Harrison County Hospital EMS serves more than 60,000 residents of Harrison County, IN, with a fleet of four ambulances and a staff of 54 full- and part-time EMTs and paramedics. Our service found that its paper-and-pencil scheduling method had become very inefficient. Schedule changes could often mean reworking entire schedules to ensure proper shift coverage. A few years ago, we decided to upgrade to Visual Staff Scheduler PRO (VSS PRO) scheduling software from Atlas Business Solutions.

     There were several reasons behind our decision:

•      Manual scheduling was taking too much time.

       When creating schedules using the pencil-and-paper method, we manually scheduled each staff member for each shift each day. This system was not only time-consuming and prone to errors, but any change meant the entire schedule had to be reconstructed.

•      Manual scheduling could lead to jeopardizing required staffing levels.

       It was challenging for us to maintain minimum staffing levels using the old method. Numerous variables, like the number of staff per position or shift, could result in our not maintaining proper shift coverage, potentially resulting in poor service.

•      Manual scheduling was ineffective for proper communication.

       When things like time-off requests, sickness and jury duty come up with short notice, schedules can change suddenly. Using paper scheduling, it was almost impossible to provide each staff member the most current schedule information.

•      Manual scheduling could lead to unnecessary overtime expenses.

       Using pencil and paper, it was difficult to optimize staffing levels. When changes were made to the schedule, it was time-consuming to recalculate total hours scheduled per employee. This created the possibility of unnecessary overtime expenses.

•      Manual scheduling was missing reporting capabilities.

     When we were using pencil and paper to schedule our staff, reporting was equally cumbersome and prone to errors. Building a report typically involved manually combining information from several schedule sheets.

     With scheduling software, staff at Harrison County Hospital EMS can easily see when and where they will be working, view open slots for planning time off, and check who may be available to pick up a shift. With VSS PRO, we can communicate schedule information more effectively and keep everyone up to date. In addition, with access to our stored historical scheduling data, immediate answers about hours worked are available should questions arise.

     Since our staff started using VSS PRO to manage their shift schedules, we have considerably reduced the time it takes to create schedules and make changes. We can build schedules quickly by utilizing automated tools that rotate shifts, copy patterns or schedule groups of employees. Both requested and ad hoc changes can be made instantly, while we ensure all shifts remain properly covered. We no longer lose valuable time to unnecessary reworks.

     Moving from paper and pencil to scheduling software can help streamline daily operations and improve staff efficiency at any EMS service. It definitely did at Harrison County Hospital EMS.

Jason Werle is a shift supervisor at Harrison County Hospital EMS. Reach him at jwerlemedic1@yahoo.com.