A configuration option has been added to the Resource Scheduling feature set to allow customers to schedule simultaneous Radiologist Required appointments in any number of rooms without restriction. 

The configuration option is at the Site level.  On the Scheduling tab of the Add/Edit Site configuration screen, there is a new checkbox above the Radiologist Resource Scheduling Modality Type activation options.  The checkbox is labeled: “Allow simultaneous radiologist-required procedures.”

When checked, a radiologist can be booked for multiple Radiologist Required appointments in overlapping timeslots in more than one room.  Essentially, this means that as long as the radiologist is assigned to cover the rooms, the system will ignore the fact that they are scheduled for a Radiologist Required appointment.  If multiple radiologists are covering the rooms, priority will be given to the radiologist who does not have an appointment booked.  However, if the second radiologist is not able to perform the simultaneous exam due to their Skill Set or Repeat settings, the first radiologist will be booked for the second overlapping appointment. 

When evaluating whether a timeslot should be presented in an Appointment Search, the system will continue to evaluate other radiologist criteria, explained in detail below.  All other scheduling rules remain in place, as well.  However, the system will allow the radiologist to be booked in several rooms at once.  There is no limit to the number of appointments to which a radiologist can be assigned at the same time.

Changes to Appointment Search logic (in bold):
• If Radiologist Resource Scheduling is active, RIS will assess whether the new “allow simultaneous” checkbox is checked.

·         If not, Appointment Search logic will behave as normal and a time slot will not appear for a Radiologist Required exam if the same radiologist is already booked in another room for a Radiologist Required exam that overlaps the potential timeslot. 

·         If the “allow simultaneous” box is checked:

·         RIS will assess whether a radiologist is assigned to the room.

·         RIS will assess whether the procedure is one that can be performed by the radiologist (i.e. in their Skill Set).

·         RIS will assess whether scheduling the exam in this slot will violate the radiologist’s Daily Maximum.

·         RIS will assess whether scheduling the exam in this slot will violate their Maximum Repeat.

·         RIS will assess the radiologist’s Duration Override if it exists, however, the definition of radiologist “availability” will change.

o   In the non-simultaneous workflow, the radiologist has to be available for the entire length of their Duration Override. This means that they have to be assigned to cover the room (via their Resource Availability Template) AND they must also not be booked for another Radiologist Required procedure in a different room during that time period. In the new “allow simultaneous” mode, the radiologist has to be assigned to cover the room for that length of time, but they can be simultaneously scheduled for other procedures during that time. In other words, if the checkbox for “allow simultaneous” is checked, a radiologist must only be assigned to cover the room during the duration of the exam to be considered “available.”

·         If the radiologist does not have a Duration Override, standard duration hierarchy rules will go into effect.  As above, the radiologist has to be assigned to cover the room for that length of time, but they can be simultaneously scheduled for other procedures during that time.

·         All other non-radiologist evaluation criteria remain in place.  As before, the room and the technologist must be available for the full duration of the procedure.  If the technologist has a duration override of 15 and the radiologist has a duration override of 30, RIS must ensure that the room does not have any appointments booked for the full 30 minutes and that the technologist does not have any assigned exams (in other rooms) for the full 30 minutes (even though the technologist’s duration override is 15). The radiologist must be assigned to the room for the full 30 minutes, but they can have simultaneous procedures happening in other rooms.

Example:

Dr. Terry Mills is scheduled to cover all rooms at the Forrest Hills site during the full range of business hours for the day.  Scheduler Sue schedules a Radiologist Required appointment at 8:30 AM in CT Room 2. 

Scheduler Sam does an appointment search for a different Radiologist Required appointment.  RIS will return the 8:30 AM slot in CT Room 1 as a valid option, even though Dr. Mills is already scheduled for an exam in CT Room 2.

Sam will be allowed to proceed with scheduling the second 8:30 appointment.  He does not require any additional permissions to do so.  RIS will not warn Sam and the appointment will not have an Appointment Conflict flag. 

In addition to changing the search logic, changes have been made for the evaluation of Appointment Conflicts when changes to configuration are made after appointments have been scheduled.  Example: two radiologists were assigned to cover a Site and each radiologist is scheduled to perform a Radiologist Required exam simultaneously.  The second radiologist is taken off the schedule.  The system will adjust to assign the remaining radiologist to cover both exams and this will not be marked as an Appointment Conflict and will not display on the Appointment Conflict worklist. 

This feature makes an adjustment to system behavior related to the existing System Configuration setting ConflictIntervalForNoResourceAssigned. 

The setting allows for configuration of the number of days prior to the appointment that a study should be flagged as an Appointment Conflict when no technologist (or radiologist for Radiologist Required procedures) has been configured in the resource availability template.  The purpose of this setting is to allow for unrestricted scheduling for future days where the staffing may not yet be assigned in the Resource Availability templates.

Previously, when scheduling within the conflict interval, the appointment slots would still return in the Appointment Slot search, but the user was warned that the resource is not assigned and the appointment would fall to the Appointment Conflict worklist. 

With this new feature, RIS will stop returning the appointment slot option when a resource is not assigned, if the date of the appointment slot falls within the conflict interval configured in this setting.

Example:  The Conflict Interval is set at 60.  If the user is searching for an exam 61 days or more in the future and a technologist (or a radiologist if it is a radiologist-required procedure) is not assigned, the time slot option will return in the search as usual (assuming other criteria are met).  However, if the appointment slot falls within the next 60 days into the future (within the conflict interval), the time slot will NOT be returned.

If the user has full permission to access string Clinical.Schedule.AllowResourceSchedulingOverride, then they will still be allowed to manually select an appointment time that falls within the conflict interval without a resource assigned.  This would be flagged as an Approved Appointment Conflict and would not fall to the Appointment Conflict worklist.  However, a user without full permission to that access string will no longer be permitted to schedule, as it is considered an Appointment Conflict.