Position Overview
Operating room schedulers are hired by hospitals where their main duty is to make sure that all surgeries and procedures are timely scheduled, in accordance with established protocols.
They are responsible for making sure that any issues or problems such as overlapping or emergency procedures are adjusted within the daily schedule.
Working as an operating room scheduler is hard work which requires one to be exceptionally organized and communicative.
Education and Experience
To work as an operating room scheduler, you have to possess a high school diploma or a general equivalence certificate at the very least.
If you have some medical clerical experience, it will be in your favor when you are applying for a job. People who have had experience in a hospital central scheduling or physician office scheduling settings are often considered highly for this position.
Qualifications & Skills
- Knowledge of medical terminology inside out
- Ability to organize his or her work in a profound manner
- Word processing and spreadsheet software
- Computerized scheduling systems
- Knowledge of inner workings of a hospital
- Good communication and Interpersonal skills
- Teamwork
Operating Room Scheduler Duties and Responsibilities
• Interface with medical staff members to obtain patient status reports and required surgical procedures.
• Acquire authorizations, patients’ histories, laboratory results and doctors’ notes to verify requirements for surgical procedures.
• Schedule and maintain physician block times and releases to ensure their availability for required surgeries.
• Schedule patients for emergent, urgent and elective surgeries based on staff and doctors’ availabilities.
• Extract .patient demographic data from surgical information sheets and input it into the scheduling system
• Determine the order in which patients are scheduled and ensure that any emergent cases are fit into the schedule as a priority.
• Review patient wait lists and schedules cases as operating rooms become available.
• Communicate the need for special equipment, supplies and instruments to the nursing staff or procurement manager.
• Handle staffing constraints by ensuring that the right number of staff members are assigned to each operating room.
• Schedule cases according to protocols for those requiring special needs such as latex sensitivity or special equipment.
• Review future requests for surgeries and maintain an ongoing schedule of surgeries and procedures as outlined.