Scheduling Workflow

Scheduling is not a workflow one normally associates with medical device connectivity. In some applications, scheduling is handled by software separate from the connectivity solution. Sometimes, scheduling is not done at all. In other applications, as we shall see, scheduling is so much a part of the broader workflow, that it’s hard to recognize as a scheduling task. Two illustrative aspects of scheduling will be discussed, scheduling for diagnostic modalities and scheduling for routine patient care tasks. Because it’s less understood (and frankly more interesting) we will look at scheduling for routine patient care tasks first. Patient Care Task Scheduling Patient care tasks encompass routine activities carried out by caregivers and/or aids. Examples of these routine tasks include vital signs collection, medication administration, bed turns (to avoid hospital acquired pressure ulcers, or HAPU), and respiratory circuit flushing (to avoid ventilator acquired pneumonia, VAP). These tasks must be completed at a predetermined frequency on a reliable basis or adverse events – including patient death – can result. While the scheduling workflow diagnostic tests is very medical device centric (getting the patient to the device), patient care task scheduling is more patient centric (as in ensuring that certain patient care tasks are completed). The order for these routine tasks come from the ordering physician in numerous ways. Often the actual patient care tas...
Source: Medical Connectivity Consulting - Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Tags: connectivity Patient Flow Patient Safety Source Type: blogs