Case Study: ICU in Western Australia

Client

A hospital in Western Australia's ICU

Challenge

The ICU of a hospital in Western Australia faces the ongoing challenge of creating a dynamic 24-hour, 3-month-long medical schedule for over 20 people. They want to implement automatic scheduling.

Their schedule has the following requirements

• Certain skills need to be present 24/7
• Hours worked for each employee are within strict limits
• Certain shift types (e.g., long days and nights) are distributed equally
• Both individual preferences and availability are accounted for
• Junior employees are always supervised
• Continuity of care, i.e., having the same person do the same role for several days.

Solution

To address this ongoing challenge, the ICU of the hospital decided to use RosterLab, a software that streamlined the scheduling process. RosterLab allowed all staff members to input their preferences, leave requests and availability, which it considered while ensuring that all the schedule requirements are met. It also optimized staffing requirements and reported on whether it was possible to meet their minimum staffing requirements during each period of the day.

Result: By using RosterLab, the ICU of the hospital was able to automatically create an effective 24-hour medical schedule that meets all the department's requirements.

"RosterLab has saved me countless hours and made this process manageable" - Peter

RosterLab had the following benefits for their organization

• Saved time by using RosterLab’s AI to make a months-worth of the future schedule in under an hour.
• Reduced the time and administrative burden of scheduling by allowing individuals to make their preferences, availability and leave requests directly via the mobile web application.
• Enabled the department to visualise the cause and effect of different scheduling constraints that are often considered individually, but not collectively.
• Formally defined the ICU’s entire scheduling ruleset of contractual obligations, service needs and fairness principles through RosterLab’s proprietary generalised rules engine.
• Improved continuity of care by ensuring staff work the same role for several days
• Provided records of requests being met to report back to staff
• Improved staff job satisfaction by meeting and considering more of their preferences and requests.

The ICU of this hospital continues to use RosterLab to manage its complex scheduling needs. The software has proven to be a reliable, effective, and easy-to-use solution to the department's ongoing challenge. The software's user-friendly interface and quality customer service have contributed to the department's satisfaction with the ongoing scheduling process.

"The number one reason I am so happy with RosterLab is the quality of the customer service. The staff are incredibly helpful and make themselves available to help with the initial set-up after which scheduling becomes very simple." - Peter