Simplifying Role-Based Staff Assignments in ASCs

SIS Complete brings surgery centers a better way to assign nursing and anesthesia staff

Surgery centers using SIS Complete, a comprehensive solution designed specifically for ASCs, are experiencing the many benefits that a fully electronic solution can bring to their facilities, including increased efficiency to their business office and clinical workflows and improved communication amongst staff.

The Surgical Information Systems (SIS) team constantly assesses how SIS Complete can holistically improve the day-to-day operation of ASCs outside of the business and clinical areas, shares Mike Scheidegger, product manager for SIS Complete patient and physician engagement solutions.

"We noticed clients had different ways they were communicating which nursing and anesthesia staff were working on a case each day," he says. "Some centers printed out their schedule, wrote the nursing and anesthesia staff for each case on the schedule, then copied and distributed the printout to the different departments. Other ASCs used whiteboards, which can be messy and difficult to read and update. It became clear that surgery centers needed a more streamlined way to delegate where staff would be for the day and maintain high visibility to these assignments inside and outside the walls of the ASC."

This insight led to the development of the Staff Assignment capability in SIS Complete.

A Better Way to Make and Communicate ASC Staff Assignments

Staff Assignments enables surgery centers to easily assign nursing and anesthesia staff to a case. Using the patient tracker boardsincluded in SIS Complete, the nurse manager can assign staff manually or by using rule-based assignments. The tracker boards. accessible and viewable throughout the facility, update to reflect these staff assignments, and staff are notified via email or text that they have been assigned to a case.

Nursing and anesthesia staff can be assigned to a case in several different ways:

• Case by case - The user reviews each case on the schedule and assigns staff on a case-by-case basis.
• By Physician - A nurse or anesthesiologist can be automatically assigned to a case based on the physician assigned to that case.
• By Operating Room - The ASC can designate staff to a specific room, and SIS Complete will automatically assign them to all cases taking place in that room.
• By OR Start Time - Staff can be assigned to work cases based on the time they are scheduled (7 to 11 AM, 12 to 4 PM, etc.).

The rules for assigning staff to cases by physician, OR, or Start Time are maintained in SIS Complete. For example, a nurse manager logs into SIS Complete at 2 PM to assign staff to cases scheduled for the following day. An hour later, several new cases are scheduled for the following day. These last-minute additions will retroactively include any assignments made based on physician, OR, or start time.

When staff are assigned to a case, staff have several ways of learning about and viewing the cases they are assigned to:

• Staff can be alerted via text or email when a case has been assigned to them.
• Staff assignments can be added to the Schedule Grid in SIS Complete.
• Staff can filter the Patient List on either the Nursing Desktop or Anesthesia Desktop in SIS Complete.

Enhancing ASC Staffing Transparency Without Sacrificing Flexibility

Last-minute staffing and schedule changes can - and will - happen. When a change occurs, surgery centers need to quickly make adjustments and communicate the changes to their staff. The Staff Assignment capability is designed to easily accommodate changes.

For last-minute staff assignments or changes, edits can be made directly to the electronic tracker board. The update will appear automatically on any boards displaying the Staff Assignment columns. The staff assigned to the case will receive a text or email notification when there is a change to a case they are assigned.

For other changes that must be communicated, the Global Notes field in SIS Complete allows ASCs to capture any information they need to share with staff and display it across the center.

The Global Notes field is designed for a center's "floater" nurse and to make on-the-spot notes on a case. This functionality gives ASCs the ability to identify staff who may not be assigned to a case but are available at the center to assist wherever help is needed. The field also allows centers to share any other important information regarding their daily operations, such as if an OR is closed due to a maintenance issue or if a physician is running late.

Care Coordination with SIS Complete

Staff Assignments in SIS Complete leverages the power of the included configurable SIS Charts Tracker boards to further enhance communication across the ASC while reducing the surgery center's reliance on inefficient paper and whiteboard processes. SIS Complete users are taking advantage of the Staff Assignments functionality and are incorporating it into their day-to-day operations.

"When we initially rolled out this feature, many centers simply added the staff assignment columns to some of their existing tracker boards," says Scheidegger. "We now see clients creating dedicated 'Staff Assignment' boards separate from their Patient Tracker boards. These Staff Assignment boards display all of the staffing for the day and important operational notes. ASCs are making these boards visible on monitors throughout the facility to help maintain high visibility for the clinical teams."

Staff Assignment functionality is just one of the many features in SIS Complete helping ASCs nationwide Operate Smart. For an up-close look at SIS Complete, the comprehensive software designed for ambulatory surgery centers, contact our team to schedule your demo with one of our ASC solutions specialists.