Technologies in hospitals are becoming the norm for more and more facilities around the world. Using technology for normal clinical workflows allows hospitals to improve quality of care, increase throughput, reduce costs, and optimize the patient experience. (Glaser 2009).

Research was done at the Chester County Hospital in West Chester, PA to see how effective the use of technology to automate clinical workflow will go. Due to technology, the hospital saw an 82% decrease in hospital acquired Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA). There was a significant decrease in catheter-associated urinary tract infections and the hospital was able to have enhanced documentation of pre-existing pressure ulcers. All of this is because of the IT improvements the hospital.

The technology used for workflow has been an essential part in the healthcare IT industry. It is what makes process automation so strong. It builds a safety net around patient care processes and administrative processes (Glaser 2011). The automated process works well and relieves some pressures of workers. The system assists with decision-making, time management, and response to changes in patient information. Implementing workflow technology showed measurable improvements in the quality of patient care. Since 2003, Chester County Hospital has more than 75 clinical and support processes that are automated. This shows that IT can improve and modernize health care if a facility is willing to have a certain framework of extraordinary complexity and variability (Glaser 2011).
There are different levels that are included in this framework. A facility will first need rules and clinical decision support system alerts. This is a basic alerting system that prompts a notification that an action must be done. An example will be alerting a physician of a drug-drug interaction. The next level is the first step of automation and drives actions that help with process flow. Intelligence is essential in the level and most healthcare IT systems are not capable of processing this. Basic automation is the next level, which also includes work reduction. This includes completing forms, orders, and notes and moving them from manual to an automated process. As a result, work from workers will be taken away to ensure the required processes are fulfilled.
Global positioning system (GPS) is the next level and this basically guides users through the care process. This is where one will find the protocol for certain procedures. The GPS-plus level exceeds the GPS level in that human intervention is not needed. The final level is the “autopilot” level, which is when an entire function or process can be handled by the workflow system. The autopilot level is the gold standard for business process management.

A major concern at the Chester County Hospital (CCH) is patient safety; particularly with infections. Since MRSA has been receiving a lot of attention for the past several years, it has been a focal point of CCH to control. Developing a MRSA workflow lead to a reduction of MSRA infections and an increase in total awareness of other contagious infection workflow.

This study shows that the health care systems of today can benefit from workflow technology. It improves productivity and optimizes processes to enhance patient experience. The potential of uncovering the true value of healthcare IT can be obtained through workflow technology.

Reference:

Glaser, J., & Hess, R. (2011). leveraging healthcare IT to improve operational performance. Hfm (Healthcare Financial Management), 65(2), 82-85.