Algit d.o.o. https://algit.si Scheduling using AI. Fri, 03 Nov 2023 12:00:07 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://algit.si/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cropped-algit_favico_512-32x32.png Algit d.o.o. https://algit.si 32 32 A Showcase of Success – Woshi & Kadris 4 & PH Idrija https://algit.si/en/a-showcase-of-success-woshi-kadris-4-ph-idrija/ Wed, 25 Oct 2023 08:30:37 +0000 https://algit.si/?p=222943

At the annual congress of the Nursing Management Section in Bled on October 12 and 13, Algit, Četrta pot, and Idrija Psychiatric Hospital presented a best practice example of implementing the WoShi and Kadris 4 systems. Mag. Urban Bole, MSc in Nursing, shared his perspective on the solution and how it enables faster scheduling, provides a better overview of the ongoing activities, and, most importantly, allows employees to make better use of their leave, resulting in increased satisfaction among those involved in the processes.

 

Download the whole study in PDF form

External links:

https://www.cetrtapot.com/produkti/kadris-4/

https://pb-idrija.si/

https://zbornica-zveza.si

 

How to achieve an even workload in a 24/7 environment?

The incorporation of artificial intelligence (AI) into workforce scheduling and absence/presence management systems has revolutionized the approach to work and significantly boosted employee productivity in a round-the-clock work environment.

nurse-planning

In healthcare, the question often arises: are staffing shortages a genuine problem, or is the real challenge an effective allocation of existing resources?
Idrija Psychiatric Hospital (PB Idrija) faced challenges in staff scheduling and workload management due to the classic scheduling system following the Morning-Morning-Afternoon-Afternoon-Night-Night shifting. That led to uneven workloads, overwhelming key personnel responsible for task allocation, and a lack of transparency of knowledge and skills of employees

EMPLOYEE WORK ORGANIZATION

In the Idrija Psychiatric Hospital, employees are on duty around the clock, seven days a week, maintaining a continuous 24-hour work schedule.

idrija_data

Consequences of initial scheduling system:

    • 1.200 hours of uneven work allocation per month.
    • Overload of key personnel, especially those responsible for scheduling.

Other challenges brought by the original system

    • Scheduling rigidity – limited possibility for
      simulatons of different schedules.
    • Time-consuming manual scheduling.
    • The perception of staff shortage – 15 % of employees were often missing from the job.
    • Manual hour recording and retyping data from system to system.
    • Knowledge and skills transparency – head nurse had to know all the information by heart.

 

GOAL

To change the way of work and the process of creating schedules.

WHY?

For equal workload of all employees and for the transfer of knowledge related to work schedules.

HOW?

With digitization of our processes and by integrating the artificial
intelligence application WoShi for work scheduling and the
system for time attendance KADRIS 4: RIS.

t

CONCERNS?

Willingness to change, but at the same time fear for the
lack of knowledge to manage the system.

RESULT

  • Even workload for everyone involved.
  • Reduction of sick leaves and overtime hours.
  • Faster and more transparent scheduling of employees.
  • Simulations of schedules with different work methods.

Client’s wishes

  • Even workload forall employees.
  • Listed skills and competences of employees or competency matrix.
  • Automatic data transfer or two-way communication between the system for time attendance and the workers scheduling
    application.
  • Application which supports automatic scheduling based on defined parameters.

WoShi enables new dimensions when it comes to scheduling.

assistant director, PH Idrija

IMPLEMENTATION TIMELINE

January – March 2023

    • Data and demands input.
    • Schedule simulations, criteria and conditions adjustment.
    • User training.
    • 4 live meetings and some phone calls.

March 2023

    • First schedule created by WoShi used in hospital

 

March – August 2023

    • Data synchronization between systems (e.g.
      employees, shifts, skills,etc.).
    • Establishing a secure connection between systems.
    • Connection created: Woshi – KADRIS 4: RIS.

Why Woshi and KADRIS 4: RIS?

  • Price.
  • Business solution flexibility and accessibility.
  • Understanding client’s needs and fast response.
  • The possibility of finishing and adapting the system to the requirements of the work process.

BUSINESS RESULTS

With 11 % less employees the hospital was able to create a more “workload even” schedules for everyone involved, and the vacation leave was increased by 20 %.

C

2 %

less sick leaves over 30 days.

C

23 %

less sick leaves below 30 days.

C

71 %

less uneven workload.

C

56 %

less overtime hours.

Costs-graph

Uneven workload has decreased significantly, which means that the way of working has changed. However, the final picture of how the employee receives his schedule for the next period has not changed. They still get it the same way as before, printed for each department.

The next step is to improve the employee experience by removing the “Book of Wishes” and involving employees in the processes by allowing them to enter their vacation and shift preferences in  KADRIS 4: RIS. This way, we will provide them with access and transparent insight into the current work schedule.

MSN Urban Bole

assistant director, PH Idrija

implementation-process

CLIENT’S BENEFITS

  • Equal workloads for employees in the reference period.
  • Clear recording of working hours in accordance with the new Act on Mandatory Labor Records (ZEPDSV-A).
  • Better and more efficient handling of substitutions (a clear review of employees’ hours makes it easier for the scheduler to choose an employee to replace the absent one).
  • Faster creation of schedules that include employee preferences.
  • Simulations of creating different schedules with different work methods.
  • Quick and easy announcement of vacations, wishes and other preferences of employees.

IMPACT SUMMARY

Our solution brought greater transparency and efficiency to the management of working hours and scheduling of employees in PH Idrija. The system reduced the costs of unevenly distributed working time, overtime and sick leave for nearly 50.000 € in the first year of use, and enabled a better use of annual leave for all employees. Despite initial concerns, the hospital is now prepared for the future, including new legal requirements and staffing  changes.

WANT TO KNOW MORE

If you want to know, how we can inplement our solution into your system, let us know. We are happy to help.

CONTACT US

]]> Exemplary Case of Work Optimization with AI: Idrija Psychiatric Hospital https://algit.si/en/ai-idrija-psychiatric-hospital/ Mon, 17 Jul 2023 10:21:30 +0000 https://algit.si/?p=2761

Modern healthcare faces numerous challenges that need to be addressed in order to improve the quality of patient care. One of the most significant challenges is the shortage of healthcare workers, particularly nurses. Slovenia is no exception. This problem seriously affects the efficiency and quality of the healthcare system. However, a revolutionary solution is on the horizon – the use of artificial intelligence.

With the help of advanced artificial intelligence algorithms, it is possible to achieve better organization of nurses’ work schedules, significantly reducing overload and improving employee satisfaction. Smart systems, such as Woshi, enable automated scheduling and adjustment of schedules based on employees’ needs. This helps reduce overtime, improve working conditions, and ensure quality patient care.

nurse

Good Practice in Slovenia

Fortunately, we have some excellent examples of hospitals in Slovenia that have successfully implemented such digital solutions. One such example is the psychiatric hospital in Idrija, where the use of artificial intelligence systems for organizing nurses’ work schedules was successfully implemented in just a few months.

“We recognized the need for an efficient and optimized scheduling process that would allow us to better utilize our staff. Prior to implementing the WoShi system, the process of creating schedules for our 110 employees required a significant amount of time and intellectual effort. On average, we spent about seven working days to create an optimal schedule, facing challenges in finding the most suitable solutions for each employee. With WoShi, we managed to reduce the time spent on scheduling to approximately one working day. WoShi has taken over the majority of the work and, after six months, it handles around 90% of the tasks that we previously did manually. This allows us to focus on other important tasks,” says Urban Bole, MSc in Nursing and Assistant Director for Nursing at Idrija Psychiatric Hospital. “In addition to automated scheduling, it has been shown that the most useful feature of WoShi for supervisors is the ability to quickly experiment with different ideas and suggestions that employees have or that the workflow itself requires. This functionality provides us with flexibility in adjusting the schedule according to changing needs and employee preferences. WoShi uses advanced algorithms to find solutions that are difficult for a person, regardless of their knowledge and experience, to achieve,” Bole added.

Systematic Implementation of Artificial Intelligence in the Healthcare Sector is Essential

To harness the benefits of artificial intelligence in healthcare, it is crucial for healthcare institutions’ leadership to take a leading role in the adoption and support of these technologies. It is important to raise awareness about the potential of artificial intelligence and its advantages while addressing any potential fears. In order to ensure their readiness for the use of new technologies, systematic training for nurses in working with smart systems must be implemented. Leadership must take responsibility for promoting changes that will contribute to a more efficient and advanced healthcare system.

WoShi has taken over the majority of the work and, after six months, it handles around 90% of the tasks that we previously did manually.

The ability to quickly experiment with different ideas and suggestions allows for greater flexibility in accommodating employee preferences.

]]> Digitization in healthcare and why the delay https://algit.si/en/digitization-in-healthcare-why-is-it-not-happening/ Thu, 08 Jun 2023 09:45:42 +0000 https://algit.si/?p=2727

Estonia is often cited as an example for the reform of the public health system in Slovenia, especially due to digitalization. In Estonia, as many as 96% of the population have health records organized in the Digilugu.ee digital system, where all medical data, referrals, sick leave and preventive programs are transparently accessible. 

val202

The Ministry of Health of Slovenia is of the opinion that Estonia can be an example, but health reforms in our country will be undertaken according to the Slovenian model, which still lags behind the Estonian and Finnish models. Tjaša Zajc, an expert in the field of digital health employed by Better, emphasizes that unified standards, such as e.g. e-ordering.

Digitization is not only electronic files, but also digitization of processes and connectivity of systems. New solutions make it possible to optimize work of doctors and order patients, which reduces costs. Artificial intelligence can help process unstructured data, such as surveys, and transform them into structured data. “A lot of things in Slovenian hospitals, like in other countries, are still done on paper. We have a problem with the fragmentation of systems. Much work will need to be done that the doctors will not have to repeatedly enter the same data into different systems. If you had more things in the same place, you would be able to orient yourself better.”

Slovenia must unify the fragmented systems and introduce digital scheduling for greater efficiency. E-ordering (scheduling patients for appointments) in Slovenia, compared to Estonia or Finland, still does not work well. The system is still fragmented across different pages that patients must navigate on their own, and the accuracy of the data is questionable. The key challenge is the development of a high-quality and secure system within the country, as external providers are not an ideal solution. It is difficult for the government to compete with the private sector in paying IT professionals. “The idea of a state-owned company that would deal with the digitization of healthcare is interesting, but it would require sufficient funds and a strong staff.”

We need more investments.

In order to achieve greater uniformity and improve the user experience, more investment in digitization is needed. “Digitalization in Slovenia takes place unsystematically and with very little investment for hospitals. Our hospitals give one percent for computerization. Hospitals receive about 3 percent of the state budget allocated for digitization,” says Zajc, adding that more investment in digitization and the unification of standards would contribute to a better user experience for patients and medical staff.

The question is how quickly and successfully the digitization of healthcare will take place, as it depends on project management, policy and resources. Digital transformation involves changing processes and introducing new, optimized solutions. The debate on the digitization of healthcare will continue, as there will be no shortage of challenges in Slovenian healthcare and society.

Summary of the radio report Aktualno 202: How to digitize Slovenian healthcare (April 5, 2023). Author: Luka Hvalc

]]> WHO predicts a 15 million health workers shortage by 2030 https://algit.si/en/15-million-health-workers-shortage-by-2030/ Fri, 17 Feb 2023 09:55:08 +0000 https://algit.si/?p=2670

WHO predicts a 15 million health workers shortage by 2030.

What can we do about it? The European healthcare system faces challenges in training and recruitment and in the distribution of the workforce.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there will be a shortage of 15 million health workers by 2030. The European healthcare system not only faces challenges in training and recruitment, but also in the distribution of the workforce. The latter can be resolved, at least in part, by modern worker scheduling systems, that must consider the many particular characteristics of healthcare jobs.

The trend of health worker shortages is the result of an aging global population and increased care needs with insufficient numbers of health workers to replace departing staff. In addition, the capacity for training new workers is limited. All these factors were further strengthened and aggravated by the health crisis due to Covid-19 and the so-called Great Resignation that followed.  

In a study conducted last year, the U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics reported that the U.S. healthcare system will need more than 275,000 additional nurses from 2020 to 2030. Employment opportunities for nurses will increase faster than other professions by 2026. 

To reduce the overload of nurses, in addition to recruiting new staff, the challenge can be solved at least partially by optimizing work schedules.

By integrating technology solutions, healthcare organisations can improve nurses’ and other healthcare workers’ work planning and recruitment processes. Digitisation in healthcare offers advanced digital solutions for scheduling workers, but most healthcare institutions in Slovenia still use manual methods, such as Excel tables or programs, where the scheduler does most of the work.

nurse
]]> CASE STUDY: Time to create a schedule is reduced from 7 to 3 days. https://algit.si/en/case-study-reduce-time-to-create-a-schedule/ Fri, 17 Feb 2023 09:44:48 +0000 https://algit.si/?p=2659

CASE STUDY: The schedule creation time is reduced from 7 to 3 days. 

During the development phase, we tested WoShi on a real example in the biggest medical center in Slovenia. 

The WoShi application – or Worker Scheduling – is the only AI-powered worker scheduling application that operates completely automatically. We have developed it specifically for healthcare and it addresses all the specifics of scheduling healthcare workers in hospitals, medical centres, nursing homes and medical centres.

During the development, we relied on the challenges and requirements in the scheduling of the medical staff in the largest Slovenian medical institution, the University Medical Centre (UKC) Ljubljana and in the Home for Senior Citizens in Metlika. As such it enables: 

 

  1. compliance with the skills and competencies of workers.
  2. compliance with the limitations of legislation.
  3. scheduling people in pairs or teams.
  4. selection of workers whose schedule never changes.
  5. determining the desired time for on-call shifts.
  6. quick search for the most suitable replacement.
  7. organisation of work in consecutive days.
  8. automatic entry of holidays and work-free days.
  9. entering absences such as vacations, trainings and wishes for days off.
  10. entering the wishes of the workers to be present when it suits them.

 

Case study AI robot

Development based on real cases from healthcare

During the development phase, we tested WoShi on a real example. Sanja Arnautović, BSc in Midwifery, spec., is employed at UKC Ljubljana in the operating room of the Division of Surgery. She is the deputy head nurse and has been scheduling workers in her department for four years. She currently coordinates 86 staff nurses, and the schedule must be posted on the bulletin board by the 20th day of the current month. She schedules workers in the following teams:  

  1. continuous health care (10 positions);
  2. readiness for transplantation (5 positions);
  3. afternoon shift for various surgical areas TRAUMA, ABDOMEN, UROLOGY, NEUROSURGEON (6 positions).

Before she started testing the WoShi application, she used only pencil and paper to compile a schedule. She spent most of her time checking which of the workers were still available for scheduling in the current month, so as not to violate the requirements related to the worker. She had to go through the whole list each time.  

She became familiar with the WoShi application in 2019. Since then, by testing the program and making useful suggestions, she significantly contributed to the upgrading of the program and the adaptation of functions for scheduling work in healthcare.  

The process of creating a schedule used to take her 7 days, including obtaining data, coordinating with workers, and making changes. Today, with the help of the WoShi application, she does the same amount of work in just three working days.  

In the first phase, she enters planned annual leaves and training. She checks whether there are changes in competencies and passed exams. She also records the surgical areas that are still written by hand, and then starts the program. On the second day, she checks the schedule to make sure there are no errors and exports it.  

After the trial phase, she finds WoShi easy to use, saving her time and reducing scheduling errors. She also highlights remote access as an advantage, as it allows her to finish work at home in an emergency.  

]]> Creating an optimal schedule is like looking for a needle in a haystack. https://algit.si/en/a-needle-in-a-haystack/ Fri, 17 Feb 2023 09:21:41 +0000 https://algit.si/?p=2643

Creating an optimal schedule is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

There are 1020 different scheduling combinations in a department of a healthcare facility with 50–100 workers. AI tells which one is the friendliest to employees.  

When compiling a new worker schedule for a company with 50 – 100 workers there can be as many as 1020 different scheduling combinations. Sometimes there is only one solution or even no solution. Most commonly, there are more than a million suitable solutions. It is impossible to expect the person making the schedule to consider all the options and choose the most optimal one from the set.

This is precisely what artificial intelligence can do. WoShi is a healthcare innovation that enables automated planning, scheduling, staffing and reporting. Therefore, it contributes significantly to solving staff challenges in the health sector.

Artificial intelligence that works like the evolution

Evolution succeeds through changes in the genetic code. Successful genetic combinations that are well adapted to the environment survive, the rest do not. This enabled even the most complex creatures to adapt to the circumstances.

Evolutionary algorithms function according to the same principle: they are trial-and-error optimisation procedures following the example of biological evolution. The evolutionary algorithm has been known since at least the time of Darwin and Wallace. All previous technological implementations of evolutionary algorithms were aimed at the development of simple structures, since the algorithms were still too demanding for human mathematical abilities. Algorithms, which are the basis of any software, have so far been invented or improved by humans. This area has changed dramatically with the onset of artificial intelligence.

Evolutionary artificial intelligence (EAI) is a method that we designed based on evolutionary algorithms. This is how the WoShi worker scheduling program was developed, and is the first and currently the only program for worker schedueling that operates on the basis of evolutionary artificial intelligence.

As such it addresses the most demanding calculations for scheduling medical teams. The result is a schedule that complies with the majority of wishes and is compiled with the least “violations” of the requirements.

The kind that cannot be compiled or by algorithms that are not based on evolutionary artificial intelligence.

novica-urnik
]]> iTimeTable and primary school Gorje – case study https://algit.si/en/itimetable-case-study/ Wed, 10 Nov 2021 09:01:10 +0000 https://algit.si/?p=2138
iUrnik

ABSTRACT

We will present the usage of school timetable software iTimeTable (iUrnik, slo.) in primary school Gorje, what are the benefits and how the process of creating school timetables has improved. We have collaborated with the principal of the school, Mrs. Mojca Brejc back in 2013, when writing an article about comparing school timetables in different schools around Slovenia. Assessing school timetable software is a hard and demanding job, mostly due to the fact it is hard to set the correct parameters and the final timetable is only one of them, therefore choosing the right software is difficult. One of the criteria can be the time needed to create timetable and taking all special demands of the school into account. The automation of the timetable problem is thus an important task as it saves a lot of man-hours work to institutions and provides optimal solutions with constraint satisfaction that can boost productivity, quality of education and services (Chaudhuri, 2010).

osnovna šola Gorje

ABOUT PRIMARY SCHOOL GORJE

250 students are attending classes in year 2021/22 in Primary school Gorje. They are allocated in 15 classes (3rd, 7th and 9th have only one, while others have two). There are 30 teachers in the school and there are 17 classrooms, plus a gym that is separated into two “classrooms”. Timetable is changed halfway through school year for subjects of history and geography in 6th grade and between arts and technical education in 8th grade. All other classes have the same timetable through the year.

Article in PDF form

You can download this article in PDF form here

DOWNLOAD

CASE

School started using iTimeTable in year 2014. Principal Mrs. Mojca Brejc is responsible for timetable process even from before the iTimeTable was used. This year, vice-principal Mrs. Tatjana Pintar was also involved in the process.

The offer of elective subjects is done over eAsistent (https://www.easistent.com/ – school information system software), mostly because it enables electronic confirmation of subjects from students and teachers. All students’ choices are then inserted into iTimeTable.

After adding teachers’ work obligation and other mandatory data e.g., teacher offer, classroom capacity, etc., there are some special demands from Primary school Gorje.

  • Subjects of PE and elective PE should not be taught in the same day.
  • Subjects Art class and elective subject Art class should not be taught in the same day.
  • All subjects of Music class should only be taught on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
  • All elective subjects should be taught in block (double) hours, except for language classes and PE classes.
  • Block hours should always be on 6th or 7th school hour.
  • Subject of German language should be taught only on Monday, Thursday, and Friday afternoon, since the teacher also teaches on other schools.

Mrs. Brejc adds: “I find our demand to have a “nice schedule” for my teachers interesting. With that I mean to have the least amount of free hours in between teaching and waiting.” Nonetheless an extra demand is added to iTimeTable to add some “free hours” into teachers’ schedules, so they are available in cases of substitutions. Although iTimeTable can be used to find the most suitable substitute teacher, the school does not use it for that purpose.

It takes about 5 hours for Mrs. Brejc to insert all data into software. Afterwards it takes iTimeTable about 3 days to calculate the timetables, but there are usually some more extra demands that are added. There is no manual intervention during timetable calculation. New demands are inserted, and software takes them into account and recalculates the timetable. Since timetable process is usually done in August, there is no problem in letting the software run for a couple of days to create a timetable (calculation is done on one laptop PC, with basic specification, longer calculation times provides a better timetable). After the timetable is calculated it is exported back into eAsistent and published to everyone involved in education process. Usually there are no comments from teachers or students.

The biggest contribution of iTimeTable for Primary school Gorje is, according to the principal: “Timetable for students, has almost no “holes” and even the ones that exist are permissible. If all demands are inserted into software correctly, timetable is assembled.”

There was another benefit of iTimeTable. School could prove they had a lack of classrooms and was able to get finances from local government. Now, they have enough classrooms and therefore the issues in learning and scheduling process are gone.

In the case that demands inserted into the software are contradictory, the user is instantly alerted, e.g., there was a problem with gym and the restrictions regarding the PE teacher. This was solved by Mrs. Brejc, by changing the teacher’s restrictions and the timetable was calculated.

In the future, school would like to use iTimeTable to solve the problem of day care and that is also in the development plan of company Algit.

School does not create different simulations of timetables. At least not yet.

CONCLUSION

Primary school Gorje is a nice example of cooperation between school and the company Algit. Using iTimeTable software they were able to get the optimal timetable, that takes all their demands into account, alerts the user to all inconsistencies (if there are any) and finally creates a timetable that suits students, teachers, and school’s management. The process of software implementation and user training was also quite straight forward without any major complication. Mrs. Brejc creates timetable every year almost without any help from out help desk support (if there are some new demands or commands that were added to the software a phone call to Algit’s team solves the problem in a couple of minutes).

REFERENCES

Chaudhuri, A., De, K., (2010), Fuzzy Genetic Heuristic for University Course Timetable Problem, International Journal of Advances in Soft Computing and Its Applications, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 100-123

]]> Umetna inteligenca na sejmu Feel the Future https://algit.si/en/umetna-inteligenca-na-sejmu-feel-future/ Wed, 03 Oct 2018 05:45:26 +0000 https://www.algit.si/?p=1023 Feel the Future workerscheduling

Sejem inovativnih tehnologij

Tudi letos nas lahko srečate na sejmu IT tehnologij – Feel the Future. Lahko vam bomo predstavili najbolj avtomatizirana produkta za izdelavo šolskega urnika – iUrnik in za razporejanje delavcev – WoShi. Sestavljanje ja naloga umetne inteligence in to že 15 let, ko ostali o tem še sploh razmišljali niso.

Dobili boste lahko tudi informacije o umetni inteligenci – kaj si lahko pomagate z njo.

]]> Bliža se sejem Feel the FUTURE https://algit.si/en/bliza-se-sejem-feel-future/ Mon, 20 Aug 2018 11:34:28 +0000 https://www.algit.si/?p=1012 Tudi letos nas boste našli na sejmu Feel the FUTURE. Prikazali bomo rešitve na osnovi evolucijske AI – Umetna inteligenca v praksi

Preverite kaj zmoreta iUrnik – program za sestavljanje šolskega urnika in WoShi – razporejanje in planiranje dela delavcev.

]]> iUrnik – UKAZ: breakday https://algit.si/en/iurnik-ukaz-breakday/ Fri, 06 Jul 2018 21:13:55 +0000 https://www.algit.si/?p=1006 Ta ukaz preprečuje, da bi se vse ure enega predmeta zvrstile v zaporednih dnevih. Med temi urami mora biti vsaj en prost dan. Če je predmeta 2 uri, potem mora biti med njima vsaj 1 prost dan. Če je predmeta 3 ali 4 ure, potem se ne smejo vse zvrstiti v treh oziroma štirih dnevih, ampak mora biti med njimi vsaj enkrat vsaj en prost dan.

Več o ukazu.

]]>