A Healthcare Scheduling Disaster Turned Into a Success Story with Zoho Creator (Here’s How We Did It)

Client Overview

A UK-based technology provider with over 20 years of expertise in delivering innovative digital platforms for healthcare services needed a solution to enhance operational efficiency. The client excels in meeting stringent healthcare regulations while improving service delivery.

Due to the sensitive nature of the project, all details are protected under a strict NDA.

The Challenge

The client faced significant hurdles in managing their scheduling needs, given the intricate requirements of their healthcare services. They needed a unified report with four distinct views to track and manage bookings and schedules efficiently.

To streamline scheduling, the client wanted Zoho Calendar embedded into their existing Zoho Creator app for multiple views.They also required functionality to cancel specific bookings and remove staff from schedules in cases of absence. They needed a consolidated report with multiple views to manage their workforce scheduling and client bookings effectively:

• 1. Client This Week: Display bookings for a specific client during a selected week.

  2. Client Scheduled Week: Show staff members assigned to a client based on the visit form.

  3. Worker This Week: Display care service user records for a specific staff member.

  4. Worker Scheduled Week: Show clients assigned to a staff member's schedule.

In addition to these views, the client required:

• • CRU Operations: The ability to Create, Read, and Update bookings with real-time data synchronization.

  • Absence Management: Flexibility to manage staff or service user (SU) absences dynamically, including canceling client bookings or reassigning staff.

  • Total Hours Tracking: A clear view of hours worked by clients and staff.

They envisioned embedding Booking Calendar functionality within the app but encountered limitations with Zoho Creator’s native calendar report functionality.

Zoho Creator’s calendar report had inherent limitations:

• • Only single-select lookup fields are allowed, but multiple lookups were needed.

  • A single form per calendar report is supported, whereas this solution demanded the integration of multiple forms.

The limitations of Zoho Creator's calendar report led to the development of a custom solution. So, we proposed an alternative solution that is highly customizable and tailored to their needs and meets their expectations.

Our Solution:

We developed a custom page using HTML and CSS within their custom-built Zoho app that overcame the limitations of the Zoho Creator Calendar report.

This custom page also retrieves data from several reports and display it in a respective view: a staff report (listing staff members), a service report (containing client names and service usage), a visit report (detailing client care needs, desired staff, and times), and a booking report (showing allocated staff for specific clients at particular times).

How We Helped

Our team of highly experienced Zoho Creator developers worked closely with the client to design and implement a solution tailored to their operational needs.

• • Addressed their need for multi-view reporting.

  • Provided real-time data updates and absence management.

  • Enhanced usability with a user-friendly interface for CRU operations

  • Delivered dynamic updates across all scheduling views.

Finally, the custom HTML and CSS code provide a visually appealing and intuitive experience, while backend scripts automate complex workflows like absence handling and booking updates.

Our Approach

1. Consolidated Reporting with Custom Views
We built a custom page that integrated data from multiple forms and reports, ensuring the client could view, edit, and manage bookings effortlessly. Key forms included:

• • Service User Details Form: Captures client names and details.

  • Staff Details Form: Stores the names and details of staff members.

  • Visit Form: Documents specific care needs, times, and staff assignments.

  • Manual Rostering (Booking Form): Reflects allocated staff for each client’s care needs.

    

These forms utilized multiple lookups to fetch relevant data, which were displayed in the following views:

• • Client This Week: Displays staff allocated to a client on specific dates. Changes can be made directly by selecting an existing staff name or adding bookings for empty slots.

  • Client Scheduled Week: Shows default staff schedules stored in the Visit Form. Edits here update the Visit Form automatically.

  • Worker This Week: Highlights client assignments for a specific worker, with an option to remove clients from empty slots.

  • Worker Scheduled Week: Displays default client assignments for a worker, reflecting changes due to absence or schedule updates.

2. Absence Management

We introduced two buttons—SU Absence and Staff Absence—on the custom page. These buttons streamlined absence management as follows:

• • SU Absence: Opens a form to record the service user’s name, date, and absence type. When submitted, backend scripts update the system to cancel the client's booking for the specified date.

    

  • Staff Absence: Opens a form to record the staff member’s name, availability status, date, time, and reason for leave. Submissions dynamically remove the staff member from bookings on the selected date, reflecting these changes across all views.

    

3. Real-Time Updates with CRU Operations

The custom page empowered the client with real-time Create, Read, and Update operations. Changes made to any view automatically updated the relevant forms and reports, ensuring data accuracy across the application.

4. Simplified Total Hours Tracking

The total hours worked by staff and clients are calculated and displayed, ensuring transparency and efficiency.This transparency allowed the client to monitor performance and manage resources more effectively.

5. Improved User Experience with Custom Design

The custom page was designed for maximum usability, ensuring staff and service users’ details could be filtered, updated, and visualized with minimal effort.

Key Benefits Delivered:

1. Enhanced Scheduling and Reporting:

The multi-view system provided unparalleled clarity, enabling users to manage schedules and bookings efficiently.

2. Seamless Absence Management :

With dedicated SU and Staff Absence forms, cancellations and rescheduling became hassle-free, ensuring uninterrupted care for service users.

3. Real-Time Updates:

Instant synchronization of changes across forms minimized manual errors and improved data accuracy.

4. User-Centric Design

The intuitive custom page design empowered the client’s team to manage data effortlessly, saving time and reducing complexity.

5. Cost efficiency:

Minimizing overtime and unnecessary staffing gaps

6. Employee satisfaction:

Fair scheduling practices have improved employees morale and reduce turnover

7. Customizable and Scalable Solution:

The tailored approach allowed for future scalability and adaptability to evolving needs.

The Conclusion:

The custom solution we developed for the client has not only overcome the limitations of Zoho Creator's calendar report but has also elevated their operational efficiency to new heights. The intuitive, multi-view design not only streamlined day-to-day operations but also empowered the client's team to manage scheduling, bookings, and absence management with ease and focus on what truly matters—delivering exceptional care and services—without bogged down by administrative tasks.

For healthcare providers managing intricate staff & absence schedules, our solution underscores the value of customizing Zoho Creator to streamline the healthcare staff scheduling process while also actively monitoring and managing employee absences to ensure the best possible outcomes for healthcare service providers and patients.