Physician Scheduling for Academic Medical Centers

Balance Complex
Residency Schedules

Align with GME Requirements: Automatically create schedules that align with duty hour restrictions and ensure academic requirements are met.

Automate Complex Residency Schedules: Priority rules generate schedules that meet all rules and requirements, without leaving gaps.

Balance Shift Distribution: Equally distribute different types of shifts to residents and attendings to improve provider satisfaction.

Best in KLAS—Three Years Running

Lightning Bolt Ranks #1 in Physician Scheduling for three consecutive years.

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What Spreadsheets and Outdated Tools Can't Do

A Single Source of Truth

Schedule physicians, APPs, techs, and support staff in one system.

Custom Rules

Create the best possible schedule using rules and priority levels to meet your group's requirements and personal preferences.

Data and Analytics

Track PTO, assignments, availability, and changes using automated reports with privacy controls.

Payroll Integration

Prevent errors from manual entries and get accurate pay.

Flexible Shift Swaps

Get coverage from a specific colleague or offer shifts to multiple team members at once.

Mobile Application

Manage schedules anywhere - submit PTO, swap shifts, or offer coverage.

Control Access

Use admin approval for all shift swaps and schedule changes, or allow providers to adjust on their own.

Public Link Sharing

Share schedules with anyone using secure public links; no logins required.

Why Residency Programs Choose Us

Clinicians

More balanced workloads and equitable assignments, thanks to automatic shift equalization and support for the 4+1 model

Reduce administrative burden for chiefs with streamlined schedule creation, requests, and updates

Empower the care team with simplified shift-swap management and automated approval processes

Schedulers

Cut schedule creation time up to 80% on average

Automatically track residents' schedules to ensure they're in ACGME compliance

Easily track and schedule resident's academic requirements

Departments

Improved resident and physician satisfaction and retention, supported by well-balanced schedules and greater schedule predictability

Improved cross-department coordination thanks to a single source of scheduling truth that can be shared across the organization

Accurate reporting and requirement tracking thanks to a single source of scheduling truth

Proven Results from Top Residency Programs

At UNC School of Medicine,

20+

Supported schedules for physicians are created annually

We integrate with over 250 solutions, including:

Customizable Rules

Every client gets a dedicated technical consultant for life to help create custom rules and manage updates. Whether you prefer hands-on support or want to handle updates independently, we're here to support your approach.

Equalization Rules

Ensure fair distribution of workload across your team. They automatically balance assignments like call schedules, weekend shifts, and other duties, so no one provider gets overloaded.

EXAMPLE

Evenly distribute night shifts based on FTE

Minimum / Maximum Rules

Set limits on how often providers can work specific shifts or roles. They help prevent burnout while ensuring adequate coverage by controlling maximum assignments and guaranteeing minimum staffing levels.

EXAMPLE

Maximum of 3 nights per month -or- Schedule 13 to 15 shifts per month

If / Then Rules

Create conditional logic for your scheduling needs. They automatically trigger specific actions when certain conditions are met, like "if Provider A is scheduled for X, then also schedule Provider B for Y."

EXAMPLE

For providers who begin work at 4pm today, you cannot start earlier than 4pm tomorrow.

Preference Rules

Accommodate individual provider preferences and requirements. They help create schedules that work better for your team by respecting personal constraints, preferred assignments, and recurring commitments.

EXAMPLE

Dr. Smith prefers not to be on night call on Thursdays.

Product Tour

Lightning Bolt helps you generate gapless provider schedules for your residents using custom rules designed to ensure GME requirements are met and rotations are balanced.

Create a Provider Schedule (Admin)
Create Custom Rules
Adjust a Schedule (End User)
Request Shift Coverage (Swaportunities)

Additional Resources

CASE STUDY

Creating Equitable Residency Schedules that Meet ACGME Standards

BLOG

The Main Benefits of Residency Scheduling Software

CHECKLIST

Five Steps to a Successful Resident Schedule

FAQs

Does your team set up the scheduling rules, or can I?

We assist with initial setup and training. Users can choose to maintain the system themselves or rely on our support. If the rules change, we can also handle it or you can do it yourself.

Is there a limit on the number of providers or shifts the system can schedule?

No, our system can handle schedules for large groups with no technical limits on providers or tasks.

Is this scheduling software only for large groups, or can it help small practices?

Yes, it can help smaller practices! Many of our smaller practices find Lightning Bolt to be very beneficial to have one source of truth and be able to easily submit time-off requests, make last minute shift swaps, create optimal holiday schedules, access schedules on mobile, and overall experience an increase in convenience.

What is the key difference between Lightning Bolt and other products on the market?

Unlike other products that simply digitize manual scheduling, Lightning Bolt uses an AI-enabled process called combinatorial optimization to identify the best solution—in this case, a schedule—from a finite set of possibilities. By considering multiple variables such as staff availability, skill sets, and shift preferences, combinatorial optimization allows Lightning Bolt to rapidly identify the optimal schedule that maximizes resource utilization while meeting organizational constraints. This process advances operational efficiency, improves staff satisfaction by building fairer schedules, and enhances patient care by ensuring that the right personnel are in the right place at the right time.

What's the experience like for residents and attendings day-to-day?

Residents and faculty get real-time visibility into schedules from any device, can request PTO and swap shifts through streamlined workflows, and receive updates instantly—reducing friction and improving satisfaction. Administrators can require approvals or allow self-service, and flexible swap options make finding coverage faster and more reliable.

How reliable and easy to use is the platform—and what about support?

Independent industry validation shows Lightning Bolt scoring top marks for overall performance, ease of use, quality of support, and proactive service in KLAS reporting, based on extensive customer feedback across dozens of healthcare organizations. For residency programs, this translates into faster adoption, fewer training hurdles, and responsive help when you need it. Each customer has a dedicated technical consultant to assist with questions, whenever they arise.

Ready to see us in action?

Get a demo of Lightning Bolt's platform.