Workflow Analysis of a Healthcare Organization Essay

Tags: electronic health records medication errors nursing practice patient safety

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Workflow Analysis



Workflow is a term that is utilized to refer to processes or steps undertaken to complete a specific task (Mastrian & McGonigle, 2015). In a healthcare organization, this concept refers to initiatives undertaken to provide patient care services. This essentially means that workflow is crucial towards the achievement of organizational goals since it plays a critical role in the accomplishment of desired tasks/activities. Given its significance to realization of organizational objectives, organizations conduct workflow analysis to help identify workflow patterns that maximize effective resource utilization and reduce those that do not add value. Workflow analysis process is carried out using several tools to examine workflow processes and shed light on potential areas for removing waste. This paper provides a workflow analysis through flowcharts of medication administration in a community health center.

Common Event in My Organization



The organization I work for is a community health center that provides inpatient and outpatient primary care services. The Center provides comprehensive care services to different kinds of patients and has contributed to the development of the organization as an important organization in the community’s healthcare sector. As part of delivery of comprehensive primary care services, the community health center has established a clinical team comprising different healthcare professionals. Some members of the clinical team include primary care providers, nurses, medical assistants, and pharmacists. These various healthcare professionals work collaboratively and engage in care coordination to help in enhancing patient outcomes.

One of the most common events in this community health center is medication management, which incorporates various processes or tasks to help ensure that patients get the right medicine for their conditions. Medication management at this community health center is also geared towards enhancing patients’ compliance with medication in order to enhance their outcomes and satisfaction. In essence, medication management in this healthcare organization involves several stages as shown in Figure 1 below.



[ figure one omitted ]

Explanation of Medication Management Process



As shown in the workflow flowchart above, the nurse medication management process in this organization comprises various stages that are carried out by various members of the clinical team. These stages include medication selection, ordering/prescribing, verification/dispensing, administration, education, and evaluation.

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The first step in the medication management process in the community health center is medication selection, which is carried out by several healthcare professionals i.e. physician, pharmacist, or nurse. Once the healthcare professional reviews the patient’s condition based on his/her medical information, he/she identifies and documents the most suitable medication for the condition. The information is documented in the electronic health records for easy retrieval and analysis by other members of the healthcare team. Based on the organization’s rules and policies, medication selection process should be based on clinical evidence, patient characteristics, cost-effectiveness, and best practice.



The second stage in the process is ordering/prescribing, which entails creating a medication order that incorporates the specific medicine for the patient and dosing recommendations depending on the patient and his/her clinical condition (Hughes & Blegen, 2008). This is carried out by a physician or nurse using electronic health records, which are utilized for managing a patient’s medical information. The information required to execute this step include patient characteristics, clinical conditions, and medication selection data. However, this stage can only be executed by a physician or registered/licensed practice nurse.

The third stage is verification or dispensing, which is carried out by a pharmacist at the community health center. The verification/dispensing, which involves the use of the EHR and manual dispensing of medication is carried out once prescription is received from the physician or registered nurse. The health center’s policies state that this stage can only be executed by pharmacists since they are professionally trained for this. Once verification and dispensing is conducted, the next step is administration by nurses, which is carried out once the other stages are executed. In this case, the nurses engage….....

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References

Cho, M.S., Song, M.R. & Jang, M.R. (2012, March). Evaluation of the Bar Code Medication Administration and Blood Transfusion System in a Tertiary Hospital. Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration, 18(1), 23-32.

Ghenadenik, A., Rochais, E., Atkinson, S. & Bussières, J. (2012). Potential Risks Associated with Medication Administration, as Identified by Simple Tools and Observations. The Canadian Journal of Hospital Pharmacy, 65(4). Retrieved from https://www.cjhp-online.ca/index.php/cjhp/article/view/1161/1552

Hughes, R.G. & Blegen, M.A. (2008, April). Patient Safety and Quality: An Evidence-Based Handbook for Nurses. Retrieved from National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine website: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2656/

Mastrian, K., & McGonigle, D. (2015).Informatics tools to promote patient safety and clinical outcomes. In D. McGonigle and K. Mastrian (Eds.), Nursing Informatics and the Foundation of Knowledge (3rd ed., pp. 269-285). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

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