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Week 7: Systems Design and Workflow

Consider a clinical process or task that you perform on a frequent basis. Do you do it the same every time? Why do you proceed the way you do? Habit? Protocol? Each day nurses complete certain tasks that are considered routine, but have you ever stopped to reflect on why things are done the way they are? Perhaps you have noticed areas where there is a duplication of efforts or an inefficient use of time. Other tasks might pass seamlessly from person to person. In order to design the most efficient flow of work through an organization, it is useful to understand workflow and the ways it can be structured for the most optimal use of time and resources.

Understanding Workflow Design

As you explored last week, the implementation of a new technology can dramatically affect the workflow of an organization. Newly implemented technologies can initially limit the productivity of users as they adjust to their new tools. Such implementations tend to be so significant that they often require workflows to be redesigned in order to achieve improvements in safety and patient outcomes. However, before workflows can be redesigned, they must first be analyzed. This analysis includes each step in completing a certain process. Some systems duplicate efforts or contain unnecessary steps that waste time and money and could even jeopardize patient health care. By reviewing and modifying the workflow, you enable greater productivity. This drive to implement new technologies has elevated the demand for nurses who can perform workflow analysis.

In this Discussion you explore resources that have been designed to help guide you through the process of workflow assessment.

1. To prepare:

• Take a few minutes and peruse the information found in the article “Workflow Assessment for Health IT Toolkit” listed in this week’s Learning Resources.

  • As you check out the information located on the different tabs, identify key concepts that you could use to improve a workflow in your own organization and consider how you could use them.

  • Go the Research tab and identify and read one article that is of interest to you and relates to your specialty area.

Questions to be answered

Post a summary of three different concepts you found in “Workflow Assessment for Health IT Toolkit” that would help in redesigning a workflow in the organization in which you work (or one with which you are familiar) and describe how you would apply them.

 2. Next, summarize the article you selected and assess how you could use the information to improve workflow within your organization.

3.Finally, evaluate the importance of monitoring the effect of technology on workflow.