Technical Reports
A Customizable, Scalable Scheduling and Reporting System Jody L. Wood, BS; Beverly J. Whitman; Lisa A. Mackley, AA; Robert Armstrong, BS, MCITP, MCTS; Robert T. Shotto, LPN, EMT
Introduction: Scheduling is essential for running a facility smoothly and for summarizing activities in use reports. The Penn State Hershey Clinical Simulation Center has developed a scheduling interface that uses off-the-shelf components, with customizations that adapt to each institution’s data collection and reporting needs. Methods: The system is designed using programs within the Microsoft Office 2010 suite. Outlook provides the scheduling component, while the reporting is performed using Access or Excel. An account with a calendar is created for the main schedule, with separate resource accounts created for each room within the center. The Outlook appointment form’s 2 default tabs are used, in addition to a customized third tab. The data are then copied from the calendar into either a database table or a spreadsheet, where the reports are generated. Incorporating this system into an institution-wide structure allows integration of personnel lists and potentially enables all users to check the schedule from their desktop. Outlook also has a Web-based application for viewing the basic schedule from outside the institution, although customized data cannot be accessed. Results: The scheduling and reporting functions have been used for a year at the Penn State Hershey Clinical Simulation Center. The schedule has increased workflow efficiency, improved the quality of recorded information, and provided more accurate reporting. Conclusions: The Penn State Hershey Clinical Simulation Center’s scheduling and reporting system can be adapted easily to most simulation centers and can expand and change to meet future growth with little or no expense to the center. (Sim Healthcare 9:192Y198, 2014)
Key Words: Simulation, Scheduling, Reporting, Outlook, Microsoft, Calendar.
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cheduling and reporting are 2 critical functions of a simulation center’s daily operations. In the past, there have been very few simulation-based systems available for purchase, and those commercially available systems have lacked the versatility to meet the needs of a widely variable audience. Scheduling systems that are not specific to simulation, such as Google Calendar,1 were also found to lack the versatility needed for our custom data collection. Some centers have developed their own solutions, but these systems frequently are difficult to ‘‘transplant’’ to another center. The Penn State Hershey Clinical Simulation Center (Hershey Center) has developed a solution that is easily adoptable, can be customized to meet the individual needs of each center, and can grow with an expanding center’s future needs. The backbone of the system is Microsoft Office 2010. The system was designed in the Windows XP operating system and has been used and updated in Windows 7 without problems (Supplemental Digital Content, Instructions http://links.lww.com/SIH/A100, Environments Tested). It is
From the Penn State Hershey Clinical Simulation Center (J.L.W., B.J.W., L.A.M., R.T.S.), and Technical Services Engineering (R.A.), College of Medicine, Pennsylvania State University, Herhsey, PA. Reprints: Jody L. Wood, BS, Penn State Hershey Clinical Simulation Center, Mail Code H182, C2630D, 500 University Dr, Hershey, PA 17033 (e
A Customizable, Scalable Scheduling and Reporting System Jody L. Wood, BS; Beverly J. Whitman; Lisa A. Mackley, AA; Robert Armstrong, BS, MCITP, MCTS; Robert T. Shotto, LPN, EMT
Introduction: Scheduling is essential for running a facility smoothly and for summarizing activities in use reports. The Penn State Hershey Clinical Simulation Center has developed a scheduling interface that uses off-the-shelf components, with customizations that adapt to each institution’s data collection and reporting needs. Methods: The system is designed using programs within the Microsoft Office 2010 suite. Outlook provides the scheduling component, while the reporting is performed using Access or Excel. An account with a calendar is created for the main schedule, with separate resource accounts created for each room within the center. The Outlook appointment form’s 2 default tabs are used, in addition to a customized third tab. The data are then copied from the calendar into either a database table or a spreadsheet, where the reports are generated. Incorporating this system into an institution-wide structure allows integration of personnel lists and potentially enables all users to check the schedule from their desktop. Outlook also has a Web-based application for viewing the basic schedule from outside the institution, although customized data cannot be accessed. Results: The scheduling and reporting functions have been used for a year at the Penn State Hershey Clinical Simulation Center. The schedule has increased workflow efficiency, improved the quality of recorded information, and provided more accurate reporting. Conclusions: The Penn State Hershey Clinical Simulation Center’s scheduling and reporting system can be adapted easily to most simulation centers and can expand and change to meet future growth with little or no expense to the center. (Sim Healthcare 9:192Y198, 2014)
Key Words: Simulation, Scheduling, Reporting, Outlook, Microsoft, Calendar.
S
cheduling and reporting are 2 critical functions of a simulation center’s daily operations. In the past, there have been very few simulation-based systems available for purchase, and those commercially available systems have lacked the versatility to meet the needs of a widely variable audience. Scheduling systems that are not specific to simulation, such as Google Calendar,1 were also found to lack the versatility needed for our custom data collection. Some centers have developed their own solutions, but these systems frequently are difficult to ‘‘transplant’’ to another center. The Penn State Hershey Clinical Simulation Center (Hershey Center) has developed a solution that is easily adoptable, can be customized to meet the individual needs of each center, and can grow with an expanding center’s future needs. The backbone of the system is Microsoft Office 2010. The system was designed in the Windows XP operating system and has been used and updated in Windows 7 without problems (Supplemental Digital Content, Instructions http://links.lww.com/SIH/A100, Environments Tested). It is
From the Penn State Hershey Clinical Simulation Center (J.L.W., B.J.W., L.A.M., R.T.S.), and Technical Services Engineering (R.A.), College of Medicine, Pennsylvania State University, Herhsey, PA. Reprints: Jody L. Wood, BS, Penn State Hershey Clinical Simulation Center, Mail Code H182, C2630D, 500 University Dr, Hershey, PA 17033 (e
