J.A. Jacko (Ed.): Human-Computer Interaction, Part IV, HCII 2009, LNCS 5613, pp. 439–447, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009 An Information Visualization Approach to Hospital Shifts Scheduling Carmelo Ardito, Paolo Buono, Maria F. Costabile, Rosa Lanzilotti, and Adalberto L. Simeone Dipartimento di Informatica, University of Bari Via E. Orabona 4, Bari 70125, Italy {ardito,buono,costabile,lanzilotti,simeone}@di.uniba.it Abstract. Scheduling staff shift work in a hospital ward is a well-known prob- lem in the operation research field but, as such, it is very often studied from the algorithmic point of view and seldom from the human-computer interaction perspective. In most cases, the automatic solutions that operations research may provide do not satisfy the involved people. After discussing the inconveniences of an automatic approach with physicians, we have designed a staff scheduling system that combines an expert system with an information visualization (IV) system; in this way the schedule generated by the expert system is presented through the IV system to the schedule manager, who can modify the results if last minute changes are necessary, by directly manipulating the visualized data and obtaining immediate feedback about the changes made. Keywords: Information Visualization, Shift Scheduling. 1 Introduction The problem of scheduling staff shift work in a hospital has been thoroughly exam- ined in literature but it is still challenging due to the critical nature of people and aspects involved. In fact, unlike other organizations or businesses, the healthcare in- dustry differentiates itself because, in most cases, its services can neither be offered at select times nor postponed. Its employees must maintain a coverage of the whole twenty four hours period and also during bank holidays. The employees’ overall well- being is an important factor to consider when planning schedules, because it can have a deep impact on employees’ performance, job satisfaction, and most importantly, the safety of those who they ought to care after [1]. In this paper, the focus is on the problem of scheduling physicians’ shifts, instead of the broader field concerning nurses and other personnel. Manually finding a solu- tion that can satisfy all parties involved in the process can be a complex operation since it is often difficult to satisfy each individual’s needs. Common problems that are faced in this field include, for example, the need of minimizing overtime hours and making sure that there is always the minimum number of physicians required. There are several other constraints since physicians want to minimize the occurrences of working during nights, weekends and holidays such as Christmas and New Year's Eve. Therefore, staff scheduling must keep history of who worked, so that physicians