In overseeing the scheduling of 84 anesthesiologists and more than 100 support staff performing greater than 90,000 procedures per year at 24 different healthcare settings, Cheryl McClure of Capitol Anesthesiology Associates (CAA) in Austin, Texas knows that hearing no news is good news.

“It means that our automated scheduling software is doing its job,” says McClure, who also serves as CAA’s payroll administrator. “We’ve been using the Physician Scheduler® solution for over 10 years now—since the late 1990s—and I would have heard about it long before now if the software wasn’t meeting the needs of our healthcare providers and our practice as a whole.”

As one of the largest anesthesia groups in the Southwest, CAA demands an automated physician scheduling solution that can handle intricate, multi-site scheduling rules and scenarios, ensure accurate, equitable schedules for its physicians and clinical staff, and provide Web-based schedule access and mobile device connectivity.

Time tested since 1993, Physician Scheduler delivers the flexibility, reliability and advanced features specialty physician groups need to meet patient care coverage requirements in highly dynamic and competitive healthcare environments.

“We’ve been very pleased with Physician Scheduler,” says Ed Myslik, CAA’s finance director. “As a large practice, we maintain an active role in the anesthesiology community at the national level. When we hear of another practice considering an automated physician scheduling solution, we have no hesitation recommending Physician Scheduler.”

Powerful automation to accommodate complex rules and patient coverage requirements

At the heart of Physician Scheduler is a powerful scheduling engine that incorporates all user-specified rules and applies them automatically.

Given the complexity of many physician scheduling rules—which are often based upon and established through a multi-faceted series of triggering relationships among assignments, call schedules, and other factors—gaining automated control over rules-based requirements delivers vital efficiency.

“I’ve been handling physician scheduling here since October of 2001, and the system has definitely improved our overall efficiency and accuracy in generating schedules,” says Andrew Grimes, M.D., staff anesthesiologist at CAA. “Before, it took me about 40 to 45 hours to develop a 10-week schedule on paper, and it was very tedious. Now, it takes about half the time, and the system’s rules-based automation prevents errors, incompatibilities and conflicts.”

Physician Scheduler relies on a sophisticated “links-and-blocks” rules framework to ensure that all the various scheduling associations and contingencies are precisely and reliably addressed and enforced.

“The power and flexibility of the rules engine are essential to us because we have such complicated rules here,” states Dr. Grimes. “I haven’t run across a scheduling scenario that I haven’t been able to automate with the system.”

The high degree of precision attained through Physician Scheduler also has permitted Dr. Grimes to devote more of his time to patient care.

“Because the process is much more efficient, it does save some M.D. hours. For instance, I used to take time out of the OR on a Monday and Tuesday to do the scheduling, and now I spend those days in the OR. Those are also dollars we’re getting back because of our use of the system.”

Myslik concurs, saying: “Physician Scheduler’s automation frees our physicians and staff from the hassles of inefficient paper schedules, and enables them to better focus their time and energies on clinical matters.”

Physicians and staff are assured of receiving fair and equitable schedules

In addition to improving efficiency, Physician Scheduler equalizes physician assignments and workload, and provides reports that deliver proof of schedule and shift equitability.

Prior to the implementation of Physician Scheduler, when schedules were developed on paper, “we didn’t have any real handle on how well we were distributing shifts evenly among the physician staff, and no way to prove how well we were doing this,” says Dr. Grimes. “Now, through all the reports I can run, I have a complete, birds-eye view on everything that’s going on, making sure that all assignments and call, both the most desirable and the least desirable—such as weekend call—are distributed evenly.”

The consistent, accurate application of scheduling rules and the supportive reporting provide assurance that schedules are going to be fair to all staff members.

“The system has alleviated any fears that might have existed that individual needs might not be met,” Dr. Grimes emphasizes. “The system really does address individual needs, and that has enabled all of us to trust the scheduling process more.”

The scalability and flexibility to incorporate CRNAs

Since it is powered by an enterprise scheduling engine, Physician Scheduler is the ideal fit for large physician practices and hospital specialty departments that schedule both physicians and other staff members across multiple facilities.

CAA has expanded the scope of Physician Scheduler to schedule its staff of more than 100 certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs), ensuring comprehensive control over staff scheduling and management.

In addition, the group is taking advantage of the software’s enterprise design and open architecture to automate information sharing. Integrating Physician Scheduler with its Kronos time-and-attendance system allows CAA to eliminate a significant amount of redundant data entry, and gain a complete scheduling and labor management solution.

The convenience of Web-based schedule access and mobile device connectivity

Given their busy, on-the-go daily routines and demands, today’s physicians want greater and more convenient access to scheduling information and decision-support tools.

Physician Scheduler’s Web-based interface enables CAA’s anesthesiologists and staff to view their schedules anytime of the day and night.

“Because of the complexity and the changing nature of physician scheduling, and all the locations and shifts we have to cover, the physicians really appreciate having constant, convenient access to their own, highlighted schedules,” says Dr. Grimes. “It’s another way we’re improving awareness and preventing any missed shifts.”

In addition, the latest release of Physician Scheduler offers a new, automatic email notification feature that CAA is now utilizing. Any time a new schedule is published or a task is updated, the software transmits an email and schedule revision attachment to the affected physicians and staff. Emails are imported into the providers’ Microsoft^® Outlook calendars, which can be linked to smart phones and other mobile devices.

“There’s no doubt that our physicians and staff value having easy, quick access to their schedules over the Web, and receiving schedule changes on their handhelds,” says McClure. “These are important tools that improve intra-practice communication and physician satisfaction.”

McClure reports that CAA is considering introducing other new, Web-based features of Physician Scheduler, such as Shift Opportunities and Shift Swap. Shift Opportunities gives caregivers equal opportunity to sign up for open assignments. With Shift Swap, physicians and staff can exchange shifts with their colleagues.

“We’re taking a measured, deliberate approach to rolling out new functionality because we want our physicians and staff to be fully familiar with and adept users of what we’ve implemented to date,” Myslik says. “While we haven’t yet tapped into all of the product’s capabilities, we will be exploring additional ways it can benefit our practice and patients, and improve satisfaction among our physicians and staff.”

About Capitol Anesthesiology Association

Capitol Anesthesiology Association, located in Austin, Texas, is a large, team-model anesthesiology practice. CAA’s physicians specialize in the field of anesthesiology, and offer additional, sub-specialty expertise in the areas of obstetrics, pediatrics, intensive care, cardiovascular surgery and pain therapy.

The association delivers services at many Austin area facilities, including the Seton Family of Hospitals, Austin Surgical Hospital, Hill Country Surgery Center, Meridian Plastic Surgery Center, and Texas Orthopedics Sports and Rehabilitation, among others.

About Physician Scheduler®

For more than 10 years, thousands of physicians across the country have relied on Physician Scheduler to automate the demanding, time-intensive task of creating an equitable schedule based on the complex rules of individual physician groups, while ensuring an equitable share of call and adequate coverage.

Physician Scheduler delivers:

• Rules-based automated scheduling according to each practice’s specifications
• Real-time decision-support tools to address last-minute changes
• Schedule access from anywhere over the Web
• Coverage optimization across multiple sites
• Complete enterprise-wide capability

Physician Scheduler is developed and marketed by Clairvia, which serves more than 1,200 healthcare organizations, medical facilities, nursing departments, and group practices with advanced software solutions for patient and staff management.

For more information on Physician Scheduler, visit www.physicianscheduler.com. For more information on the complete range of healthcare software solutions from Clairvia, go to www.clairvia.com.