In scheduling, equity is a frequently used term. Unfortunately, equity is not always a clear term. At a high level, equity is a concept of fairness in scheduling, and automated scheduling applications often have equity as a major component that helps build complete schedules for organizations. This article takes equity and breaks it down into two types, which will help shed some light onto what it is, and why it is such an essential part of practice scheduling.
Fairness (at an organizational level)
A major part of equity is the fairness aspect that needs to be worked into practice scheduling. Having equitable schedules ensures that your team members have a fair and equal breakdown of shifts and roles. This means that, for example, working holidays or weekends is distributed evenly. For some organizations, roles or locations may be equitably shared between team members.
The fairness component of equity plays a large part in ensuring workplace satisfaction and physician retention. Without it, many problems can arise in your workplace, which is why automated scheduling applications often make equity a major part of their schedule-building process.
Contractual Obligations (at an individual level)
While some parts of scheduling affect everyone, most employees are also required to fulfil contractual shift obligations. Equity ensures each member of your practice is working the required shifts and roles stipulated in their agreement. What’s more, equity ensures each individual is working the right number of hours. Another reason automated scheduling a great asset is that these applications can track what shifts or roles individuals are working in reports.
Equity helps ensure your practice is getting exactly what is required out of your team members and that you are properly staffed for all of your shifts and roles. The tracking of contractual obligations also helps settle any questions or conflicts that may arise when scheduling.
