For many years our emergency medicine residency program used templated Excel spreadsheets to create our monthly block schedules. It felt like we were in the Dark Ages and took quite literally days to put together a convoluted schedule that was neither equitable nor transparent. When I finally (and unenviably) took over as the chief resident in charge of scheduling, we trialed a number of software packages that touted themselves as "be all, end all" in terms of functionality and accessibility. What we quickly (and to some extent, painfully) discovered is that while their software was sophisticated and highly functional, the user interface was kludgy and platform specific, often requiring separate components with non-overlapping functionality that could only be installed and accessed from one computer, with or without a distinctly different web interface. We also found these other products to be difficult to learn and navigate, requiring many hours of time spent pouring over PDF manuals or with tech support on the phone.

When we found MedRez.net, I remember breathing a sigh of relief.

Quite literally within minutes of activating our trial period we were entering and classifying residents, locations, and blocks into the software and generating schedules that were in every way superior to those that we had arduously and eventually created with the other "more sophisticated" and high-dollar packages. From its adherence to Duty Hour rules to its progressive scheduling abilities for shift work unique to the EM environment, MedRez.net accomplishes ALL of our scheduling needs with its simplistically elegant user web-based interface that we can access online from any computer or smartphone, anytime, anywhere.

H2-O2's tech support is quite simply outstanding! They are responsive, accountable and extraordinary in their efforts to make MedRez.net the most efficient, capable resident scheduling software available across all practice environments, EM, IM, anesthesia and surgery alike. More importantly, while great tech support is that which is quickly responsive and helpful, the best tech support is that which you hardly ever need -- We believe that H2-O2 has exceedingly accomplished all of these objectives and continue to do with every (frequent!) update.

In a nutshell, MedRez.net is more flexible without being more complicated; it conformed to our needs rather than the other way around -- we're not in the Dark Ages anymore, your software shouldn't be either. ”

With our residency program, the creation an on-call schedule was a major undertaking, because our department had 44 residents placed across 3 different hospitals with various types of calls (e.g., short call, overnight call, 24-hour call, home beeper call). As a result, the ability to track the number of calls and the number of call-hours was essential for setting up an organized and fair on-call schedule. With MedRez.net, tracking the number of calls and the number of call-hours was automated and was no longer a hassle (previously it was done manually). In addition, this on-call data was made available to all residents and created a sense of transparency with the on-call schedule.

In our program, residents were allowed to switch their calls. Therefore, we had a need for department-wide access to the updated on-call schedule. With MedRez.net, the ability to have (password-protected) access to the updated on-call schedule on the Internet 24-hours a day was essential for the operation of our residency program, as well as saved the chief resident countless phone calls. Moreover, residents were able to download the updated on-call schedule (in PDF format) and print it for a hard copy.

In my experience, MedRez.net was indispensable in my duties as chief resident. I recommend it to all future chief residents. ”

I recommend this software to EVERY program.

Before I fortuitously found H2-O2's software using a Google search, chief residents would have to spend days using pencil & paper and an Excel spreadsheet.

Once we started using MedRez.net, the call schedule could be completed in one sitting. This was a quantum change for our program that has over 40 residents.

I researched and tried multiple programs that resulted from my Google search, and I can tell you without a doubt that this is the most powerful and quickest scheduling program out there. ”