CritiCare · Provider Meeting

Describe Scheduling Launch

CritiCare is transitioning from QGenda to Describe for seeing your schedule, setting your availability, and posting Marketplace trades. Today we’ll walk through the timeline and your next steps.

Session
Thursday, Sept 17
Time
8:00 AM ET
Fully live
October 1

Sept 17 – Oct 1

Launch Timeline

September – October 2026

Thu · Sept 17

Describe Scheduling Launch

What you can doDescribeQGenda
Submit availability
View schedule
Post to Marketplace

Describe availability starts with January 2027. You can browse the Marketplace, but not post yet.

Fri · Sept 25

Describe Live Launch

What you can doDescribeQGenda
Submit availability
View schedule
Post to Marketplace

The Marketplace opens: post, split, trade and pick up shifts. QGenda still works alongside it.

Thu · Oct 1

QGenda Closed

What you can doDescribeQGenda
Submit availability
View schedule
Post to Marketplace

Every availability request, schedule check and trade goes through Describe.

October to December are already set from QGenda. Until October 1, anything done in QGenda is copied into Describe every day.

Sept 25: Topgolf Event

Akar will be there in person to help answer any questions or sort out any issues with the app.

Step 1

App Download

The Describe app icon: a black D on white

Point your phone's camera at the code for your phone, or open the link we text you. The app cannot be found by searching the App Store or Google Play — it only opens from a direct link. Look for this icon.

iPhone App Store “DescribeOS - schedule” apps.apple.com/app/describeos-schedule Android Google Play “Describe - Scheduling” play.google.com · com.describemed.schedule

Steps 1–2 · Demo

App Download Demo

What this video shows
  1. 0:00 The app’s App Store page — opened from the QR code or the link you’re sent. It can’t be found by searching.
  2. 0:24 Sign in with the same email and password as the CritiCare Describe website.
  3. 0:32 New users, like scribes, get a code by email and use it to set a password.
  4. 0:48 The first sign-in asks to send notifications — tap Allow.
  5. 0:53 Why they matter: reminders when availability opens and closes, before upcoming shifts, and for marketplace activity.
Can't log in? Try once off the hospital Wi-Fi first

The Baptist Wi-Fi blocks an update the app downloads on your first login. Use cellular data or home Wi-Fi that first time — after that, logging in works fine on any network.

Step 3

Permissions

The app asks for two permissions. Say yes to both — they decide whether the app keeps you posted or stays silent.

Push Notifications

iPhone
Tap Allow
Android
Tap Allow
  • A reminder at 6:00 PM the night before a shift
  • A reminder an hour before your shiftComing soon
  • Updates on your trades and pick-ups
  • Text message and email tooComing soon

Calendar Sync

iPhone
Tap Allow Full Access
Android
Tap Allow
  • Your published shifts in your phone’s calendar
  • Kept up to date when the schedule changes
  • Not asked yet? Settings → Calendar sync → Add shifts to this phone’s calendar
If you tap Don't Allow, you get nothing

No shift reminders, no trade alerts, no shifts in your calendar. Turning it back on afterwards means digging through your phone settings — far easier to say yes now.

Step 4

Calendar Sync

If you allowed calendar access, your shifts are already on your phone's calendar. To see them in Apple or Google Calendar everywhere else, add the live feed.

What this video shows
  1. 0:00 Settings — Device calendar sync already says Synced.
  2. 0:30 Calendar sync — the live feed and the ways to add it.
  3. 0:40 Apple Calendar: subscribe, and each shift shows up with the site's address and a directions link.
  4. 1:15 Google Calendar: paste the link into Google's From URL page — done here in the phone's browser.
  5. 2:00 Share feed link — copy it into any other calendar app.
  6. 2:10 Get a new link and Revoke feed, if the link is ever shared by mistake.
Your calendar can run a few hours behind

Calendar apps refresh on their own schedule. After a trade or a change, the Describe app is always the up-to-date version.

Opens Sept 17

Availability Requests

What this video shows
  1. 0:05 Open the menu → Availability.
  2. 0:11 Open for January 2027 onward; 2026 came over from QGenda.
  3. 0:29 The window card: January closes Nov 1, with submitted and drafted counts.
  4. 0:42 Request limits — up to 8 days off this month.
  5. 0:55 Edit availability → Day off. Tap to mark, tap again to clear, press and hold for a note (Jan 11: unavailable 9 AM–3 PM).
  6. 1:25 Drag across several days. Going past 8 blocks Submit until the extra days come off.
  7. 1:43 No more than 5 days off in a row. Once both limits are met, submit — it goes to the admin.
  8. 1:56 Mark days you are available, and leave a note for the month (“prefer 15 shifts”).
  9. 2:21 Then do the same for February, March, April…

No Availability, No Shifts

If you don't put in availability, the system will not schedule you. Describe builds the schedule from what you enter. A blank availability is read as no availability — it does not fall back to last month, and nobody has to chase you for it.

This replaces the monthly chase

No more phone calls on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of the month asking for your availability. The trade is that the deadline is real.

Demo

App Tour

What this video shows
  1. 0:00 Schedule in month view — tap a day to see its shifts underneath.
  2. 0:25 Switch to Week.
  3. 0:35 The Team tab — who else is working that day.
  4. 0:50 Tap a shift: time, length, role, status, and Post to Marketplace.
  5. 1:00 Marketplace, then My Posts — what was approved, rejected, or is still waiting.
  6. 1:15 The menu: Schedule, Marketplace, Availability, Requests, Settings.
  7. 1:25 Requests and Notifications — everything that has happened to your posts.
  8. 1:40 Settings — calendar sync, notifications, time zone, profile.

Opens Sept 25

Marketplace Basics

The Marketplace is where shifts change hands. Open it from the menu, or tap one of your shifts on the calendar and choose Post to Marketplace. You can look around from today; posting and picking up switch on September 25.

  • Give awayHand the shift to any eligible provider.
  • TradeSwap with a teammate, and say what you want in return.
  • SplitGive up part of the shift — the start or the end — and keep the rest.
  • Pick upTap Pick up shift on any open shift in the Marketplace list.
Still on the hook until an admin approves

Posting a shift does not release you from it. Even if someone offers to pick it up or trade, the move needs admin approval — until then, the shift is still yours to work.

Opens Sept 25 · Demo

Marketplace Walkthrough

What this video shows
  1. 0:00 The Open list — every shift you can take, with filters for Pick up Trade Split.
  2. 0:35 Request this shift on an open shift. The note underneath: the schedule and your calendar don't change until an admin approves.
  3. 0:50 Notifications — the pick-up was approved.
  4. 1:00 A trade offered to you: pick one of your shifts to swap, then Accept & swap shifts. The demo swaps instantly — at CritiCare the trade goes to an admin first.
  5. 1:35 Post one of your shifts — pick the shift, then Give away. It lands in My Posts, awaiting a match, with Cancel post.
  6. 2:00 Posting a trade: who can take it, and what you want in return.
  7. 2:25 Posting a split: give away the start or the end, and drag to set how much.
  8. 2:40 Posted to the marketplace — back to the list.
Every move waits for an admin

Pick-ups, trades, give-aways and splits all go to an admin for approval. Your schedule and your calendar stay as they were until it is approved — My Posts shows where each of yours stands.

Recap

Day-One Checklist

  1. Download the app Scan a code below, or use the link we text you — the app cannot be found by searching the store. Do it off the hospital Wi-Fi the first time.
  2. Log in Same email and password as the Criticare Describe website. Scribes set a password on first login.
  3. Allow all permissions Say yes to push notifications and to your calendar — tap Allow, or Allow Full Access for the calendar on iPhone.
  4. Turn on calendar sync Optional, but it puts every shift straight into the calendar you already use.
iPhoneApp Store AndroidGoogle Play

Questions & Support

Q&A

In-Person Support

  • Sept 25: Topgolf Event — Akar will be at the event to answer any questions about the app.

Troubleshooting

  • Can't log in? Try once off the hospital Wi-Fi first.
  • Not getting notifications? Check the app's permissions in your phone settings.

Contact

Any questions or issues with the app:

akar@describemed.com
1 / 15