Physician On-Call Scheduling

Physician On-Call Scheduling builds call schedules from the rules each department actually uses: rotations, coverage requirements, time-off, work-hour limits and how holidays and weekends are shared out. It shows how evenly call has been distributed over time, handles swaps with the right approvals, and publishes one current call list to the switchboard, the emergency department and clinicians. Every schedule change keeps who made it and why.

The problem it solves

On-call schedules are often built by one person per department in spreadsheets, with rules held in their head: who covers which holidays, who cannot work back-to-back weekends, who has privileges at which site. Swaps are agreed by text message and the call list the operators use is updated by hand, so it drifts from what physicians believe. When a physician says holiday call has not been fair, or a surveyor asks how the hospital keeps its on-call list current, there is no single record to point to.

Who it’s for

• Medical staff offices and department schedulers at hospitals and health systems
• Department chairs and section chiefs who own call coverage
• Physicians and advanced practice providers who take call
• Switchboard operators and emergency department staff who need the current call list
• Graduate medical education offices that schedule residents alongside attendings

1. Set the rulesEach department records its coverage requirements and scheduling rules once: which services need call, how many people per shift, rotation patterns, rest rules, and how holidays and weekends are weighted.
2. Build the scheduleThe rules engine proposes a schedule for the period, honoring approved time-off and privileges, and shows where it could not satisfy a rule so the scheduler decides how to resolve it.
3. Publish and maintainThe approved schedule becomes the call list used by operators, the emergency department and clinicians. Swaps and last-minute changes go through the app so the list stays current.
4. Review fairnessCall taken by each physician is counted over the periods you choose, with holidays and weekends weighted, so imbalances are visible and can be corrected in the next schedule.

Rules engine

Coverage, rotation, rest and eligibility rules written as named rules per department, with each rule's effect visible in the proposed schedule.

Holiday and weekend fairness

Holidays and weekends weighted the way your department agrees, with running totals carried across years so the next holiday goes to whoever is owed it.

Rule conflict explanations

When the engine cannot fill a shift without breaking a rule, it says which rule and why, and the scheduler decides.

Time-off and preferences

Physicians submit time-off and shift preferences in one place, with request windows and approval by the department.

Swaps and giveaways

Swaps checked against rules and privileges before they take effect, with approval where the department requires it.

Privileges awareness

Assignments limited to physicians with current privileges for the service and site, using data from your credentialing system.

Current call list

One published call list by service and time for operators, the emergency department and clinicians, with primary and backup contacts.

Work-hour checks

Residents and fellows checked against the work-hour rules your program configures, with warnings before a schedule is published.

Multi-site and cross-coverage

Schedules across campuses, with cross-coverage between departments or groups recorded so the call list shows who actually covers.

Calendar sync

Each physician's call shifts available as a personal calendar feed, updated when the schedule changes.

Point-in-time call history

Who was on call for any service at any past date and time, as published then, with every later change recorded.

Change history

Every assignment, swap, override and approval kept with the person, time and reason.

Physician

Sees the schedule, requests time-off and swaps, and sees their own call totals

Department scheduler

Builds and maintains the department's schedule and works rule conflicts

Department chief

Approves rule sets, published schedules and exceptions for the department

Medical staff office

Oversees coverage across departments and keeps the hospital call list complete

Operator or ED staff

Looks up who is on call now, with read-only access to the call list

Auditor (read-only)

Views schedules, call history and change records without changing them

Credentialing and privileging

Current privileges by service and site from your credentialing system, including Moraph's Credentialing & Privileging Portal, so only eligible physicians are scheduled.

Staff directory and HR

Physician records, departments and contact details from your directory or HR system, on a schedule agreed in implementation.

Switchboard and call list systems

The published call list sent to your operator console, paging or clinical communication system by file or API.

Residency management

Resident rotations and work-hour logs from your residency system, including Moraph's Residency Program Manager, for combined attending and resident schedules.

Calendars

Personal calendar feeds for each physician's call shifts, readable by common calendar applications.

Payroll and call pay

Shifts worked exported for call pay or stipend calculation in your payroll or physician compensation system.

Single sign-on

Staff sign in through your identity provider (SAML or OpenID Connect).

Work API

Schedules, call lists and fairness totals available to your data warehouse and other systems through the Moraph Work API.

Single sign-on

Staff sign in through your identity provider, so your password and multi-factor policies apply.

Role-based access

What each person can see and do follows their role and department; building a schedule is separate from approving it.

Minimal personal data

Schedules hold staff data, not patient records. If your use brings protected health information into the app, Moraph signs a business associate agreement.

Encryption and keys

Client data is encrypted, with keys Moraph staff cannot use without explicit, time-bound authorization.

Complete audit trail

Every assignment, swap, override, approval and export is logged with the person and time, and cannot be edited.

Data residency

Data stays in the hosting region you choose: the United States, the United Kingdom or Australia.

Moraph cloud

Hosted and operated by Moraph in the United States region. United Kingdom and Australia regions are available for organizations outside the US.

Dedicated environment

A single-tenant environment for health systems whose policies require isolation, scoped in the proposal.

With a managed service

Optionally run alongside Moraph support for rule changes, new departments and schedule-period setup.

Department discovery

We work with each department's scheduler and chief to write down the rules they use today, including the unwritten ones, and agree how holidays and weekends are weighted.

Rule configuration

Coverage requirements, rotation patterns, rest rules and fairness weights are configured per department and approved by the department chief.

Data and integrations

Physician records, privileges and contacts are loaded from your directory and credentialing system, and the call list feed to your switchboard or communication system is set up and tested.

History and parallel build

Past call history can be loaded so fairness totals start from where you are. A schedule period is built in both the old process and the app and the results compared.

Roles and approvals

Roles, department scopes, protected rules and approval steps are configured to match your medical staff policies.

Training and go-live

Schedulers, chiefs, physicians and operators are trained on their own tasks, and departments go live in an order you choose.

• The engine proposes schedules; schedulers and department chiefs decide. Where rules conflict and no schedule satisfies them all, it shows the conflict rather than choosing which rule to break.
• Fairness is measured by the rules and weights your department agrees. The app does not decide what is fair.
• It does not page or call physicians. It publishes the call list to the switchboard, paging or clinical communication system you already use.
• It does not grant or verify privileges. It uses privileges data from your credentialing system and is only as current as that data.
• It is not a time-and-attendance or payroll system. It exports shifts worked for your payroll or compensation process.
• Work-hour checks follow the rules you configure; your graduate medical education office remains responsible for monitoring and reporting resident work hours.
• It is designed for physician and advanced practice provider call. Nurse and general workforce staffing are not included.
• Results depend on the rules being recorded accurately; unwritten department practices need to be captured during implementation to be applied.

• Give us one department's current rules, including the unwritten ones, and compare the proposed schedule with the one you built
• Check that the conflict explanations would let your scheduler decide without reworking the whole schedule
• Run a holiday period and review whether the fairness totals match how your physicians see it
• Make a swap and confirm the call list your operators see updates and the change is recorded
• Ask for who was on call for a service at a past date and time and review the answer
• Confirm role separation: who can build, approve and publish a schedule, and who can override a protected rule