The short version
This guide compares QGenda and Durate directly: what each one is, how they work, and which group each fits. It's our opinion, and we've kept it objective. In a hurry:
QGenda vs. Durate at a glance
Durate is a scheduling-first system for physician groups built on dynamic scheduling. Your team owns the rules, and the system handles the generating, adjusting, and tracking across the whole department.
QGenda is a workforce management suite sold as ProviderCloud: scheduling, credentialing, on-call, room and capacity management, time and attendance, and residency program management. Scheduling is one module in that suite.
| Durate | QGenda (Hearst Health) | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Medium and large provider groups, especially multi-site whose programs change month to month and are looking for a consolidated automated system. | Organizations whose hard problem is credentialing or room and capacity management rather than the schedule, or whose program rarely changes. |
| How it schedules | Dynamic. You write rules in plain English, generation is one click, and the system adjusts itself until the schedule comes out fully done. | Static. Configured by QGenda’s implementation consultants, and in the groups we moved the output was finished by hand. |
| Integrations | Epic, Oracle Cerner, ADP, and 100+ more, covering EHR, payroll, calendar sync, and SSO. | 85+ integrations per its partners page, including Epic, Oracle Health, Meditech, ADP, UKG, and Workday, plus a public REST API. |
| Ease of use | Anyone in charge can change rules in plain English, or have a Durate expert do it with them. Small learning curve. | Configured by QGenda’s consultants at setup. Adjusting later means going back through its team. |
| Who owns the rules | Your team. Rule suggestions come automatically, and Durate experts help anytime. | Hard to adjust yourselves. You depend on QGenda’s team for changes. |
| Security | SOC 2 Type II, encryption at rest and in transit, SSO/SAML, role-based access, and MFA. | SOC 2 Type 2, SOC 1 Type 2, FedRAMP LI-SaaS, and HIPAA on its trust center. It signs a BAA. |
| Audit trail | Who changed what, and when, is logged for every change and easy to look up. | Schedule changes are logged in its REST API audit log (who, what, when). No history of rule changes is documented. |
| Implementation | Setup runs 2 to 4 weeks, with simulations and any tests you want before go-live. | Performed by QGenda’s professional services team. |
| Pricing | A real number on the first call, sized to your group. | No pricing published, and the groups that call Durate describe the cost as very high. |
Durate is a dynamic scheduler and handles the whole schedule while QGenda is static, and the result is on you
QGenda’s scheduling is a static scheduler: the rules are set up once, by QGenda’s implementation consultants, and when they need to change you depend on QGenda’s team.
Running QGenda month to month
The groups calling Durate about QGenda say some version of the same thing: “we’re using QGenda as an expensive Excel spreadsheet, and we want a platform that works for us.” Behind that line is assembly work: the scheduler has taken back nearly every step, joining many pieces by hand to make the schedule functional.
The trade-off is the same however you schedule on QGenda: a suite configured for you by its services team, and every rule change going back through that team. In the groups we’ve moved off QGenda, changes were slow to land, the generation didn’t run fully on its own, and getting a usable schedule out wasn’t easy.
Because of this, the QGenda teams we have seen typically:
- Run the generated schedule as a starting template.
- Finish the rest by hand, step by step.
Groups that stay on QGenda are typically either:
- Groups whose hard problem is credentialing or room and capacity management rather than the schedule.
- Programs that rarely change, so a schedule generated once stays right.
How Durate handles change
Durate sets your system up for you too, and the difference is where the rules end up. We define the system with you once, your schedulers set the goals for the output, and from then on the rules are yours, with a Durate expert included for free whenever you want one. Generation is one click, and when the program changes you describe the new rule in plain English, the AI writes it, and the schedule rebuilds around it. You can ask for coverage, hours, or trends the same way.
Mid-cycle problems don't wait on a consultant either. Time-off requests that fit the rules are honored automatically, swaps and open shifts run through the provider app, and the AI flags unusual requests and upcoming coverage gaps before they turn into holes.
The system also monitors itself over time, and schedule review is meant to take under 30 minutes a month.
Durate is built to help run your whole scheduling operation while QGenda’s scheduling is one module of a suite
QGenda treats scheduling as one module of the suite: its scheduling page describes configurable algorithm rules, work patterns, and templates, with modules around it from credentialing to residency management.
That is the right shape when the schedule isn’t your hard problem. When it is, scheduling sits in the middle of it, configured and maintained by the vendor’s team.
Durate goes the other way: one scheduling-first system, with everything around the generation designed to make the scheduler's job smaller:
- Plain English rules that hold up for even the most complex coverage, and stay easy to adjust as the schedule underneath grows.
- AI that watches the rules, writes your reports, and flags what looks off: strange patterns, unusual requests, coverage gaps ahead.
- Generation in one click, with simulations before go-live to find the settings that fit your group.
- A provider app for swaps, open shifts, preferences, and real-time updates.
- Automatic tracking of PTO, hours worked, incentives, and per diem spend as the schedule runs.
- Reports and analytics on coverage, hours, and trends, from the same data.
- Integrations with Epic, Oracle Cerner, and ADP.
Change a rule yourself, with a Durate expert, or through the AI. Every path gets you the full setup, 100% of the way there instead of a half complete version.
Durate’s cost is a number on the first call while QGenda’s cost is very high, and the hours after generation come on top
The first downside of QGenda is the price. It does not publish pricing: quotes are custom, and the groups that call Durate about it describe the cost as very high, before a single admin hour is counted.
Here are some big caveats after the quote:
- The 30-minute test applies here. If adjusting the schedule takes 30 minutes or more each cycle, you're on a static system, and someone's paid hours are covering the difference. Durate is built so the checking afterwards stays minimal.
- Hand edits after generation typically break rules by accident.
- The more you patch, the less time goes into deciding what's actually best for the department.
With Durate you see a working version before any contract is signed. Revisions, support, and additions all sit inside one number, given on the first call, with no hidden fees.
Integrations are about the same: both connect to the EHR, payroll, and calendars around the schedule
Integrations are the first question in most demos, and here the two are about the same. Durate connects to Epic, Oracle Cerner, and ADP, plus 100+ more including calendar sync, single sign-on, and payroll, and builds custom integrations when the data doesn't fit the common mold.
QGenda’s partners page lists 85+ out-of-the-box integrations, Epic, Oracle Health, Meditech, ADP, UKG, and Workday among them, plus calendar sync and single sign-on, and it publishes a REST API. Much of that list serves the wider suite, not the schedule.
If either platform lacks the integration you need, you’ll be reconciling the data sync yourself.
Both take security seriously, with different strengths
QGenda’s trust center lists SOC 2 Type 2, SOC 1 Type 2, FedRAMP LI-SaaS, and HIPAA, and QGenda signs a BAA with the practice.
Durate is SOC 2 Type II compliant and shares the full report under NDA. Data is encrypted at rest and in transit, and single sign-on (SSO and SAML), role-based access control, and multi-factor authentication are all supported.
Where Durate is stronger is the audit of the rules, not just the schedule. Every change gets logged with who, what, and when, and the people making those changes are your own administrators.
QGenda logs schedule changes and exposes them through its API's audit log. A history of rule changes is not described.
QGenda vs. Durate: which is right for your group?
If your hard problem is credentialing or room and capacity rather than the schedule, your program rarely changes, and you have a budget for the price, QGenda is the natural fit. Stay where you are.
Durate is for the physician group whose program changes month to month and whose administrators want to change the rules themselves.
Choose QGenda if:
- Credentialing or room and capacity is your hard problem, and the schedule is not.
- Your program rarely changes, so a schedule generated once stays right.
- Price is not the constraint.
Choose Durate if:
- You want scheduling to be the company's whole job, with payroll tracking and analytics in the same system.
- You run more than one site and want one system across all of them, with hours tracked as providers move between sites.
- You want to be live in weeks. Setup takes 2 to 4, and the rules are proven before the first real schedule.
- You want your own team changing rules in seconds, with the schedule rebuilt from them.
To see whether Durate fits, ask for a sample schedule built from your own coverage requirements and rules. It usually comes on the first call. For what to look for beyond that, read the guide to dynamic physician scheduling.
Frequently asked questions
Is Durate a good QGenda alternative?
If you’re a medium or large provider group, multi-site or single-site, whose hard problem is the schedule itself, yes: that’s the group Durate is built for. If your hard problem is credentialing or capacity rather than the schedule, and your program rarely changes, QGenda is the more natural buy. The dividing line is who changes the rules, and how often your program changes.
What does migrating from QGenda to Durate involve?
Durate rebuilds your rules with your team over 2 to 4 weeks, runs simulations and any tests you want before go-live, and proves payroll matches before your old system is retired. The mechanics are straightforward: QGenda publishes a REST API covering schedules, assignments, and personnel, so your current state exports. Check your agreement’s notice terms before you set the date.
How expensive is QGenda?
QGenda doesn’t publish pricing. It sells custom quotes, no public source documents what a specific group pays, and the groups that call Durate about it describe the cost as very high. Ask which modules and implementation services are included before you compare.
Is QGenda easy to use?
The groups calling Durate describe assembly work by hand on the administrator side, and QGenda’s own published approach has its implementation consultants configuring the rules and its technical account managers optimizing the configuration after go-live. Read recent reviews from both administrators and providers before you decide.
Is QGenda a software?
Yes. QGenda is cloud-based healthcare workforce management software, sold as the ProviderCloud suite: scheduling, credentialing, on-call, room and capacity management, time and attendance, and residency program management. It has been part of Hearst Health since the acquisition announced in August 2024.
Who owns QGenda?
Hearst Health. The sale was announced in August 2024. QGenda itself owns ShiftAdmin, which it acquired in January 2021.
What is the best scheduling software for medium and large multi-site and single-site provider groups?
For a multi-site group the requirements pile up fast: hours that land in one place as providers move between sites, one system spanning every site, and one source of truth for the schedule and payroll. The multi-site groups we've switched used to run each site through its own administrator, so nobody held the whole picture. That shape of group is what Durate is built for.
Does Durate integrate with Epic?
Yes. Epic, Oracle Cerner, and ADP are all supported, along with the rest of the EHR and payroll systems most groups connect. In Durate's deployments the integrations have worked.
Can a small single-site group use Durate?
It depends on the schedule more than the headcount. Where Durate earns its keep is complexity: multiple sites, floating providers, one system across all of them. A simple single-site schedule may do fine on a lighter tool, and we have said that to groups before. Book a call and we'll walk through yours and tell you either way.
