Smart Scheduling

Automated scheduling

Streamlines the scheduling and delivery of care within multidisciplinary delivery networks.  Reduces the complexity inherent in coordinating activities across departments and facilities, so every patient receives prompt, effective care.   Respects defined restrictions and constraints to automatically avoid conflicts such as those between specific procedures or events, minimum and maximum times between events and resource and client ‘unavailability’.

Patient Alerts

Client/patient data supports automatic identification of existing personal alerts during the scheduling process.  Users can view alerts directly via a hotlink that streamlines the scheduling process.   

Rescheduling

Characteristics of the original scheduling request are carried forward, to simplify rescheduling for Single Events, Multiple Events, Event Groups, and Serial/Recurring Events. 

Optimization

Maximizes productivity and resource utilization, while reducing bottlenecks that occur when resources are in contention.  Considers patient preferences, such as personal schedules, reducing time spent at the healthcare facility and proximity appointments.

Waitlist

Provides the ability to queue requests, or assign scheduled dates/time for consideration while searching for better appointments.

Travel Times

Enterprise-defined Travel Times between locations (internal and/or external to the healthcare facilities) are considered during the automated scheduling process to ensure that care services are not delayed or disrupted by unanticipated transportation issues.

Event Memos

The ability to record non-scheduled activities – such as Emergencies or Walk-ins – retrospectively, to ensure that client care and resource utilization records are accurate and comprehensive.

Calendar Views

Appointment Views

Multiple views of the calendar schedules and existing appointments are provided to accommodate the specific access needs of the individual user.  Worksheet/Work List views and Calendar Day views ensure that required security constraints are maintained, while enabling viewing across the continuum of care. 

Filters

The Appointment Views are supported by extensive filters and default parameters to ensure maximum flexibility and streamlined usability.  For external users, such as Medical Office Staff, the views can be restricted to appointments and clients appropriate to ‘their’ care provider, such as the Family Physician or Ordering/Requesting Party.

Drill Down

Secure, drill-down capabilities enable display of additional details upon request, supporting the Views as effective productivity and access management tools.

Event Management

Event Catalog

Predefines enterprise healthcare activity templates to streamline scheduling.  Catalog supports both discrete and grouped events.

Events

Discrete healthcare activities.  Characteristics include unique or inherited calendar profiles, procedural conflicts, Event/Preparation/Completion Comments and Resource dependencies.

Event Groups

Provides the ability to predefine healthcare activity sets.  These may represent a single protocol of care or be ad hoc groupings of activities typically scheduled in a given scenario.  Characteristics may include precedence relationships and minimum/maximum delays between activities in the group.

Medical Coding

Associations between Events, Event Groups, and CPT and other codes facilitate localized naming conventions that translate into standardized, code-based data capture.

Insurer Approval Management

Capture and manage information regarding Insurer Approvals.  Indicate whether specific procedures require specific data points, such as managed care approval, insurance eligibility, or Advanced Beneficiary Notification.

Event Calendar Profiles

Define granular event availability and scheduling parameters.  This ensures that any required restrictions on event performance are maintained during the automated scheduling process.

Event Conflicts

Ensure schedulers make appropriate and informed clinical decisions.  Integrates with the security subsystem to enforce the enterprise's authorization strategy.

Resource Management

Resource Catalog

Provides the ability to predefine enterprise resources that contribute and support the delivery of care across the enterprise.

Resources

Intrinsic enterprise resources types include people, equipment, and locations.  Characteristics include unique or inherited Calendar Profiles, Resource conflicts, Event Limits, Event Restrictions by Resource, and overbooking limits.  These resources can be assembled into logical associations (Pools and Teams) to accurately reflect any type of resource deployment strategy and to streamline the scheduling process.

Resource Pools

Groups of homogenous resources.  Pools describe resources with similar attributes, such CT Technicians, Exam Rooms, or MRI equipment.  Events scheduled using Resource Pools will be allocated the appropriate number of members from each required pool.

Resource Teams

Groups of heterogeneous resources.  Teams describe resources with dissimilar attributes that may be scheduled together as a single unit, such as technicians and equipment combinations, or Trauma Teams.

Resource Appointment Management

The Resource Appointment Management features provide the user ‘one touch’ access to the active appointments for the resource.  The user is also automatically informed of any affected appointments when creating resource blockages or ‘unavailabilities’ for the resource and can choose to take management action on one or more of the appointments, if/as required. 

Global Transfer

The Global Transfer feature streamlines the process in transferring one or more (or blocks) of appointments from one resource to another, should a resource unexpectedly become ‘unavailable’.

Resource Calendar Profiles

Define resource global/granular availability and scheduling parameters.  This includes open/close days of week and times of day, defined blockages, appointment and overbooking limits.

Client Base Management

Demographic Details

Comprehensive demographic details, including business and insurer information can be captured for each client/patient.  As with all About:Time for Healthcare modules, this includes User-defined data fields that are established by the enterprise.

Insurer Approval Management

Capture and manage information regarding Insurer Approvals.  Approvals can be associated with one or more scheduled appointments; remaining visits are tracked for recurring/serial appointments. 

Client Appointment Management

The Client Appointment Management features provide the user ‘one touch’ access to all appointments for the client.  This can include cancelled, completed and waitlisted appointments across a user-specified date range.  A full range of appointment management functions can be performed from any of the general appointment, resource or client management listings.

Client Calendar Profiles

Define granular client availability and scheduling parameters.  As this information is available for all authorized scheduling requests across the enterprise, the client needs only to provide this information once.

Collaboration

Accessibility

Award-winning 'anytime, anywhere' collaboration strategy ensures authorized accessibility to information, improving employee and patient satisfaction.  This is further supported by the optional Microsoft Exchange and Outlook integration features.

Productivity

Streamlined process flow and advanced usability features increase productivity, with a direct impact on the bottom line.

About:Time for Exchange Server – Healthcare Connector

The About:Time for Exchange Server – Healthcare Connector module integrates with Microsoft Exchange Server to leverage existing enterprise and resource calendars via dynamic, bi-directional availability queries and updates.  This ensures that personal as well as professional calendars are considered in the automated scheduling process and that the Exchange calendar reflects the About:Time for Healthcare appointments. 

Microsoft Outlook

Optional, seamless integration with Microsoft® Outlook® and Outlook Web Access reduces personnel training requirements, due to the familiar ‘look and feel’, and facilitates rapid adoption by all stakeholders.   All appointment management capabilities are available directly from the About:Time for Healthcare appointments in the Outlook or OWA calendars.

Notifications

Electronic notifications regarding scheduled or cancelled appointments can be sent to associated stakeholders via the email process, reducing telephone communications.

Interoperability

Web Services

.NET  Web Service interfaces create opportunities for sharing advanced scheduling services across corporate boundaries and technology platforms

Web Links

Initiate 3^rd party services or applications via highly-configurable URL links embedded in the Appointment scheduling page. 

Knowledge Workers

Seamless integration with the most widely-used knowledge worker suite (Microsoft Office  - 2000, XP, and 2003) ensure that back-office data capture facilitates front-office intelligence on-demand

Security

Active Directory

User Security model is fully integrated with Active Directory

Data Partitions

Explicit and comprehensive associations between User profiles and organizational hierarchies ensure that personnel can only access appropriate data

Functional Partitions

Role-based security model ensures that only qualified personnel can access layered feature sets, including configuration and conflict override capabilities

Personalization

Role-based personalization delivers a tailored, custom-branded experience to every user

Web Services

Windows 2000 Security controls access to a rich set of Web Services

Reporting

Operational

Summary and detailed reports supporting the daily operations of the enterprise, including Client/Resource/Departmental Appointment Lists, Cancellation/Reschedule Reports, Waitlists, Completed Appointment listings and ‘Confirmation Required’ Reports.

Management

Summary reports, supporting the retrospective analysis necessary for prospective management, include utilization and optimization reports regarding Resource Availability, Overbookings, Resource Utilization, Reschedulings and Cancellations.

Statistical

Summary and detailed reports, designed specifically for the Management stakeholder to support trend analysis, including Appointment Event Totals and Overbooking Totals and Percentages.

Forms

Standard forms and documents can be created using the SQL-compliant reporting tool, such as site-specific reports printed out for each patient, appointment mailing/reminder card, registration card, and pre-post procedure information sheets.  Standard appointment, resource and cancellation notification forms are also provided.

Flexible

Supports both on-line viewing and hardcopy output.  A SQL-compliant report writer supports rapid development of custom reports.  All of the reports have filtered selection criteria allowing the user to tailor the specific report to particular parameters.