We deliver efficient, modern, scheduling solutions that benefit both administrators and end-users. We take pride in offering a product that's second to none in quality and ease of use.
White-Boarding
1980sDoug H. Lindsey, MD creates the Lottery system on a chalk board
The Birth of a Spreadsheet
2000sThe Lottery transitions off the board and into Excel
The Birth ofScheduleForward
2012First iteration building an auto schedule generator using tokens for users to place their preferences to be a user-centric schedule builder
Revamp the Lottery
2015Pivoted from building the auto generator to creating an automated version of the Lottery, now called Draft.
A New Sheriff in Town
2018Dr. Lowry Takes Over the Excel Draft
Takeoff!
2019First version of ScheduleForward's 'Lottery' (now called 'The Draft') is used by University of Arizona DEM
Expansion
2020The Tucson VA becomes the second site to use ScheduleForward
First Conference
2022Inaugural conference appearance at ACEP. Sales are a go!
Feature Expansion
2023 - CurrentNew development effort to release features covering a vast array of scheduling needs begins.
New Version Release
2025Lottery converted to The Draft, AI Generator perfected and released.
Mass Expansion
2025-2026SF plans to offer system free to all EM Residency programs.
Our Story
ScheduleForward began when programmer Tom Smallwood noticed his wife's struggle with cumbersome scheduling programs in an emergency department. In 2012, he partnered with ER physician Scott Lowry to build an automated schedule generator—initially slow to compute but unique for allowing direct provider input. Dr. Lowry later introduced an automated Draft system, and in 2019, Keith Kowalski streamlined the user experience with a focus on simplicity.
UofA DEM and the Tucson VA were early adopters, paving the way for nationwide and international use. We pride ourselves on responsive customer service and constant refinement, continually evolving to meet the diverse needs of our clients. Stay tuned for more updates as we adapt to ever- changing requirements.
"You have plenty of problems to deal with in your practice, building your schedule should not be one of them. We built ScheduleForward to reduce the work of building and maintaining a schedule and give your providers the most control they can have over their own schedules."J Scott Lowry, MD, Founder & CEO of ScheduleForward
OUR LEADERSHIP
Meet the dedicated team of professionals who drive ScheduleForward's mission to revolutionize healthcare scheduling.
OUR TEAMS
The customer support team's mission is to provide exceptional assistance, ensuring seamless and tailored scheduling solutions while welcoming and onboarding new user with a warm and informative approach. We know changing platforms is hard, we're here to help and make it as easy as possible.
It doesn't matter how sophisticated a program is if you can't figure out how to use it. Our experienced design team not only makes our system easy on the eyes, but easy to use. ScheduleForward couldn't be easier for the users, and admin now have a Turbo-Tax-like wizard to step them through setting up their department's schedules. The system does all the work for you!
At ScheduleForward we believe software must continually improve or it will be obsolete. We have a constantly growing list of future features we want to add. Our development team begins building the next feature while our testing team works on releasing our latest updates. We never stop improving. Many of our features come from direct user requests and suggestions. No other company is as agile on updating and building new features to meet and exceed current user requests.
Lean business models and more than fair contracts keeps our finance and legal teams... bored. We have open contracts with our basic contract being month-to-month, you can leave at anytime and not lose any large investment. Since we've never lost a client, it is easy for us to offer open contracts that don't lock you in to our services. We know you'll keep you and you'll keep us happy, so we don't have to tie you to any long term contracts. (Long term contracts are available for those wanting to lock in lower rates. - legal wanted this added...)
Our internal H.R. department is second to none with some of the most flexible hours and best sick leave policies in the industry. Working for us might be the only thing nicer than using our product!
We try low to non-pressure sales. We offer free demos and don't hide our rates. We work with you and your faculty to help transition to our system. Our sales team provides service, too, so we all know what you need and how to help, not just sell.