An important element of a medical practice workflow is Order Tracking.
When Providers order labs, radiology, etc, a practice must follow up at least twice to ensure that results are received or there is some follow-up action taken.
In a technology solution that drives a practice, I frequently see questions related to the ability to ‘task’ someone with a responsibility to take some action.
This is where the process versus technology debate comes in.
When you ‘task’ or message someone to do something, that is like walking over to your staff and saying, ‘Can you take care of this’?
Let me illustrate this. There may be an eFax queue where lab results come in, or they come in electronically via lab connection. Someone needs to look at these results. Someone needs to determine if the doctor should be looking at these or if they are normal. Next comes the determination to call or inform the patient and whether or not the patient must be called in for a visit. Finally, any comments must be entered to close out the test.
