Why Hospitalist Groups Need Intelligent Automated Scheduling

Large teams, multiple locations, complex shifts, and the need for continuity of care—hospitalist scheduling isn’t simple. Manual tools can’t keep up, and basic software often falls short.

Let’s break down the biggest challenges hospitalist groups face and what to look for in a scheduling solution that actually works.

Key Takeaways for Hospitalist Scheduling Needs 

• Manual scheduling creates chaos for large, multi-site hospitalist groups and can contribute to burnout
• Continuity of care requires smarter planning, like multi-day blocks and staggered handoffs
• One-size-fits-all schedules don’t work—flexibility is key to provider satisfaction and retention
• Modern software can balance preferences and fairness, optimizing shift equity and reducing frustration
• Intelligent scheduling tools give your group a competitive edge, improving patient care and provider recruitment

Top Scheduling Challenges for Hospitalist Groups 

Hospitalist scheduling is notoriously complex because:  

• Groups are usually large, often numbering 30 to 50 physicians or more.
• Clinicians frequently cover multiple locations in different areas.
• Credentialing for each physician across sites can vary drastically.

Beyond size and location challenges, ensuring continuity of care is paramount for patients. This typically requires physicians to be scheduled for extended blocks of days, with the most common approach being seven on, seven off. 

Why Manual Scheduling Doesn’t Work for Hospitalists 

Manually managing shift requirements for a hospitalist group is incredibly difficult. 

Changing just one shift can trigger a domino effect, requiring adjustments to other shifts to make the first change feasible. Basic automated scheduling software can help, but it often can’t manage the unique complexities hospitalist groups face. 

The downstream effects of manual or basic scheduling software—varying shifts, frequent changes, and limited schedule flexibility—make clinicians feel powerless against increasing levels of schedule frustration. It’s easy to see how these frustrations only add more weight to their workload and can lead to increased levels of burnout.

Key Scheduling Software Needs for Hospitalist Groups 

Optimized, Flexible Software

Hospitalist groups need physician scheduling software that’s designed from the start to manage these complex logistics. It should be designed to:  

• Manage various shift types, like night shifts and swing shifts
• Accommodate various staffing models, including those with dedicated nocturnists and locums providers
• Include any number of shift locations and allot the time needed to travel between them if applicable
• Handle any number of physicians, as well as their unique scheduling preferences
• Incorporate rules and regulations specific to each shift type and location
• Apply scheduling rules both for the larger practice (like minimum continuity) and individual physicians (like maximum consecutive shifts in a row)
• Integrate with other systems, like an external staffing data source, to match provider supply with patient demand (e.g., during flu season or the holidays)

Supporting Continuity of Care 

Continuity of care is an essential component of patient satisfaction, and while many hospitalist groups have long employed a seven-on, seven-off model to maintain continuity, this shouldn’t be seen as a one-size-fits-all approach. If it works better for a practice to use a four-day on, four-day off schedule, or any other variation, scheduling software shouldn’t be the reason they have to stick with old scheduling habits. 

Advanced hospitalist scheduling software allows practices to program rules that ensure a minimum number of consecutive workdays for providers to maintain patient continuity. It can also handle the complexity of scheduling these multi-day blocks—a challenge that schedulers know all too well.   

What’s more, the software can help stagger shift transitions to make sure active providers don’t all roll off their shifts at the same time. This is another boon for continuity of care.

Combating Burnout and Improving Work-Life Balance 

Less sophisticated scheduling software may be useful in some scenarios, but does it yield shifts that truly make your providers happy? Nobody can get the perfect schedule week after week, but providers often cite a lack of work-life balance and loss of schedule autonomy as key contributors to burnout.¹

Advanced scheduling software can give hospitalist groups the flexibility to tailor shifts to individual preferences—whether that means shorter blocks of five to six days or longer stretches of seven to eight with extended time off. 

It should also help fairly distribute less desirable shifts, like nights and weekends. Grouping weekend shifts together (on or off entirely) avoids disruptive split weekends and supports better work-life balance.

Modern scheduling software can also: 

• Accurately track shifts worked to ensure workload is spread evenly
• Target the appropriate total number of shifts per month for each physician
• Avoid disruptive patterns, like frequent flip-flopping between days and nights

Boosting Recruitment and Retention  

Attracting new talent to your group is getting harder. Younger clinicians want control over the flexibility of their work schedule.

These younger providers also tend to view the seven-on, seven-off model as outdated, and according to a 2023 Doximity and Curative Compensation report, “71% of physicians reported they would be willing to accept or have already accepted lower compensation in exchange for more autonomy and work-life balance.”²

The ability to offer highly flexible, personalized schedules can be a significant competitive advantage when recruiting new talent. In fact, some practices have even made their use of optimized scheduling software a key part of their recruiting pitch.

Best Scheduling Software for Hospitalist Groups 

TL;DR? 

Hospitalist groups can no longer rely on manual workflows or basic software to schedule their providers.  

Advanced scheduling software provides hospitalist groups with the right tools to navigate the unique complexities of their scheduling needs, provider better patient care, and improve the personal and professional lives of their physicians. 

What risks are you taking by NOT implementing better scheduling software for your hospitalists?

Sources

1. Factors Related to Physician Burnout and Its Consequences: A Review, National Library of Medicine: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6262585/#:~:text=3.1.&text=In%20general%2C%20work%20factors%20that,without%20extra%20compensation%20%5B10%5D.
2. Introducing the 2023 Doximity and Curative Compensation Report, Curative Talent.com: https://blog.curativetalent.com/introducing-the-2023-doximity-and-curative-compensation-report