Bespoke automation of medical workforce rostering using Google's free cloud applications

Abstract

Background Providing safe and consistent care requires optimal deployment of medical staff. Ensuring this happens is a significant administrative burden due to complex working patterns. Electronic rostering platforms can help to reduce this burden, but offer limited customisability to the requirements of individual organisations or become costly at scale. Objective To describe a pilot feasibility study of the bespoke automation of medical duty rostering in a busy tertiary Ophthalmology department. Methods A cloud-based web application was created using Google's free cloud services. Users access the system via a website which hosts live rosters, and use electronic forms to submit requests which are automatically handled by Google App Scripts. Results Over a 2-year period (8/2014-6/2016), the system processed 563 leave requests and 300 on-call swaps automatically. 3300 emails and 1000 forms were automatically generated. User satisfaction was 100% (n = 24). Discussion Many time-consuming aspects of roster management were automated with significant time savings to all parties, allowing increased clinical time for doctors involved in administration. Planning for safe staffing levels was supported. The system was customised to fit in with existing administrative processes.