Home Care Scheduling & Rostering
We partnered with one of Australia’s largest providers of home care services to implement advanced workforce planning algorithms that optimise staff-rosters and scheduling of home care visits, travel and breaks.
Headline outcomes
15% reduction in cost to service a home visit
15% reduction in average travel minutes per visit
Increase in number of visits delivered as planned – from 60% to 90%
Business Need
Facing an ever-ageing population and a national shortfall in qualified carers, Australian Unity recognised the need to innovate home care delivery using workforce planning optimisation.
Australian Unity traditionally used Procura combined with manual processes to manage all rostering and scheduling, but believed that an advanced algorithm-led approach to workforce planning could support efficient delivery of care.
On the basis of a flexible delivery model, custom software solutioning and rich experience optimising under Australian labour agreements, Australian Unity selected us as their trusted optimisation partner.
Our Approach
Australian Unity engaged us using our well-governed engagement model, focusing first on undertaking a lean Proof-of-Value project in order to establish the business case. Once the value had been establish, we supported Australian Unity through the necessary business transformation, which involved
- Investing in improving the quality and accuracy of required data
- Integrating our software into the Australian Unity technology stack
- Effective change management
Australian Unity is now rolling out roster optimisation across their national footprint. As of March 2024, rolled-out branches have achieved average performance improvements of:
- 15% reduction in cost to service a home visit.
- 15% reduction in average travel minutes per visit.
- Increase in number of visits delivered as planned – from 60% to 90%.
How does it work?
The Biarri rostering software is equipped with algorithms that:
- automate and optimise the creation of rosters & schedules
- optimally maintain rosters & schedules in response to changes leading to the day-of-operations.
The algorithms optimise rosters and schedules simultaneously, determining not just the most efficient route, but also determining the best allocation of client visit to carer and roster of the carer. The algorithms consider:
- scheduling constraints (e.g. travel times, visit time windows)
- roster rules & constraints (e.g. employee agreements, availability)
- soft constraints/costs (e.g. stability of schedules/rosters, maintaining familiar care workers, minimising undesirable shifts).
The result? Roster and carer schedules that optimally balance cost-savings with client and employee experience. Each carer’s schedule is also planned in detail to include breaks, travel and team meetings.