CUSTOMER STORY:
St. Clair Health Gave Pharmacy Leaders Time Back and Reduced Scheduling Time by 90%
St. Clair Health is a nationally recognized, integrated health system serving more than 500,000 residents across southwestern Pennsylvania. With more than 2,500 employees including 600 physicians, the organization consistently performs in the top decile for patient safety, clinical outcomes, patient satisfaction, and value.1 At the center of that performance is strong operational leadership, including Robert Reynolds, Pharm.D., Director of Pharmacy at St. Clair Health.
People don’t become pharmacists to build schedules. Yet as workforce pressure intensified, Reynolds found his leadership team spending an entire week each month doing exactly that.
When he evaluated their existing pharmacy scheduling process, the problem became clear: it was entirely paper based. “When I came here, we had two people scheduling – one for techs, one for pharmacists – all on paper,” he shared. “You needed three different pieces of paper to make one schedule.” This grueling process was not only painstaking, it also stole an entire week of leadership time each month.
Recruiting has only become more difficult and expectations across generations continue to shift. Maintaining 24/7/365 hospital coverage requires a level of precision like never before. “We have to work smarter, not harder,” Reynolds explained. “Not because we’re cutting positions, but because they’re harder to fill.”
In an organization known for clinical excellence, manual scheduling was quietly draining the very leadership capacity that drove performance.
Before automation, pharmacy scheduling required one full week of leadership time.
When Administrative Work Replaces Leadership
Manual scheduling did more than slow operations – it limited leadership presence. Managers spent hours behind closed doors building, managing, or fixing schedules which could have been time better spent rounding, coaching, or engaging with staff. As Reynolds described it, “Leaders used to sit in their offices doing paperwork. We needed to free up their time for higher value work where they actually talked to people again.”
For pharmacy directors fighting staffing shortages, every hour behind a desk means less time supporting clinicians and mentoring staff. Leadership visibility directly impacts engagement and retention, especially in a competitive labor market.
By modernizing scheduling, St. Clair Health aimed to remove unnecessary administrative burden and restore leadership capacity.
The goal wasn’t efficiency alone; it was restoring leadership presence on the floor.
From 40 Hours to Four: A 90% Reduction in Scheduling Time
In just one month after implementing Inovalon’s Schedule ManagementTM, time spent scheduling dropped from one week to approximately four hours. That 90% reduction did more than improve efficiency, it fundamentally changed how leadership time was spent.
What once required manual cross-referencing across three paper documents became a centralized, real-time workflow. Pharmacy leaders gained visibility into coverage gaps, credential requirements, shift balancing, and staffing needs without juggling multiple documents and disconnected tools.
The hospital’s new approach also supported a multi-generational workforce. Some team members preferred printed schedules while younger staff accessed everything from their phones. As Reynolds put it, “Boomers print schedules; Gen X uses the computer. Millennials only use the computer and the app. Gen Z only uses the app on their phone.” The system accommodated each preference while maintaining operational consistency and accountability.
By strengthening pharmacy scheduling, the organization did more than simplify a task – it reclaimed time and improved clinical performance.
”My manager used to spend a week on schedules. Now she’s done in four hours.”
Robert Reynolds, Pharm.D.,Director of Pharmacy at St. Clair Health
When Administrative Work Replaces Leadership
When leadership time returned, engagement followed. With less time consumed by administrative scheduling tasks, pharmacy managers increased their visibility across the department. They conducted more frequent check-ins, reinforced best practices in real time, and had more time to focus on innovation and automation in other areas.
Within one month of redirecting leadership focus from manual scheduling toward team engagement, they experienced another win: medication scanning compliance increased from 88% to 95%.
That improvement was not coincidental. By eliminating unnecessary administrative friction, St. Clair Health restored leadership presence at the point of care. That visibility strengthened accountability, reinforced standards, and created the operational foundation for continued innovation across the department.
Near 8%
increase in medication scanning compliance within one month
Scaling Pharmacy Scheduling Across the Organization
The success in pharmacy, driven by Reynold’s leadership and advocacy, quickly gained attention across St. Clair Health. What began as a focused effort to modernize their scheduling became a model for operational improvement throughout the organization.
St. Clair Health expanded Schedule Management to laboratory services and physical and occupational therapy, with cardiac rehabilitation next in line. Two departments are currently live, and three more are preparing to launch.
Reynolds noted that pharmacy has traditionally operated with a high degree of independence. While that autonomy supported highly specialized clinical work, it also meant there were fewer structured opportunities for cross-department collaboration. Modernizing staff scheduling created a shared operational foundation – one that elevated pharmacy’s leadership visibility and strengthened alignment across teams.
Cutting the Admin, Not the Care
Reynolds approaches innovation pragmatically. While automation and artificial intelligence offer promise, he believes strongly in maintaining human oversight. “AI’s in its infancy. You can’t just drop it in without human oversight.”
At St. Clair Health, pharmacy scheduling technology is not a replacement for leadership – it’s an enabler. By automating repetitive administrative processes, leaders can focus more on staff development, operational oversight, and patient safety.
For hospital operations and staffing leaders facing similar workforce challenges, the takeaway is clear: improving pharmacy scheduling is not about doing more with less. It is about eliminating unnecessary administrative friction so leaders can invest their time where it has the greatest impact.
”“Leaders used to sit in their offices doing paperwork. Now we can actually talk to people again.”
Robert Reynolds, Pharm.D.,Director of Pharmacy at St. Clair Health
Ready to Reclaim Your Time?
Hospital leadership shouldn’t be defined by paperwork. If manual scheduling is keeping your team behind desks and limiting their visibility, it may be time to rethink the process. Modernizing scheduling isn’t about adding technology – it’s about restoring leadership capacity and strengthening team engagement.
See how automated Schedule Management can help your organization cut the admin, not the care.
- “St. Clair Health’s Pharmacy Is Reducing Costs and Errors, and Increasing Efficiency,” Western Pennsylvania Guide to Good Health, Accessed February, 24, 2026, https://www.guidetogoodhealth.com/st-clair-healths-pharmacy-is-reducing-costs-and-errors-and-increasing-efficiency
