Streamline Your Pharmacy Scheduling Process as Flu Season Approaches

November 5, 2020

Pharmacies are already ramping up efforts to get the word out to communities about the importance of getting their flu vaccine this year. With increases in flu vaccinations, more pressure is put on pharmacies to head up the initiative, but you need qualified staff and a streamlined scheduling process that is transparent and easy to navigate and implement to keep things running smoothly.

Implement Scheduling Software Now

While flu season is always a busy time for pharmacies, with the inclusion of COVID-19, the demand for flu shots is expected to be even higher this year. Therefore, in order to be properly prepared, it’s critical to optimize your staff, and streamline your scheduling process with the implementation of pharmacy scheduling software now.

Be Proactive

With pharmacy scheduling software you can be proactive instead of reactive when it comes to scheduling your workforce by utilizing available full and part time staff as additional labor during flu shot clinic operating hours, or any other time you anticipate busier than normal activity. Pharmacy scheduling software keeps track of every single hour worked, as well as projecting the hours scheduled within a client’s designated payroll period. This can be invaluable to the entire scheduling process, and allows you to optimize your resources in real-time.

Anticipate Upcoming Staffing Needs

With pharmacy scheduling software, you’ll have access to previous productivity reports, allowing you to anticipate when you’re likely to experience higher levels of activity (usually evenings and weekends), and adjust your staffing resources to accommodate. Additionally, keeping track of credentials has never been easier. Once entered, you can always ensure the staff with proper credentials are the ones filling provider slots so your patient experience is always centered around safety and high quality care.

Schedule Staff to Handle Influx of Clinic Care During Flu Season

There will be times when your optimized schedule isn’t enough to carry the load, or maybe you have a few gaps in the schedule that need urgently filled immediately. Pharmacy scheduling software recognizes this is an industry-wide pain point, and Schedule360 has developed features to hit it head on. When a scheduling need arises 12, 24, or 48 hours in advance, pushing out a segmented message anytime, 24/7 can mean the difference between an optimized shift and a short one full of unintended gaps.

Optimize Float Staff and Pharmacy Techs

Pharmacists who implement Schedule360 will quickly take notice of how underutilized their float staff in the past. Scheduling float staff when your schedule is constantly changing is not an easy task, and this can become a challenge to manage with the projected amount of flu vaccinations pharmacies will be providing. Pharmacy scheduling software solves this dilemma by utilizing real-time tracking with color coding to record each hour worked within a pay period. This real-time tracking is beneficial in optimizing your techs, too. This season is not one to lend time for you to spend it comparing overtime hours vs. non-optimized staff which is why it’s so easy to let your overtime spending get out of control. Easy to navigate reporting allows you to quickly see which techs need more hours and which ones are close to overtime thresholds. Just because you’re busy doesn’t mean your bottom line is of no concern.

Internal Messaging is Necessary

Communication is critical in times like this. With an internal messaging platform like the one Schedule360 provides, you can quickly segment messages by groups who need the information, leaving out those who don’t. Over-messaging can devalue the benefits of constant communication with your staff, so it’s important that only those who need the notification will receive it. That way they know when you send something out they need to check it out as it may pertain to them directly. With Schedule360, you can send messages to all employees, currently working employees, or only employees who are available to work and under their targeted hours for the current pay period.

Fewer Scheduling Gaps

Pharmacy scheduling software eliminates errors before they occur by preventing double-scheduling over multiple locations, which can lead to gaps in shift coverage. With pharmacy scheduling software, open shifts are easily filled by matching open shifts to available and qualified staff.

Stay One Step Ahead This Flu Season

Much like receiving your flu shot, pharmacy scheduling software by Schedule360 is a must-have this flu season, especially as the demand for flu vaccinations and additional clinical services continue to rise. We can help by arming you with the tools you’ll need to reduce the time and effort you spend creating your pharmacy staff schedule. We understand that while you think all of this sounds like the solution you need, finding time to implement something new seems impossible. Rest assured we offer easy guidance, ongoing support, and quick deployment resulting in an organized, streamlined solution without requiring any heavy lifting from you and your team. Contact us today for a customized demo to see how easily you can allocate your resources and maintain an optimized schedule, even across multiple locations in communities that rely heavily on your expanded services.