Enhanced healthcare personnel rostering solution using mobile technologies

• We propose a smartphone based software solution for shift scheduling at hospitals.
• XML Web Services are used to maximize compatibility with Hospital Information Systems and Web Access.
• The smartphone App presented provides both online and offline calendaring for clinicians.

This paper presents a novel personnel rostering system for healthcare units, which incorporates mobile technologies to minimize time overheads and boost personnel satisfaction. This way, doctors nurses and administrative staff may provide solutions and suggestions to the process of shifts’ scheduling and rostering in a group based – social and organized manner, at any given time, using their smartphone or tablet. This system is designed and implemented according to wide research on requirements’ specification, carried out in Greek public hospitals and based on a study of healthcare units’ organization, at a practical and legal level. The personnel rostering system anticipates to facilitate the staff administration task, through real-time communication between hospital's personnel. It enables the formation of a micro-community with enhanced social communication tools, to provide dynamic management, recording and updating of changes that occur in scheduled duties, without mediators and delays. The proposed solution includes an intelligent mobile device application, designed for smartphones and tablets. It is provided to the personnel and enables them to participate in the process of scheduling duties and shifts. The XML based, back-end, supporting information system offers services that allow a smoother operation of the unit, minimize time overheads in case of arbitrary changes and maximize satisfaction of personnel. The overall operation of the units, that reclaim the features offered by this system, can be improved. Minimizing the time and other bureaucratic delays in personnel scheduling is a vital part of the way a healthcare facility is organized. Thus, facilitating this process, with any available technology, may prove to be cost effective and crucial. Systems that incorporate mobile applications are already widely accepted, and become increasingly important to the healthcare sector, as well. The mobile based, personnel shifts’ scheduling solution shown is an approach that already receives encouraging support and indicates that it assists in achieving remarkable results.