Hospitalist scheduling software for rounding weeks and nights

How a month comes together for a hospitalist group

Take a group of ten attendings and three APPs. The Hospitalist preset starts with two lines, both open to attendings and APPs: Rounding Week, a block that runs Monday to Sunday, and Night Admitter, 7p to 7a every night. Each starts with one person on it, so a group this size sets People needed on Rounding Week to six, one for each team. February 2027 starts on a Monday, so it holds four rounding weeks and 28 nights, 52 assignments in all. Each carries fairness points: a rounding week counts 1 for each weekday and 1.5 for each weekend day, 8 for the week, and a night counts 1.5, 2 on a weekend and 2.5 on a holiday. Change any of it on Shifts & Rules, or add a day admitter or swing shift with a tag for who can work it.

Before the month is built, the scheduler opens requests for it with a due date, and everyone with an email address gets a note. Each person marks vacation, conference days, and the days they would rather be off or would like to work, and can say how much work they want, such as no more than two nights. In our test month, one attending took the second week as vacation, another had a conference on a Thursday and Friday, a third asked to have a weekend off, and an APP asked to work a Friday. Vacation and conference days go to the scheduler to approve, and approved time off is never scheduled over. The rest are wishes the schedule meets where it can, and the Preferences met list shows any it could not. All four were met.

Then click Generate. Nobody is put on Night Admitter during their own rounding week, and nobody rounds two weeks in a row unless a week would otherwise go uncovered or someone's time off or request needs it. Evening out the load is never the reason. In the test month, eleven of the thirteen rounded two alternate weeks and took two nights in their weeks off, the other two rounded one week and took three nights, nobody rounded back to back, and nothing was left unfilled. Over six months with twelve who could round, exactly half the group every week, nobody rounded back to back either. When two of them asked for a week off, one colleague covered with back-to-back weeks, and the Schedule page listed it. For anyone who must alternate, a 7 on, 7 off pattern holds it. A week that must not move can be locked, and every later Generate leaves it alone.

The Report shows each person's weeks, nights, weekend days, holidays and points against a fair share, prorated for anyone part time. The two who rounded one week came out under their share, and later months even it out, because fairness is balanced across the year, not one month at a time. Requests come first, and fairness evens out what is left.

Months rarely end on a Sunday. When one ends midweek, the next month's schedule keeps the rest of that rounding week with the people who started it, unless they asked for those days off: in a November then December test, all six rounders on Monday, November 30 kept their week through December 6. When it looks right, Publish. Everyone sees their weeks and nights on a phone, can subscribe to them in Google Calendar, iPhone or Outlook, and trades a night or a week in the app with the scheduler giving the final yes. Name each holiday the same way every year, and whoever worked Thanksgiving last year is steered away from it this year. The part that used to take evenings, fitting 24 rounding weeks and 28 nights around everyone's requests, is the part the generator does.

Questions Hospitalist / Inpatient IM groups ask

How do I build a hospitalist schedule?

Pick the Hospitalist preset in the setup wizard, add your attendings and APPs, and set how many people round each week. Open requests so everyone can mark vacation and days off, then click Generate to fill every rounding week and night around them. Check the Report, change any cell by hand, and Publish.

Can it make a 7 on 7 off hospitalist schedule?

Yes. To tie someone to exact dates, add a repeating pattern on Rounding Week with their first on day, 7 on and 7 off or any other split. They are never put on rounding in a week off, and in a six month test the pattern held every week. Without a pattern, nobody rounds two weeks in a row unless a week would otherwise go uncovered or someone's time off or request needs it: over six months with exactly half the group rounding every week, nobody did. Lock any week that must not move.

How do I set up a nocturnist schedule?

Night Admitter, 7p to 7a every night, comes with the preset and is shared across the group, never during someone's own rounding week. For dedicated nocturnists, add a nocturnist tag, make it the only tag Night Admitter takes, and give it to them. To run nights in stretches, such as seven on and seven off, set Night Admitter to week-long blocks so one person takes each week of nights. Anyone can also ask for a limit, such as no more than two nights a month.

Can everyone enter requests before the schedule is built?

Yes. Open requests for the month with a due date, and everyone with an email address gets a note. Each person marks vacation weeks, conference days, days they would rather be off or would like to work, and how many nights they want. Email a reminder writes only to whoever has not entered yet.

What happens to a rounding week that runs into the next month?

The next month's schedule knows who started that week and keeps the rest of it with them, unless one of them asked for those days off. Lock it if it has to stay put no matter what.

Can hospitalists trade weeks and nights?

Yes. Someone offers a night or a rounding week from My Schedule to a colleague who can work it, and can ask for one of theirs in exchange. The colleague accepts, then the scheduler approves, and both move and lock. A trade that would double-book someone is flagged before anyone agrees to it.