Repetition pattern in shift planning
Some stuff just need to happen on a repetitive schedule. One of these is the shift planning in your clinic or practice. Getting the right shift planning helps your business to reap the benefits of this kind of work and offer improved patient service.
Types of shifts
Depending on the healthcare services you provide there can be different types of working weeks and shifts and there are several types of patterns you can use in yours, but first let’s see some of the most common types of shifts:
Only one shift, most common for small private practices that offer only one type of healthcare service, such as physiotherapy, psychotherapy, chiropractic, dental practice, ophthalmology, ob-gyn, etc.
2 shifts, most common for the same small private practices where physicians change the shift every week or every two weeks.
4 on, 3 off
24/7, most common for clinics that offer 24h healthcare services
And there are many more options you can take to running your pattern. If you still don’t know which is the right shift pattern for you, think about the average type of work shifts your staff members complete.
If you decide to use Kailo, have in mind that it’s so flexible that you can tailor any type to suit your needs - nothing is set in stone and you can take a creative approach to make your assignments work out, although we tried to make Kailo so flexible as possible that you can prepare your shifts whatever they look like. So, let’s take a look at some of the most common shifts and how are they done in Kailo.
One shift
Here we have a typical Monday to Friday pattern of start time to end time, let’s say from 8 AM - 5 PM.
First, we define the slots or the estimated duration of each appointment, let’s say 30min. Then, we select the above-mentioned pattern Monday to Friday from 8 AM-5 PM. We add exceptions such as days off and breaks. You can select the days when the physician isn’t available and add breaks during the working day, from start time to end time. Its repetitive pattern is every week, and you decide whether you will update it weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly.
Two shifts
Here we also have a typical Monday to Friday schedule but with two shifts, one from 6 AM - 2 PM and the other from 2 PM - 10 PM. Your staff in this pattern will rotate, usually once a week. But you can discuss that with your team, as they might prefer, for example, every two weeks, or a monthly swap.
The planning of shifts here is almost the same - first, you define the slots, then you select the working days and hours, you add the exceptions for days off and breaks, and at the end when you select the repetitive pattern you select that this shift will be repeated every second week, monthly, quarterly or yearly.
4 on 3 off shift
Lately, this type of shift is becoming popular, even though is rarely applied in healthcare, we would like to mention it just in case. After defining the slots and selecting the 4 working days and the hours (usually 12h), in exceptions, you add 3 days that the physician is unassigned. This repetitive pattern can be applied weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly as well.
24/7 shift
This type of working schedule normally embraces all the shifts possible. First shift, second shift, third shift, night shift, weekends, etc. Here, normally you apply all the repetition patterns for each physician depending on the assigned shift.
Breaks and days off planning
Above we mentioned more than once the exceptions, such as days off, breaks, or unassigned days. When planning shifts it’s really important to not forget these things. It’s normal for a physician to have at least one or even more breaks during the day, but you must include those breaks in the shift planning i.e. in the calendar, that’s how they are visible for the other colleagues and most importantly for the patients, they have a clear view of the available hours of each physician.
Shift planning with Kailo - the essential skill
Having a repetition pattern for the shifts and the exception is a really great feature that we included in Kailo in order to save you time and effort. We made it easy, intuitive, and suitable for more types of shifts. We already talked about the many advantages of the advanced shift planning that Kailo offers in this article. So, are you ready to rely on technology and simplify your shift planning? We would be glad to show you how Kailo works, set up a classic working week, or tailor one to meet your needs. Contact us or request a demo.
