Running Head: WORKFLOW IN A HOSPITAL 1

Workflow in a Hospital

Students’ Name

Institution of Affiliation
 WORKFLOW IN A HOSPITAL 2

Flowchart of answering a Telephone in a hospital

A phone call comes to the hospital

(Secretary) Can you help?

Y N

Assist patient with query and Refer the patient to a doctor

ends call

Helps the patient and ends

the call
WORKFLOW IN A HOSPITAL 3

The process

As noted in the diagram booking an appointment with the doctor for a surgery, operation

or assistance from the doctor begins when a patient makes a phone call to the hospital. The

secretary receives the telephone and greets the patient asking him or her how she could help. The

patient on the other end states his query and the Secretary of the hospital evaluates it and if it

involves her she gives a clear response which assists the customer and ends the call. If the patient

query requires talking to a doctor or booking an appointment, the secretary transfers the phone

call to the doctor responsible. The doctor if not busy talks to the patient and evaluates what

his/her needs are. If the patient wants to see the doctor on a specific date, the doctor confirms

from the schedule and plans an appointment with the patient. If the doctor is fixed on that date,

he suggests another date and for which if the patient agrees or is okay with, an appointment is

made. The doctor then ends the call. The purpose of this is to help patient’s book appointments

via phone rather than necessarily coming to the hospital for booking (Good, 2012).

The technology used

The organization has integrated technology to ensure that appointment booking and

communication with patients is as effective as possible. To start with, the hospital has

interconnected telephones to ensure that a telephone call can be transferred to the secretary and

the doctor. This technology ensures that a call once received by the secretary can be transferred

to the relevant the doctor in his office without asking the client to hold for more than a minute.

The hospital has also integrated a corporate email system in the computers to ensure that

patient’s issues are sent via the email. This is to ensure that patients can book appointments via

an online platform.
WORKFLOW IN A HOSPITAL 4

Policies and rules

The hospital communication and handling of the patients are governed by set rules and

regulations. The policies dictate that patient’s issues should be handled with a priority given that

the success of the hospital depends on them. This means that as a secretary or a doctor you

should address the issues raised by the patient to the best of his/her knowledge to ensure that the

patient is satisfied with the response. Other rules in the hospital include; patient’s privacy should

be protected and respected such that patient’s information should not be disclosed to a third

party. Additionally, the hospitals’ policy dictates that the telephone call from a patient should not

be ignored at any given time. This means that if the doctor is busy, the secretary should advise

the patient to book an appointment using the hospital's email.

Metric used to measure effectiveness of the work flow

The effectiveness of the workflow is evaluated through the response from the patients’

feedback. This means that in the hospital, a patient who has been served via a telephone call or

any other means is required to fill a form in which he/she gives a response or feedback on how

they are served or treated. This metric has been effective in the hospital have been able to reach

many patients’, approve and book appointments over the phone and through our online platforms

such as the emails. To the hospital, serving and ensuring effective communication is the core for

the success of the hospital.

Areas of improvement in the work flow

Various areas in the workflow would need improvements. In my own views I would

suggest that instead of all telephone calls being diverted to the secretary of the hospital, the

hospital should integrate a platform which allows calls to be diverted automatically to the doctor
WORKFLOW IN A HOSPITAL 5

which is concerned with issues of appointments. This strategy will be effective since patients

will not necessarily have to wait or be on hold. Additionally, improvements can be implemented

in the hospital to ensure that patients can use services such as messages and online platforms to

book the appointments with the doctor and to raise their issues and concerns (Bradley, 2013).

The telephone conversation should also be recorded for future reference or for record keeping.

An improvement in the response would also be a great strategy to ensure effectiveness when

dealing with patients. This strategy can be enacted in the hospital through modification of the

existing laws to suit the requirements.

Importance of a work flow

The flow of activity awareness is important to a hospital since it helps to eliminate

duplication or redundancy of activities, saves time when doing any task, facilitates a better

understanding of actions in the workflow, helps to identify gaps that could be in existence in the

hospitals process and defines technology needs in the hospital (Cichocki at all, 2012).

Additionally, workflow also helps to define activities and enforces them. A well-planned work

flow also ensures that resources are optimized efficiently and makes the flow of work easier to

understand and follow. The flow of work also defines who is to undertake a particular activity

and responsibility in the hospital.

Conclusion

Basically, a well-planned workflow of activities is an important aspect of the hospital.

Additionally, effective communication between patients and the hospital forms the basis for the

success of the health institution. A telephone conversation with the patient should also be

engaging as possible to ensure the needs of the patient are met. Integration of technology in
WORKFLOW IN A HOSPITAL 6

communication also ensures that the hospital meets the needs of the patients effectively and on

time.
WORKFLOW IN A HOSPITAL 7

References

Gao, X., Xu, L., Wang, X., Li, Y., Yang, M., & Liu, Y. (2013). Workflow process modelling and

resource allocation based on polychromatic sets theory. Enterprise Information

Systems, 7(2), 198-226.

Cichocki, A., Ansari, H. A., Rusinkiewicz, M., & Woelk, D. (2012). Workflow and process

automation: concepts and technology (Vol. 432). Springer Science & Business Media.

Bradley, P. (2013). The history of simulation in medical education and possible future directions.

Medical Education, 40(3), 254-262. Retrieved February 2, 2013, from CINAHL Plus

with Full Text database.

Good, M. (2012). Patient simulation for training basic and advanced clinical skills. Medical

Education, 3714-21. Retrieved February 1, 2010, from CINAHL Plus with Full Text

database.

Gordon, C., & Buckley, T. (2009). The effect of high-fidelity simulation training on medical-

surgical graduate nurses' perceived ability to respond to patient clinical emergencies.

Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 40(11), 491-500. Retrieved February 1,

2010, from CINAHL Plus with Full Text database.

WORKFLOW IN A HOSPITAL 8