The Integrated redesigned workflow to reduce delay in postpartum mothers

STAR T
Obstetrician Reception and evaluation of the pregnant mother Delivery room Pregnant Mother admitted for delivery. No discharge Baby and/or mothers health is not okay Obstetrician room Mothers health is checked Postpartum room

Pediatrician room Checks baby

Additio nal medical care Laborator y and pharmacy Tets and vaccines Dischar ge Both the child and mother well C.O.W and mother interview Transport if necessary

END

The integrated e workflow steps

Pregnant mother is received by the obstetrician. Mother proceeds for check up. Mother proceeded to delivery room. Mother is admitted in the beds after delivery.

 The pediatrician checks the baby and the mother to confirm if they are

okay.
Mother and baby proceed to postpartum room to give way for new

patients.
Babys and mothers health is checked to confirm if its fit for discharge

by the pediatrician.
If baby and mother are both okay then the discharge process begins. If mother or baby is not okay then they proceed for further treatment. They then proceed to the laboratory for the baby to be checked and

the vaccines given

Eventually the discharge process is initiated. Records taken to computer for saving and computer issues discharge

order form.
Transport is organized if necessary. Mother and child are discharged.

Detailed explanation Improving a workflow is necessary since it has been proven to maximize efficiency, minimize waste in both time and resources and improve morale of work (Maholta and Jordan, 2005). The above workflow has been

improved by identifying and eliminating wasted time. Several factors have been put into consideration in redesigning the workflow. In the previous design the patient was to be evaluated postpartum by the physician and the patient who is ready for discharge has discharge orders placed via the computer on wheels. The nurse would then provide the patient with discharge order instructions and determine if transportation was necessary for the postpartum patient. Al l these processes and others caused delays in the discharge process making incoming patients wait for long before they are attended to. However the new design is aimed at eliminating causes of delay in the workflow. Other causes identified included the social network transport arrangements that could result in patients staying in the hospital longer than expected. Communication delays could also occur in contacting the pharmacy if the patient decides she wanted hepatitis injection for the baby. The workflow commences by the patient being received at the obstetrician room where the pregnant mother gets examined to determine her condition. The patient then together with the obstetrician proceeds to the delivery room for the delivery of the baby. Ones the delivery has been successfully carried out, the mother is moved to the postpartum room to give room for new patients. From here the pediatrician should take over the care for the baby while the obstetrician continues to check the mother. Since during delivery mother may lose blood they are diagnosed if they would

need any blood transfusion to replenish any excessive blood lost (Waster and Doram , 2006). The results of the examination of the mother and the baby determine the next course of action for the patient and the baby. If the both are okay then they proceed to the pharmacy and laboratory where the baby is given all the necessary vaccines and injections. They can then proceed to the discharge room and the mother should give information about the experience in the hospital. The method of information collection would be through electronics means to minimize time spent by the patient in the information room. Electronic documentation is more efficient and fast (Payne and Graham, 2006). After there they proceed to be issued with discharge form and proceed out of the hospital. On the other hand, should any of them be diagnosed and confirmed not to be fit then the issuance of discharge is halted. They proceed for further treatment depending on the problem identified. The patients are

treated with multiple medications to suppress disease progression and mollify an array of symptoms ( Unert and Weiner, 2006 ). They must remain there until they are confirmed to be completely well for discharge. After that they can be discharged. The redesigned workflow is more efficient as it would reduce the problem of unavailability of bed in the labor and delivery unit as well as postpartum unit. Since it has handled the delay that would be in the issuance

of discharge orders, the process would be faster and more convenient ( Amatayakul, 2011, pg 3). The issue of delay due to patients waiting for transport would reduce since it would be an option that is done upon necessity otherwise the patients would just leave by their means. The clearance of the newborns by the pediatricians all at ones, would as well be removed hence accelerating discharge process. The pediatricians would carry out checks on each child at a time and issue the discharge order hence making the process faster. Further medical checkup would be a separate process after discharge.

References Amatayakul, M. (2011, March). Why workflow redesign alone is not enough for EHR success. Healthcare Financial Management, 130-132. Malhotra, S., Jordan, D., & Patel, V. L. (2005). Workflow modeling in critical care: Piecing your own puzzle. American Medical Informatics Associations Annual Symposium Proceedings, 480484. Retrieved June 2, 2011 from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1560654/

Payne, T. H., & Graham, G. (2006). Managing the life cycle of electronic clinical documents. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 13(4),

438445. Retrieved June 2, 2011 fromhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1513669/ Unertl, K. M., Weinger, M. B., & Johnson K. B. (2006). Applying direct observation to model workflow and assess adoption. AMIA Annual Symposium Proceedings, 794798. Retrieved June 2, 2011 from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1839698/ Wurster, M., & Doran, T. (2006). Anticoagulation management: A new approach. Disease Management 9(4), 201-209.