Streamlining scheduling workflows to improve appointment capacity with physician engagement and technology

While patients might view appointment scheduling as a mundane task, medical practice leaders know that optimizing it at scale often requires navigating a complex blend of technology, governance, and physician psychology.

At the 2025 HIMSS Global Conference, a trio of speakers — Dr. Michael Sheinberg, chief medical information officer for Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health (PMLGH); and Gary Davidson, chief information technology officer for PMLGH; and Mary Sirois, managing director at Nordic Global Consulting — shared how they tackled this complexity to significantly improve appointment capacity, patient access, and physician engagement.

Challenges in scheduling

Sheinberg emphasized the multifaceted challenges in revamping appointment scheduling systems, including a pervasive lack of standardization, the complexity in managing appointment templates, and significant variability in scheduling practices.

Historically, scheduling protocols at Lancaster General were fragmented, relying on outdated methods such as paper notes and Excel sheets, making consistency and effective usage tracking difficult. “We live and die by our schedules,” Sheinberg candidly expressed, highlighting physicians’ inherent frustrations with inefficient systems.

“Physicians just want enough time to see their patients and provide the best care that they can,” Sheinberg noted, highlighting how scheduling efficiently directly impacts physician satisfaction.

Scheduling pain points

• Knowledge gap around advanced scheduling features and how to operationalize
• Metrics in various places, making them difficult to monitor
• Complexity and frustration with template management
• Limited patient self-scheduling options
• Scheduling protocol documentation outside the system (e.g., paper, Excel)
• Limited understanding of how patients can use MyChart to schedule