Line up the ruler. Make the boxes neat. Fill in dates, names, hours.
Crumple up the paper and throw it in the trash. Repeat.
Believe it or not that is still the reality for some schedulers in the home care industry. There are offices where some or all of the scheduling is done on a simple piece of printer paper, or if we’re getting fancy then on a white board. While most agencies are at least using Excel for scheduling, or have onboarded a software for this purpose, scheduling is still one of the most hectic and difficult aspects of managing a home care business.
That is why we have compiled an “Ultimate Guide to Scheduling Success” to help you streamline your process and make scheduling woes a thing of the past.
1.Harness Technology
If you are not using a scheduling software already (Excel doesn’t count!), pause your reading, google best scheduling software for home care, and begin implementation. Doing things in a new way can be tough, but scheduling softwares a real game changer. The newer iterations even have neat features such as taking the location of your clients and caregivers into account, which helps cut down on lengthy commutes.
2. Optimization
We no longer have the privilege to schedule care hours for clients that they may not need. Caregivers are in desperate demand and in order to determine the best care schedule for a client, optimization tools are needed. Sensi uses AI technology to analyze when exactly your clients are in need of care, and allows you to build their schedule from a combination of physical in-person care hours and 24/7 virtual care.
3. Client/Caregiver Matching
While working on having great client/caregiver matches may seem like a “nice to have” fantasy when you are working your hardest to just be able to fill all of the slots, taking this into account will actually make scheduling easier. The better experience that caregivers have, the less they will call in sick, not show up, and even quit. Taking extra time to optimize care matches will pay itself back in the long run.
4. Communication:
One of the pillars of scheduling success is communication. Keeping all relevant parties up to date on changes in the schedule will prevent costly mistakes down the line. Aim to have schedules completed at least a week in advance so that your caregivers can plan around their shifts.
5. Compassion:
Our final tip for scheduling success is compassion. Take a moment and put yourself in your caregiver’s shoes. Would you want to drive two hours in traffic for a one hour shift? The more you are able to take the needs of your clients and caregivers into account, the more success you will have when scheduling.
We know how tough scheduling can be, and the job of a scheduler truly resembles that for a firefighter at times with the amount of fires you put out. We salute you and hope that this guide can make your job just a little bit easier.
To find out how Sensi’s Virtual Care Agent can set you up for scheduling success, book a demo with our team.
