Medical Scheduler Job Description Template

Nurse staffing is a highly complex component of healthcare operations. Schedulers predict staffing needs and coordinate daily nursing schedules to ensure care needs are addressed. If your facility is looking to hire a medical scheduler, it can be challenging to find an employee with the necessary focus and attention to detail. Writing a targeted medical scheduler job description is the first step to recruiting the perfect candidate for the job.

Our job description template, complete with tips for appealing to qualified applicants, can help you choose an employee with the qualifications and skills for success. We’ll show you how you can outline your facility’s education, licensure, and certification requirements to help you hire the candidate best suited for the job.

Before you start the hiring process, it can be helpful to research current market trends by seeing the latest medical scheduler positions posted on our job board. Here, you can find information on competitive salaries, benefits, and scheduling options to offer applicants.Having targeted medical scheduler interview questions is another important hiring resource that can help you select the best employee for your team when you start the interview process.

Medical Scheduler

Tips: On any given shift, there must be enough staff to care for the number of patients in each unit. All of the moving factors, such as patient census and nurse availability, can change in an instant. It’s important for a schedule to be thoughtfully planned in advance, but it’s also necessary to manage and update the schedule on a shift-by-shift basis. Healthcare organizations may use one of the following strategic scheduling models to handle staffing:

• Decentralized staffing places scheduling responsibilities on individual units. A unit-based scheduling committee (typically staff nurse volunteers) makes the schedule, which is overseen by the nurse manager. On a day-to-day basis, unit leaders make patient assignments based on the nurses available. They’re responsible for finding coverage in the event of census changes or sick calls.

• Centralized Staffing is done in a staffing office away from the bedside. This limits distractions and frees up nursing leadership to attend to the unit’s needs. Nonclinical personnel handle staffing in an office detached from patient care areas.

• The hybrid staffing model incorporates elements from decentralized and centralized staffing models. This method can be advantageous for facilities with ongoing staffing challenges that prefer to take a collaborative approach to nurse scheduling.

Begin your medical scheduler job description with a brief overview of the role. Medical schedulers oversee multiple aspects of the scheduling process. The position requires a mix of administrative, resource management, and interpersonal skills — sum up these skills in this section.

Keep in mind there are other types of medical schedulers who function differently than staff schedulers. If a candidate is looking for a position scheduling patients for surgery or appointments, this may not be a fit. Avoid confusion by listing whether they’ll be working with healthcare professionals or directly with patients.

Template:

Want to take the next step in your medical scheduler career? At [facility name], we’re looking to hire an experienced scheduler for our downtown acute care hospital.

As part of our centralized staffing team, you’ll be working alongside healthcare leaders such as administrators, nurse managers, and charge nurses to evaluate daily staffing needs. You’ll also be responsible for creating daily nurse schedules, processing vacation requests, and verifying time clock records.

If this sounds like a position you’d be interested in, continue reading below as we outline the salary, benefits, and scheduling options we offer to our employees.

Benefits

Tips: In this section of your employee scheduling job description, share any job benefits and perks your company offers. You want to give the candidate every reason to choose your company over the competition, so include special incentives like tuition assistance and performance-based bonuses.

Template:

• Medical, dental, and vision benefits
• FSA/HSA options
• Paid vacation/holiday/family leave
• 401(k) matching
• Life insurance
• Continuing education benefits
• Subsidized public transportation

Medical Scheduler Duties and Responsibilities

Tips: This is where you should list daily job responsibilities for the role. Continue holding the candidate’s interest by showcasing exciting aspects of the role. This is another good place to share what sets this lead medical scheduler job description apart from the others.

Template:

Medical schedulers at our facility are expected to perform the following duties:

• Forecasting staffing needs
• Organizing daily nursing schedules
• Overseeing patient census numbers and ensuring safe patient ratios
• Responding to staff sick or late calls and making adjustments to the schedule as needed
• Collaborating with partnering staffing agencies to fill schedule gaps

Compensation and Shifts

Tips: In this section of the medical scheduler job description, appeal to candidates looking for greater flexibility and better pay. List an accurate salary or hourly rate to prevent any misunderstandings down the line. Also, if the job requires working nights or weekends, let the candidate know about these requirements here.

Template:

• Full-time (36 hours per week), 5a-5p
• Hourly rate starts at $21/hour, with adjustments made for relevant education and experience
• Overtime, night shift, and holiday pay available
• Bi-weekly or weekly pay periods

Medical Scheduler Qualifications and Skills

Tips: This section gives more insight into the role by showing the qualifications necessary for success. A medical scheduler should have strong interpersonal skills and an understanding of how staffing affects healthcare operations. Many skills can be learned on the job, so encourage the candidate to apply even if they don’t check every box.

Excellent communication is a must. On a given shift, they may interact with nursing leadership, healthcare administrators, and external nurse staffing agencies to find supplemental staff. List additional qualities you’re looking for in this section of the nursing staff scheduler job description.

Template:

Required Qualifications:

• High-school diploma required, associates or bachelors degree preferred
• At least 2 years of experience working in a healthcare setting
• Familiarity with navigating medical scheduling software and electronic medical record (EMR) systems
• Previous experience working with hospital administration, multidisciplinary clinical teams, and external staffing partners
• Excellent conflict resolution, communication, and time-management skills

Call to Action

Tips: Now that your potential candidate has a clear understanding of the medical scheduler role and duties required, show them how to take the next step toward joining your team. In the final section of your medical scheduler job description, include a call to action link to send them straight to the online application.

Template:

Ready to take the next step in joining our administrative team? Apply now through our online portal — the application takes less than 10 minutes. We look forward to hearing from you.

Find Administrative Professionals Who Meet Your Hiring Needs

Even after writing a high-quality medical scheduler job description, keeping a healthcare facility adequately staffed is a challenge. Need help with your hiring efforts? Posting your vacant position to our nationwide job board can help you find the staffing support you need.