Often we are asked or even told that Fresenius owns ScheduleWise. Au contraire, mon frere! So let me set the record straight. Fresenius uses ScheduleWise. They do not own ScheduleWise. ScheduleWise LLC is and has always been owned and operated by its three principal founders, Gary and Mary Kay Hamilton and Mark Sessoms.
Fresenius did obtain a permanent license of ScheduleWise in 2015. And we (Gary and Mark) joined FMC (now FKC) to help them roll out the software to their (at the time) 2200+ clinics. And I (Mark) also continued to lead a separate development team to improve the software for FKC’s specific needs.
In the interim, Mary Kay and Brandon continued to manage ScheduleWise and introduce it to new clients, but our software development was at a standstill.
By 2018, Mark returned full-time to ScheduleWise to rebuild our product from the ground up with the help of our talented and growing development team (Alan, Suzanne, Waleed, Mike, and Doug).
By March 2019, with a completely overhauled application, we proudly released ScheduleWise 2.0!
And since then we’ve been hyper-focused on building and releasing improved features nearly every month! And that is our commitment to you, to continue to provide the dialysis industry’s most ubiquitous and, dare I say, best scheduling platform!
But we know that software is just one piece of the puzzle. Without our 20+ years of scheduling knowledge, innovation, and coaching, ScheduleWise is just a software. But the two in combination produce a winning solution for your organization to thrive in the new decade!
We hope to continue serving our clients well into the future! And if you’re not yet aware of how we can help your organization, give us a call!
6 Replies to “Setting the record straight – ScheduleWise & Fresenius”
Mr. Sessoms,
My name is Felicia McNeill, secretary at Fresenius Medical Care Red Springs Dialysis 1000 East 4th Avenue Red Springs NC 28377. I have worked in dialysis for 29 years. Thank you for Schedule Wise it has been a blessing for our patients & staff. I’m not sure if you take suggestions but since the COVID-19 we experience issues with patients wanting to congregating in the prior to there scheduled treatment times. Have you ever considered offering pagers with your schedulewise program? Restaurants give them out to customers and once paged the customer can come straight in for services. In dialysis this would really help with the functionality in clinics. It’s just a thought.
Felicia.McNeill@fmc-na.com or felulale@yahoo.com
Thank you, Felicia! That was such a wonderful compliment. 29 years! I’m sure you have seen quite a bit of change in dialysis over that time. =]
And thank you for the suggestion as well. We have been thinking about how to better communicate treatment times, changes, etc… with patients via text messaging. So that is around the corner.
Whether that makes it into the Fresenius version of ScheduleWise, I would not know.
All the best!
Hello,
My name is Erin Nuzzi and I work at a FKC unit in the home therapy dept. I was told my unit will be piloting Schedule Wise for home therapies. I have worked as a dialysis nurse for 30 years now and I am struggling to keep up with the amount of work that is asked of us and take proper, thorough care of our home patients. Home care involves a lot of emotional and mental support as well which is different for everyone. I am hoping Schedule Wise will help me organize my day so I can devote the needed time my patients need from me and get all of the computer work done as well. I feel without more staff, FKC expectations are impossible to fulfill. Any advise or thoughts on this would be appreciated. Thank you for helping the dialysis community, it takes a village!
Hello Erin,
My apologies for a very tardy reply. I am not familiar with a Fresenius utilizing ScheduleWise for home therapies. It is not a good fit as it was designed for in-center hemo. It is possible they have worked on a home product. I am not sure.
I do know that we recently released ScheduleWise Home for our clients. This is separate from Fresenius. So unfortunately you will not be using it.
I do hear you regarding organization and staff expectations. Each company handles staff expectations differently. Thank you for the kind words.
Wishing you all the best,
Mark
Hi ! I work for FKC in center hemo as a technician for 5 years now..We have been using schedule wise for a while now I would say about 2 years. Since the onset of schedule we just can’t seem to get our scheduling right. The numbers and productivity are where they need to be BUT staff is completely over worked and constantly rushing . It has become a very difficult job . With time goals we simply cannot attain . Any words of advice ? Or maybe some more education on how to use this tool ?
Hi Adrianna,
Thank you for your comment and please pardon the tardiness of this reply!
Unfortunately I am no longer familiar with how FKC is utilizing ScheduleWise to meet organization goals. But I do empathize with the issues facing staff. It is a balancing act to be sure. I can tell you, however, a little bit about how the interaction between staff and schedulers/managers should be.
Scheduling workflow is simply a matter of providing adequate time to direct patient care staff for puton and takeoff activities. The goal of the manager is to ensure that you as staff have that time. And they usually can see this by inspecting the pod graphs. The goal of staff should be to share with managers where the schedule gets tight and they may need more time.
Patient schedules change frequently because patient durations increase over time, and you have new patients coming and others going. So this dynamic between manager and staff is key to achieving a smooth workday.
On the flip-side of this discussion is to consider that on any given day in dialysis the schedule can be wrecked due to patients who are late, complications during treatment, staff call-offs… I’m sure you know all this. =] But the important point here is to understand that these are not scheduling problems unless they are consistent issues, and then they can be factored into the schedule. As an easy example, you wouldn’t just give 15 extra minutes for a patient every single treatment on the off chance they come in late.
Finally, I’d suggest you take a look at ScheduleWise. You will quickly realize that all the components to give staff enough time on any individual treatment, including taking into account acuity, are there. You will also realize that it is just a tool. It doesn’t tell you what your schedule should be… it just shows you what you have plugged in, and it is up to the users/managers to adjust accordingly to ensure safe patient care and effective pod management by staff. Productivity is just a by-product of managing the first two!
I know this is very general, and that is all I can provide on a comment thread. But I’m happy to discuss further with you if you think that could help.
In the meantime, best of luck! And make sure you provide some self-care. It’s important for your own well-being!
Mark