Best Defense Against Flu: Adaptive Healthcare Staffing Schedule

January 30, 2020

During flu season, the status of your employees’ health can change on a dime, leaving staffing managers in a complicated and stressful situation as they scramble to find last minute replacements.

However, there are ways you can fight the flu mania and prepare for the inevitable waves of sickness related scheduling openings. With web-based staff scheduling software, scheduling managers can quickly and easily adapt their schedule based on immediate needs. This is an extremely beneficial tool to have at your disposal, especially during those long winter months where employee absences are more frequent.

Benefits of implementing healthcare staff scheduling software:

Messaging Capabilities

With employee scheduling software, schedulers can use the messaging feature to send out urgent scheduling notifications to an employee’s message board. This can be extremely helpful in times of stress, such as when you need to let available staff know of immediate scheduling needs. Messages are also time stamped and confirmed when read, which can eliminate the question of whether they received the message or not.

Credential Tracking

Another benefit of employee scheduling software is license and credential tracking. Skills that require recertification are tracked from the expiration date and the system alerts the employee 60 days prior to the expiration. Licensure and skills are tracked and stored in employee profiles, so you can ensure that shifts are always well balanced to serve the needs of patients best, as it prevents workers from lacking certain credentials or qualifications from filling shifts or even being offered shifts they aren’t qualified to fulfill.

Overtime Tracking

With employee scheduling software, you will know which employees are approaching overtime and receive an overtime alert. This can be especially helpful during flu season when certain employees may be working extra or extended hours due to filling in for absent co-workers.

Shift Reminders

Another useful feature of employee scheduling software is the ability to send out shift reminders. This is a valuable feature to have any time of the year, but especially useful during flu season, when employees are assigned to extra shifts they might not otherwise work.

Time Off Requests

With employee scheduling software, employee logins are configured to capture scheduling preferences or requests and the ability to submit time-off requests for admin approval. Time off preferences can be aligned with your facility’s needs in relation to time off codes, hour calculations, and restrictions. This can be a very useful tool for employees who may need time off due to illness.

While you can’t predict when the flu is going to strike, by implementing healthcare staff scheduling software from Schedule360, you will be better equipped to handle the immediate scheduling needs and changes that arise when or if it does happen to hit. Contact us to see how Schedule360 really works. Schedule a customized demo today!