Who is in consultation today, who is on reception?
MetronHR plans the practice day in activities rather than shifts: consultation, home visit, blood draw, lab, reception. In a 30-minute grid, with each person's hours on the same sheet.
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- A day plan in a 30-minute grid instead of Excel
- The rule "doctors require an assistant" checks the staffing along
- Time tracking and absences in the same system
In shortSince the Federal Labour Court order of 13 September 2022, doctors' practices have to record all of their team's working time; no particular form is prescribed. Stand-by duty counts in full as working time, on-call duty only with the calls actually worked. MetronHR keeps both as separate duty types and shows in the Professional plan's day plan who is on reception, blood sampling or consultation right now.
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What sits above time tracking in a doctor's practice
Alongside the Working Time Act, which applies to every business, three things come into play in a practice: the on-call service of the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, delegation to medical assistants, and the tighter framework for trainees under 18.
- Typical size
- 8 to 15 employees
- Price for 12 people
- 60 euros on Team, 120 euros on Professional
- Matching template
- Duty roster for the month, free of charge
- Break from 6 hours
- 30 minutes, from 9 hours 45 minutes
On-call duty under section 75 (1b) SGB V
On-call duty outside consultation hours is part of the mandate of the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, and physicians in private practice are in principle obliged to take part.
How the duty is actually rostered is governed by each association's on-call regulations, and those differ by federal state. For planning inside the business what matters most is what comes afterwards: the eleven-hour rest period under section 5 ArbZG applies after the duty, and it regularly clashes with the next morning's consultation hours.
Delegation needs a qualification, not just a free person
Medical services may be delegated to medical assistants as long as they do not require the physician to act in person and the person is qualified for the task.
For planning that means an activity is not staffed with just anyone, but with someone who is allowed to take it on. A plan that only counts how many people are present misses exactly that. MetronHR therefore ties activities to qualifications, including several at once.
Trainees under 18 fall under the Youth Employment Protection Act
Tighter limits apply to minors than under the Working Time Act: a maximum of eight hours a day and 40 a week, plus longer breaks and a night rest.
In a practice training medical assistants this regularly affects one or two people in the team. Software that only checks against the Working Time Act will not report a breach of the Youth Employment Protection Act. MetronHR checks against both when planning and when recording.
Breaks and limits, depending on the person
| Applies to | Maximum working time per day | Break | Rest period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adults, sections 3 and 4 ArbZG | 8 hours, extendable to 10 | 30 minutes from more than 6 hours, 45 from more than 9 | 11 hours |
| Trainees under 18, JArbSchG | 8 hours, 40 per week | 30 minutes from more than 4.5 hours, 60 from more than 6 | 12 hours |
| Pregnant and nursing employees, MuSchG | no additional work beyond 8.5 hours | as for adults, plus nursing breaks | 11 hours, no night work from 8 pm |
Extending to ten hours under section 3 ArbZG requires compensation within six calendar months or 24 weeks. As at 4 September 2026.
Adults, sections 3 and 4 ArbZG
- Maximum working time per day
- 8 hours, extendable to 10
- Break
- 30 minutes from more than 6 hours, 45 from more than 9
- Rest period
- 11 hours
Trainees under 18, JArbSchG
- Maximum working time per day
- 8 hours, 40 per week
- Break
- 30 minutes from more than 4.5 hours, 60 from more than 6
- Rest period
- 12 hours
Pregnant and nursing employees, MuSchG
- Maximum working time per day
- no additional work beyond 8.5 hours
- Break
- as for adults, plus nursing breaks
- Rest period
- 11 hours, no night work from 8 pm
Extending to ten hours under section 3 ArbZG requires compensation within six calendar months or 24 weeks. As at 4 September 2026.
Further reading: Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Working Time Act · Section 75 (1b) SGB V (mandate to secure care, on-call duty) · Sections 8, 11 and 13 of the Youth Employment Protection Act
As at: September 2026. This is not legal advice; for a specific case in your business it is better to ask someone with a licence to practise.
The practice day is planned, but written down nowhere
Consultation, home visits, vaccination appointments and reception share the same team. Who has which job when is usually known by one person, and she is in the treatment room.
- Problem
Reception is left unstaffed in between
During the blood-draw hour nobody is at the desk. It shows when three patients come in at once and the phone rings.
- Problem
Cover gets improvised
If an assistant drops out, the day is rebuilt in somebody's head. What that means for the weekly hours nobody sees.
- Problem
Home visits fall out of the arithmetic
The time spent away from the practice is on a slip of paper in the car and reaches the hours overview at the month end, if at all.
A day plan that maps the practice
MetronHR ships a template for doctors' practices: the groups doctors, assistants, apprentices, reception and lab, fourteen activities from consultation to sterilisation, the 30-minute grid and two staffing rules. From then on you plan the day rather than explain it.
No consultation block without an assistantThe staffing rules check the whole day, not just the headcount in the morning.
This is how you plan the practice day
Take the template, drag the day out, publish.
Take the practice template
Doctors, assistants, apprentices, reception and lab as qualification groups, plus consultation, home visit, treatment, blood draw, lab, diagnostics, vaccination clinic, reception, telephone, billing, documentation, sterilisation, team meeting and internal training as activities.
All of it changeable without anyone from outside having to step in
Template for the doctors' practice Ready for the industry
The groups, time grid and rules of a practice are already there. You only change what differs for you.
Activities with short codes
Every activity has a short code for the plan and is marked billable or internal.
Template for the practiceGroups, activities, grid, rulesGroupsDoctors, medical assistants, trainees, reception, labGrid30 minutes, 08:00 to 19:30RulesDoctors require a medical assistant, reception at least 1Consultation hoursCON · Doctors, medical assistantsbillableBlood testsBT · Medical assistantsbillableReceptionREC · ReceptioninternalDrag the day out in blocks
In the person's column you drag out the period and pick the activity. A day pattern carries recurring days over, so the Tuesday layout does not come about anew every week.
Tomorrow's plan is ready in minutes
An activity block in the day grid Day in activitiesAylin Demir · ThursdayThat day9:00hBillable6:00hConsultation hoursbillable4:45hDocumentation1:30hMaintenancebillable1:15hHandover0:45hBreak0:45hPin it up and take it along
The published plan goes to the noticeboard as a PDF and to the team's app at the same time. The evening before, MetronHR reminds them about the next day.
One state for everyone, including whoever starts early tomorrow
Published day plan Day plan for Friday, 6 NovemberPublished on Thursday, 17:020810121416
Dr. LindnerSPRSPRSPR
Sophie B.ANMANMTEL
Lena H.BELABDOKReminder sent to all three the evening before.
What doctors' practices get out of it
Planning, hours and absences mesh instead of standing side by side.
- On-call duty
On-call duty as a type of its own
On-call duty and consultation are not the same thing in the plan.
Standby duty and on-call duty are separate configurations, and assigning or withdrawing them sends a notification. If somebody is called out from standby, the call-out is an event of its own.
- Planning
A day plan in a 30-minute grid
The plan follows the consultation rhythm.
You set the day window and the grid interval yourself.
- Team
Staffing rules for doctor and assistant
Doctors require an assistant; reception at least one person during opening hours.
Gaps are marked before the plan is published.
- Time
Target and planned per person
The hours balance sits on the same sheet as the planning.
Credits from holiday and public holidays count automatically.
- Apps
Record home visits on the phone
Time away from the practice does not get lost.
A timer and later entry in the app for iOS and Android.
- Documents
Training certificates in the personnel file
The certificates sit where the contract sits.
With a reminder about expiring deadlines.
- Reports
An export for payroll
Hours as a number rather than a typed-up printout.
Excel and CSV, plus a block export per activity.
- Security
The ArbZG checked while you plan
Rest periods and maximum working time are checked as you assign.
Including when a long day unexpectedly gets longer.
- Simplicity
Ready without a consulting appointment
The practice sets up its activities, groups and rules itself.
No setup project, no activation fee.
For the whole practice team
One person plans, everyone has to read it.
- Practice owner
The day is planned before it starts
- The routine sits in the practice manager's head and fails when she is away.
- A day pattern and a template make the routine visible and transferable.
- Practice management
See the gaps while they can still be closed
- Understaffing at reception only shows in the waiting room.
- Staffing rules mark the windows where somebody is missing.
- Medical assistant
Your own day in the app
- The plan hangs in the practice and cannot be looked up in the evening.
- Your own blocks with the activity and the time, and a reminder the evening before.
- Accountant
Clean hours without follow-up questions
- Handwritten timesheets have to be reworked.
- An Excel export with hours as numbers, usable straight away.
A patient practice means sensitive personnel data
Access to plans, hours and reasons for absence is governed by role.
- German server locations, processed in line with the GDPR
- Reasons for an absence visible only to those authorised
- Without the right, the server does not hand out other people's hours
- Every change to the plan is documented and can be read back
How the day plan works in detail
Activities, staffing rules, the hours arithmetic, printing and export are explained on the duty planning feature page.
Related
Where to go from here, and what waits for you there.
How to plan practice duty
The guide in five steps, from the activities to the rest period after on-call duty.
ViewTime tracking for a practice with 12 people
What that costs a month, with the providers' list prices beside it.
ViewDuty planning software
Consultation, lab and reception in a time grid, with qualifications per activity.
View
Frequent questions from doctors' practices
What should be settled before you start.
Question not answered here? Every step is explained in the help centre.
Send us a messageDo we have to create our activities ourselves?
No. The template for doctors' practices comes with fourteen activities, from consultation through blood draw and diagnostics to sterilisation and team meetings, each with a colour and a short code. You can change, add to and delete them yourself at any time.
How do we make sure no doctor is planned without an assistant?
Through a staffing rule. The template contains "doctors require an assistant (1)" and "reception at least 1 during opening hours". MetronHR checks both across the day and marks the windows where the staffing does not add up.
Does the grid fit our consultation rhythm?
The template starts at 30 minutes. You can set 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 and 60 minutes, plus the day window, by default 08:00 to 19:30.
Are holiday and training taken into account in the plan?
Yes. Approved absences colour the person's column for the whole day and count as a credit in the hours arithmetic. Training away from the practice is an absence; an internal team meeting is an activity in the plan.
Can we print the plan?
Yes, as a real PDF, either a day sheet or a compact weekly sheet. For the practices we spoke to, that was a condition for adopting it.
Do we need a setup appointment for it?
No. Pick the template, invite the team, plan. The practice sets up everything else itself. There is no activation fee and no minimum term beyond the month.
Plan the practice day rather than explain it
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