Clinical Functionality of a System-Wide On-Call Scheduling System
Mobile and Web Access and Control
Users can interact with and view schedules on the web and on a mobile device.
Clinician Workflow Adaptability
Halo Schedules accommodates clinicians who take call with multiple services (example: cardiologists), as well as those who work shifts with special features (example: hospitalists and charge nurses).
User Real Time Status Control
Users can add or remove themselves from services and on-call schedules in real time and change schedules on the web or a mobile device.
Primary Teams Categories
- Clinical Teams
- Create teams for specialized care, such as Wound Care. Users can be added into the automated schedule, or they can activate manually when they come on shift.
- Role-Based Teams
- Create specialized roles, such as ICU Charge Nurse, and add users. Users can activate themselves when they come on shift, or the organization can utilize schedule-driven rotations.
- Critical Teams
- Create key critical teams, such as STEMI, Sepsis and Code Blue. Users can be added into the automated schedule, or they can activate manually when they come on shift.
Mobile Quick Filter
Allows users on Android and iOS devices to quickly find the appropriate team by name or area of service.
Subscribe to On-Call Schedules
Clinicians that have an on-call schedule that has been built in the Admin Console will have the option to subscribe to the schedule on their mobile devices or tools such as Google Calendar or Outlook, allowing them to see their on-call schedule alongside their personal schedule.
Read Only
Read only functionality provides ability to display schedules at non-system locations, or on display-only monitors within facilities.
Example Clinical Scenarios
- A hospitalist urgently needs to contact the Neurosurgeon On-Call. He will not need to search for a paper schedule or call the operator. He can simply type “Neurosurgeon On-Call” within Halo and can text or call the surgeon with one touch.
- A nurse needs assistance from the Wound Care team. She can message the entire team at once, and on-call team members will be instantly notified.
- A primary care physician would like to refer her patient to a cardiologist. She can see in Halo which cardiologist is available for new consults.
Get started
Whether you’re ready to view a product demonstration, or just want to learn more about Halo, we’re here to help.