Healthcare Change Management: Why Physician Scheduling?

The healthcare field is all about relentless innovation. Big ideas, put into practice, save lives. Unfortunately, the systems that support the art of healing, such as physician scheduling, are often left to flounder. The healthcare change management process – moving from big ideas to implementation – for physician scheduling is often a challenge for healthcare systems and hospitals.

Steps to Healthcare Change Management for Physician Scheduling

To implement change, it’s critical to

• identify problems with the existing system;
• outline benefits of the proposed change;
• pinpoint stakeholders; and
• take on the mantle of change agent.

Prior to identifying the benefits of changes to the physician scheduling process, it’s important to understand current processes and workflow. For the purpose of change management, the data you gather might include

• the mechanism for creating schedules, such as pen-and-paper or spreadsheets;
• the amount of time spent each month on developing, updating, and fielding change requests to physician schedules;
• the frequency with which the hospital’s call center was asked to contact providers;
• the number of schedules developed; and
• the way the schedules are distributed, such as faxing, printing, posting, or emailing.

Making the case for switching from manual scheduling to physician scheduling software involves underscoring the benefits of schedule automation. These might include

• improved documentation of EMTALA compliance;
• reduced frustration from physicians who are called at the wrong number;
• increased visibility into call scheduling; and
• cost savings from decreased workflow inefficiencies.

Why Get the Input of Healthcare Stakeholders?

It’s also important to get the input of stakeholders. For example, the medical services professionals, hospital administrators, medical staff leaders, and information technologists can come together to determine which software features best meet the needs of the healthcare system or hospital. This might involve both the data needed for each physician and the hardware needed to support the software.

Once the stakeholders have identified the necessary features, it’s time to develop a business case for switching to physician scheduling software. When the business case is approved, it’s time to review vendors, select a product, install the software, and train the staff.

When it comes to healthcare change management through physician schedule automation, virtually anyone can be an agent of change. Like innovation in the healthcare delivery system, the transformation of the business of healthcare is critical to maximizing value while ensuring patient safety.

MDsyncNET’s cloud-based physician scheduling software delivers four advantages: low set-up fees, simple to learn, a single source of truth, and painless scheduling swaps. Call 888-506-5061 to see how MDsyncNET can help you integrate physician scheduling software into your healthcare system or hospital.