Creating a Flowchart

Answer

Creating a Flowchart

Healthcare has faced a lot of pressure to design or re-design its workflow to enable effective and efficient care delivery. Workflow refers to a set of tasks chronologically grouped into processes as well as the set of resources and personnel required for those tasks to attain a specific objective. The design of effective organizational workflow flowcharts not only improves health care efficiency, but also directs the care team on how to achieve the organization’s vision, mission, and goal (Komashie & Clarkson, 2016). This paper aims at creating a flowchart representing an organization’s workflow. It would also analyze the processes of the diagramed workflow flowchart to establish its effectiveness.

The archetypal or distinct workflow for patients visit at this particular primary health care facility starts by a patient intake phase that comprises the application for an appointment, patient’s registration or details recording, history taking and finally starts of clinical examination. The patient may either contact the clinic for an appointment in-person or through a phone call. The receptionist, in both scenarios, gathers demographic information such as insurance provider data, emergency contacts, social security number, address, age, residence, and date of birth from the patient for documentation (Kramer & Drews, 2017).  It is important to note that this particular data is entered into the insurance as well as demographic component of the facility’s electronic registration system. As such, the step is conducted by a receptionist and computer system.

Any new patient is scheduled for a thirty minutes appointment and receives a unique patient identification number to enable easy identification during his or her subsequent visits. Notably, this particular identification number remains identical for the patient’s entire life at the healthcare facility. Subsequently, a returning patient’s data such as the identification number is retrieved after which the patient is scheduled for fifteen minutes appointment by a nurse.

For a new patient, a new paper grid is established by the file clerk after completion of the schedules and registration. The patient’s registration data is published in the grid or chart. However, in the case of a returning patient, the information or file clerk goes to the file room and retrieves the existing paper record and updates the patient’s demographic data after which puts the chart in the awaiting chart box. In case of earlier appointment, the file clerk puts the paper chart in front of his or her desk for easy accessibility and availability when the patient arrives for the appointment.

When the patient arrives, the receptionist inquires the client’s social security number for verification of his or her identity. The patient is requested to state both his first and last name. Demographic data is updated or corroborated in the registration system after which the patient obtains a paper encounter form which requests information or data on reasons for the visit, present health concerns, and previous medical history. This counter form is filled whereas the patient is waiting to be called in the examination room. Meanwhile, the nurse is gets an alert in regards to the patient’s arrival and prepares for the patient’s clinical examination.

The second phase of the workflow encompasses the physician undertaking physical examination on the patient. This includes radiologic and laboratory tests and refer the data to the nurse. Upon the patient settling in the examination room, the nurse analyses the finalized encounter form to obtain the patient’s vital signs.

The nurse then enters relevant data including the patient’s topmost complaint into the paper record. Once the nurse is done with the tasks, the physician commences his or her encounter with the presented patient and concludes the examination. The physician would then document the examination and pens down orders such as referrals, medications, lab, radiology, and lab tests in the paper chart after the encounter is concluded (Kramer & Drews, 2017). In case the physician recommends medication, he or she offers a written prescription to the patient before he or she leaves the examination room. The physician would then flag the chart to show that it has orders after which gets it back to the nurse. After completing the visit the patient would stop at the clinic’s front desk to schedule any return visits. The nurse afterwards implements the.

Upon the readiness of the radiology and laboratory results, they are printed and placed into the patient’s chart (Vaandering & Coevoet, 2016). The patient is then called with upon notice of any abnormal radiology or laboratory result. Alternatively, the clinic sends a letter outlining that results are within the normal limit. In case of prescriptions refill, the patient contacts the receptionist to put a hand-written note at the nurse’s desk. The nurse would then put the note in the patient’s chart after which put the chart in the chart bin for the physician’s review.  The physician would then write a refill prescription and place the chart in the bin. The nurse then uses the refill prescription to contact contacts both the patient and the pharmacy.

Some of the metrics used to measure the soundness of the workflow include patient satisfaction, care providers satisfaction, duration of the process, and resources involved. It is important to note that the workflow is effective since it has greatly improved patient satisfaction, therefore, improving the quality of care (Leyrer et al., 2017). The policies involved in determining where, why, or when the step is executed include the emergency of the problem and the health ethical standards and principles.

In spite of the benefits of the above-mentioned workflow, it requires certain improvements to make it more effective. Firstly and most importantly, the organization should fully incorporate an electronic or computerized system to allow easy accessibility of patients’ information. Paper charts can occasionally get lost and the staff can spend substantial time looking for the charts. Secondly, the organization should form a multidisciplinary team to handle patients with critical conditions or require emergency attendance. It should also foster effective communication, collaboration as well as cooperation among the health care providers to increase customer satisfaction and high-quality care delivery.

In conclusion, workflow design aims at achieving organizational goals and providing better or high-quality services to the customers. Workflow flowcharts play a critical role in minimizing time wastage and confusion among the employees. It is, therefore, important for the healthcare facilities to consider developing workflow flow charts to enable efficient, effective, and better service delivery to customers.