Computerized scheduling of patient visits

Specialties Home Health

Published

Specializes in Home Health.

I have just found out that my agency plans on going to computerized scheduling of pt visits. Why? Because they don't want nurses to have to be doing secretarial work or scheduling. Our team leaders, who used to do the scheduling, will now be taking more pt's again, and not doing any scheduling. Nor will we apparently. I will no longer prepare my week's schedule of visits, the omnipotent computer will do that for me, isn't that GREAT??!! NOT!!!!!!!I don't know about you, but I feel it is essentail for the CM to do his/her own scheduling of cases.

There were a few nurses who thought it was a great idea, but when one of the supervisors said, "well you lknow how some people will write it's a HHA Sup visit, when it's really not due, just so they can see the pt themselves... or because they are a cute pt..." WHAT???? I don't know anyone who does that! I certainly don't manipulate my scedule in that way. And if people are, speak to them, don't punish everyone!

Is anyone out there using a computer to schedule cases? My issue is if I have a pt who attends day care, or has a doc appt, I will have to now spend more time entering this detail into a computer, so it can then spit out a schedule for me and reassign my pt's to another nurse. What if someone calls out sick? How will the computer triage the cases to be seen and to be pushed to the next day? How does a computer make nursing triage judgements?? I am all for computerized charting, or give me a database for MYSELF so I can spit out MY OWN schedule, but to try to mix that w every other nurses schedule is nuts!! We will still need someone to triage if someone is out sick.

I am very against this whole concept, as I am sure you can figure out. Seems to me they are just trying to find ways of giving us more time to do more visits under the guise of making things easier for us. I feel that this is so disrepectful of the case manager. Will the computer give us report on our pt's who weren't seen by us? NO. We still need the time for case management and f/u on ALL of our client's case issues. We are going through a lot of restructuring, and with all the nurses who have left, you would think they would listen to what WE say we need to make things better, but instead, they act as though they know what is better for us. I feel more like a slave than a nurse for this agency. It's as if they are taking the autonomy out of our practice, and we are micromanaged to the nth degree! Time to start reading the want ads again!

So sorry to hear your frustration Hoolahan.

I have no experience with computer scheduling. I have always done my own scheduling. I am with a new agency now which has a scheduler. It's so new to me that I can't give you my opinion or feedback on it yet.

My experience has been that often things aren't quite as bad as one anticipates them to be.

Keep us posted!!

PS It never hurts to check the help wanteds!!

I faxed out my resume a couple months back, figuring "Oh...what the heck!"... I am so GLAD I did. My new position is so much more satisfying, challenging, and I make more money too!!!!!!

The company I work for is implimenting a computerized scheduling system in stages...Keep in mind that I do all of the visits in our office and the remaining 25+ Nurses all do shifts.

The first step was going to an Interactive Voice Recording (IVR) time "clock" system, doing away with the paper time cards. The biggest problem we have had is with our Nurses being angry that they have to 'punch a clock' and are insulted because the company doesnt 'trust' them to use the paper cards. I kind of feel like if a Nurse is/was recording their times honestly all along then they shouldn't have a problem (I have a couple of Nurses who are the subject of repeated complaints from the clients that they arrive late/leave early on their shifts but their time cards and notes always list the start and stop times as they were scheduled).

The scheduling program will go live over the next several months, my understanding is that it really will be very flexable as to the times it schedules, BUT...by the first of the year it will also tie into the billing system and will NOT let you schedule outside of the authorized hours/visits with out a reason for the exception being entered (ie, verbal auth #123456 rec'd from Nancy RN, case mgr for (patient) at XYZ insurance.

If you know the name of the system they are going to use PM me, if it is the same one I can give you some advance notice on its foilbles.

Specializes in Home Health.

kids, that sounds even worse than I was anticipating! Yikes!! :eek:

I suppose it is always worse than you think a new thing will be. We don't have to puch a clock, and it's a good thing too, b/c if we did, we'd probably all get way more OT than we already do. I don't know of any nurses who aren't honest with their time in our agency.

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