Managing PCA assignments in a cardiac unit is inefficient and perceived as unfair, with existing methods causing favoritism or uneven workload distribution.

Manual assignment processes are time-consuming, prone to bias, and don't adapt well to fluctuating staffing levels or patient acuity distribution across the unit.

Severity

3Medium

Willingness to Pay

implied

Added

Apr 24, 2026

Workarounds Described

Charge nurse manually assembles room number list for PCAs just before shift

Implied Software Gaps

Automated PCA assignment software that balances workload by patient acuity, isolation status, and unit geography

App Concept

PCA Shift Planner

PCA Shift Planner is a scheduling tool that automates patient care assistant (PCA) assignments in hospital units, balancing workload by patient acuity, isolation status, and unit geography. It adapts to real-time staffing changes and provides fair, transparent assignments.

Key Features

Input patient acuity scores (partial/total care) and isolation status
Optimize assignments to balance workload across PCAs
Drag-and-drop manual override with fairness alerts
Handle understaffing scenarios by redistributing tasks or flagging high-need areas
Integrate with existing nurse scheduling systems

Target Users: Charge nurses and unit managers in hospital medical-surgical or specialty units (e.g., cardiac, ICU step-down) with 20-50 beds

Revenue Model: $99/month per unit subscription with tiered pricing for multi-unit hospitals

Existing Solutions Mentioned

Manual assignment by charge nurse based on partial/total patient count and isolation status

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