Workforce & Rostering — e-Rostering Software

Digitising anaesthesia rostering at Hospital Clínico San Carlos

Replacing spreadsheets, paper leave forms and whiteboard-based processes with MedModus RMS to streamline roster management for a 100-anaesthetist department across more than 25 operating rooms and clinical areas.

anaesthetists and system users: 100+
adoption reached within weeks: 100%
operating rooms and clinical areas: 20+

The challenge

Hospital Clínico San Carlos is a University Hospital in the Madrid region providing high-complexity care. It has a workforce of over 5,000 professionals, more than 800 beds, and 25 operating rooms. It is a national and international reference centre known for the quality of its facilities and staff.

The Anaesthesiology Department comprises over 100 professionals and 20 residents, covering approximately 85 shifts daily (across morning and afternoon sessions). Managing this volume of staff and shifts entails a heavy administrative burden, requiring significant time and carrying a high risk of errors.

Factors such as shift swaps between professionals, unforeseen incidents, and absences due to vacation or personal leave further complicate management. Ensuring an equitable distribution of shifts—alongside these other challenges—is particularly complex and represents another issue to be resolved.

Our approach

We began by working closely with the department to understand how its spreadsheets operated and how the various manual processes around them supported day-to-day roster management.

Using this knowledge, we developed a working version of MedModus RMS configured around the department’s requirements. We then worked iteratively with the team, demonstrating the system, identifying gaps and adapting the solution to reflect local processes and rules.

System administrators received face-to-face training before go-live. Anaesthetists were then introduced to the mobile app, allowing them to access rosters and interact with the new process directly. Adoption was rapid, reaching 100% across more than 100 users within a matter of weeks.

The solution

The MedModus RMS was implemented to handle medical staff scheduling for the Anaesthesiology Department. Through the mobile app, professionals can easily view upcoming assignments, manage absences and shift swaps, and access daily and weekly schedules.

From an organizational standpoint, the system streamlines shift planning and management, giving supervisors greater visibility regarding assignments, absences, coverage needs, and scheduling equity.

The outcomes

The system enables the creation of daily and weekly schedules further in advance, facilitating long-term planning as well as the management of absences and shift swaps. Automated alerts help prevent assignment errors, such as scheduling a professional for more than one shift on the same day or assigning shifts to staff members who are absent.

Balancing features facilitate decision-making regarding the opening of shifts and the confirmation of absences, while graphical tools help achieve a more equitable distribution of shifts. Overall, the solution reduces the administrative burden associated with shift management, minimizes assignment errors, and enables more efficient and equitable planning.

Outcomes

What changed for the organisation once the platform was live.

100%
adoption across 100+ system users within weeks
Single digital process
replacing spreadsheets, paper leave forms and manual roster changes
Significant admin time savings
across roster preparation and ongoing management
Real-time visibility
of current rosters for administrators and anaesthetists
Faster communication
of changes through the mobile app and system notifications
Scalable digital foundation
for managing a complex anaesthesia roster

Facing a similar challenge?

We will walk you through how this engagement was delivered and what the equivalent first phase would look like for your organisation.

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