Empowering Care Teams: How BJC Flex Redefined Scheduling Flexibility
Project
BJC Flex
Year
2023
Activities
Overview
BJC Flex is a mobile web application designed to give care team members greater control over their schedules while improving shift coverage efficiency. By replacing outdated manual processes with a streamlined digital solution, BJC HealthCare was able to reduce reliance on costly travel nurses and empower staff with real-time scheduling flexibility.
The Challenge
BJC HealthCare operates a large network of hospitals, each struggling with the same challenge—how to fill open shifts efficiently while maintaining quality patient care. The existing scheduling process was cumbersome, relying on manual approvals, phone calls, and email chains. Staff members lacked visibility into available shifts, leading to inefficiencies, last-minute scrambling, and burnout.
Understanding the Problem
Research & Insights
We began by conducting interviews and on-site observations with nurses, patient care technicians, and nurse managers. Our key findings:
Staff had little transparency into available shifts and scheduling options.
Nurse managers spent hours manually coordinating shift coverage.
A lack of flexibility contributed to staff dissatisfaction and increased turnover.
Over-reliance on travel nurses was driving up costs.
MVP Strategy & Launch
We committed to a very aggressive schedule, giving the team a mere 6 weeks to go from 0 to 1. In order to deliver immediate value, we prioritized four key MVP requirements:
Must be able to display available open shifts from the central scheduling software, MyTime.
Must display only the open shifts for the roles, hospitals, and units the user is credentialed for as defined by their transfer set.
Must allow the user to pick up an open shift and accurately record this in MyTime, ensuring payroll accuracy
Must provide the user with an accurate account of their upcoming schedule.
We launched the MVP in select units of three pilot hospitals before expanding across the entire health system. Early adoption rates and staff feedback informed iterative improvements.
Results & Impact
Within the first year of deployment, BJC Flex achieved measurable success:
1.4 million hours of open shift time filled
34% reduction in travel nurse dependency
Increased engagement, with staff regularly logging in to manage their schedules
Significant reduction in manual scheduling workload for nurse managers, saving an average of 9 hours per week.
Further Iteration & Innovation
Post-launch, we continued refining BJC Flex with:
Filtering: Filtering was highly requested but didn’t make the MVP. However, we shipped it in our first post-release sprint, just two weeks later.
Introduction of “Flexible Shifts”: Segmented shifts that allowed staff to pick up smaller 4-hour increments, providing greater scheduling flexibility and work-life balance.
Streamlined Call-In process: Added a call-in feature allowing staff to report absences directly from the My Schedule screen, automating shift reposting and notifications to streamline staffing and minimize delays.
Enhanced laptop experience: Data showed that 16–21% of users accessed BJC Flex from laptops at nurse stations, leading us to optimize the experience for larger screens.
Some additional refinements and features we were exploring included:
Shift details: Allow users to see who else is working on a shift with an opening.
Smart shift recommendations: AI-powered shift recommendations based on user’s past selections of shifts, roles, and locations.
On Call option: With approval from a nurse manager, a user can designate themselves as on-call for specific shifts should they be needed.
Key Takeaways
Ask yourself if you’re solving the right problem, and be honest with your answer—even if it’s not the one you hoped for.
The success of BJC Flex underscores the power of human-centered design: the right solution starts with asking the right questions. Initially, we set out to improve shift handoffs, but through deep engagement with users, we uncovered a more urgent challenge—scheduling inefficiencies. Shifting our focus to what truly mattered to staff and managers resulted in a transformative solution that not only improved workflows but also enhanced job satisfaction and patient care.
BJC Flex is a testament to the impact of thoughtful UX research, cross-functional collaboration, and iterative design in solving complex operational challenges in healthcare.
