Healthcare Workflow

 

 

Healthcare reform offers financial incentive for healthcare organization to implement health information technology with the objective to increase efficiency, improve patient’s outcomes and reducing cost.  The US healthcare system has underwent a dramatic transformation that incorporated Health Information Technology (HIT), with the development of Electronic Health Records (EHR).  With this massive change the transparency within department cause workflow deficiency.  Understanding current nursing workflows and nurses’ view of clinical and documentation processes can help optimize recording of point-of-care documentation (Yeung, M. et al., 2011).

 

 

 

Wikipedia defines workflow as an orchestrated and repeatable pattern of business activity enabled by the systematic organization of resources into processes that transform materials, provide services, or process information.  Workflow is the daily functions of various ways to operate a health organization.  Every day patients are seen, prescriptions are written, labs and X-rays are reviewed, and a host of other jobs performed.  This is all accomplished by healthcare providers using paper chart workflow that has been implemented for years.  EHR workflow will differ from those used for paper-based processes (Amatayakul, M. 2011).  Paper-based workflow is cumbersome and inefficient.

Electronic health records have been promoted as a potential tool for narrowing the quality gap.  Yet, the interface between healthcare providers using new technology revealed workflow challenges.  Here are some of workflow challenges:

1.       Double documentation.

2.       Lack of real time data.

3.       Lack of Knowledge.

4.       Proper IT use

5.       Culture change from paper-base to EHR.

 

 

  

Key to Success

 

To improve workflow within an organization it is imperative that nurse leaders, physicians and Information technology collaboratively work together to develop a plan for success (Rohm, T. et al., 2013). 

 

 

 

1.       Team approach:  Transitioning to electronic health record requires close teamwork.  Nurses and patient care techs must interface closely and coordinate in order to get patient care accomplished in real-time.

2.       Cross training:  Staff need to cross-train in order to be familiar with other job functions, including physicians.

3.       Reduce time:  To achieve efficient workflow with minimal waste certain tasks are assigned to certain personnel.  This would eliminate prolonged medical decisions, out-of-date or inaccurate information.

4.        Patient focus:  Addressing your patients' needs with the guidelines using data sets. Information technology acts as a tremendous facilitator if it is implemented and used with patient focus in mind.  Workflows do not replace human interactions in planning and providing care.

 

Health organizations can develop new, standardized workflows for the clinicians who perform these tasks and provide education for clinicians regarding these workflows (Amatayakul, M. 2011).  Proper use of HIT requires workflow redesign that safely interface technology to enhance practices and workflow while delivering safe and efficient patient care.  Electronic health record and Health information technology solution will enable a more logical and efficient workflow.

 

Reference:

Amatayakul, M. (2011). Why workflow redesign alone is not enough for EHR success. Healthcare Financial Management: Journal Of The Healthcare Financial Management Association, 65(3), 130.

Rohm, T., Skidmore, N., Bharadwaj, M., Hammoud, B., Gray, T., & Lloyd, K. (2013). Urgent Care EMR Implementation and Workflow Redesign. Journal Of International Technology & Information Management, 22(2), 85-101.

Yeung, M. S., Lapinsky, S. E., Granton, J. T., Doran, D. M., & Cafazzo, J. A. (2012). Examining nursing vital signs documentation workflow: barriers and opportunities in general internal medicine units. Journal Of Clinical Nursing, 21(7-8), 975-982. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2702.2011.03937.x