Revolutionizing Care: Five Ways Modern Scheduling Software Combats Physician Burnout

The healthcare industry is witnessing physicians increasingly leaving the profession, with 47% of doctors citing burnout as the reason for their departure. The long hours, lack of family time, and increasing administrative burdens push them past their physical and mental limits. Healthcare organizations need to find effective ways to alleviate this burden and promote well-being so that today’s physicians can provide the best outcomes for patients. 

One method to improving burnout is by readjusting the way in which physicians are scheduled for their day-to-day and on-call shifts. The current traditional methods establish a strained atmosphere between physicians and schedulers as tensions run high and patience runs low. However, with automated physician scheduling software, staff can turn complex spreadsheets into fair and balanced schedules, saving time and improving provider satisfaction. 

See how much time you can save with TigerConnect Physician Scheduling Create your physician schedules up to 70% faster or get back 286 hours annually. View Savings

Here are five qualities healthcare organizations should look for when choosing physician scheduling software to reduce burnout: 

1. Improve satisfaction through automation: Automated scheduling software offers intuitive interfaces that enable efficient and time-saving scheduling. These tools allow administrators to create optimized schedules through a rules-based engine that considers physician preferences, availability, time-off requests, and more. By streamlining scheduling processes, physicians can focus more on patient care and spend less time trying to request schedule changes. 

2. Creates a central source of truth: Up-to-date and centralized schedules are critical to ensuring staff has a reliable source to quickly identify the right physician they need in the moment of time for a specific workflow. Accuracy ensures that the wrong doctor is no longer called, helping streamline patient care while reducing doctor frustration. 

3. Efficient communication and collaboration: Effective collaboration reduces clinician burnout and enhances job satisfaction. Your scheduling solution should integrate with a clinical communication tool to facilitate seamless and efficient coordination of scheduled assignments. Through role-based communication, you’ll foster a more cohesive work environment by enabling staff to communicate with the right physician at all times via secure text, voice, or video. 

4. Monitor reports to limit fatigue: Physicians work an average of 50 hours per week and can be on call throughout the weekends, depending on their area of expertise. Long working hours and excessive overtime contribute significantly to physician burnout. By automating the scheduling process and considering rules, the software helps prevent extreme fatigue. Implementing fair and optimized schedules can reduce the likelihood of burnout caused by prolonged working hours, thereby improving physicians’ well-being. 

5. Mobile Efficiency: In today’s digital world, a scheduling solution that includes a mobile application is essential to physician satisfaction. Physicians must be able to easily see and manage their schedules on the go and in real-time. Having virtual visibility also allows physicians to swap assignments and evaluate fairness, which provides transparency and reduces frustration. 

Putting automated scheduling into practice 

The TigerConnect Physician Scheduling software helps build equitable schedules, so physicians remain satisfied and provide better patient care. In addition, this technology puts the power of requesting time off and schedule changes in the hands of physicians via mobile app capabilities. They can instantly communicate schedule changes, coordinate time-off requests, and see future shift assignments on one integrated, mobile-friendly platform. When integrated with the TigerConnect Clinical Collaboration Platform, Physician Scheduling ensures nurses, providers, and staff can securely and instantly reach the right provider by individual or clinical role.  

By implementing automated scheduling software, healthcare organizations can prioritize physician well-being, improve job satisfaction, and ultimately enhance the quality of patient care. See how much time you can save with the TigerConnect Physician Scheduling software. 

Ricardo Estrada, Senior Product Marketing Manager at TigerConnect

Ricardo Estrada is a senior product marketing manager at TigerConnect. He is responsible for marketing and communicating the value TigerConnect products deliver.

Tags: healthcare scheduling, Blog, physician scheduling, physician scheduling software, Clinical Communication, Physician burnout