Scheduling Rules

Overview

CallGrid uses a configurable rules engine to enforce scheduling constraints. Rules prevent invalid assignments and help maintain fair, safe schedules. Every rule can be tuned to match your program’s specific requirements.

Accessing rules

Navigate to Rules from the dashboard. Only admins and chiefs can view and edit scheduling rules.

Available rule types

Consecutive Call Limit

Sets the maximum number of days a resident can be on call in a row. For example, you might limit consecutive call days to 2, ensuring no resident is on call three or more days in a row.

Call Spacing

Sets the minimum number of days required between call assignments. For example, requiring at least 3 days between calls gives residents adequate recovery time.

Call Imbalance

Sets the maximum allowed deviation from the average call count. This keeps the distribution fair — if the average is 6 calls per block, a threshold of 2 means no resident should have fewer than 4 or more than 8.

Call Limits

Sets the minimum and maximum number of calls a resident can be assigned per block. This provides hard boundaries on call volume regardless of the average.

Service Day Exclusion

Prevents residents on certain clinical services from being on call on specific days of the week. For example, you might exclude residents on a surgery rotation from taking call on operative days.

Service Role Exclusion

Prevents residents on certain services from being assigned to certain call roles. For example, ICU residents might be excluded from night float.

PGY Role Restriction

Restricts specific call roles to certain PGY levels. For example, you might restrict the senior night call role to PGY-3 and above.

Golden Weekend

Guarantees that every resident gets at least one full weekend off (both Saturday and Sunday) per block.

Holiday Balance

Limits the number of holiday calls any single resident can be assigned. This ensures holiday duties are shared fairly across the team.

How rules work

Rules are evaluated in two contexts:

• Automatic schedule generation — The scheduler checks all rules when deciding which residents are eligible for each slot. Assignments that would violate a rule are skipped.
• Manual assignment — When you assign a resident to a slot by hand, the system evaluates the rules and reports any violations.

Rule evaluations produce two types of results:

• Errors — Block the assignment. The slot cannot be saved until the violation is resolved.
• Warnings — Allow the assignment but flag the issue for your review.

Editing a rule

Click on a rule to open its configuration. Each rule type has its own set of parameters — thresholds, day selections, role lists, PGY levels, and so on. Adjust the values and save to apply the changes.

Enabling and disabling rules

Each rule has a toggle to enable or disable it. Disabled rules are ignored during both automatic and manual scheduling. This lets you keep rules configured for future use without affecting the current schedule.