Slide 28

Sample Process Map: Patient Discharge

Graphic: Image of swim lane diagram, identifying specific steps by role: Physician, Nurse, DA, Pharmacist.

Notes:

You may wish to build a high-level process map that differentiates who does what, by discipline. This is called a Cross-Functional Flow Map or a Swim Lanes Diagram. You can see that each discipline swims in its own swim lane and may not know or understand the redundancies that exist between the disciplines. Feel free to use any kind of process map that you are comfortable using. The key point is that you try to keep it simple and at a high level and do not get swamped in the details of variation across the units. Try to capture what happens 80 percent of the time on all units. It will be up to the team to think through what system breakdowns exist, where the communication handoffs fail, and how the process can be streamlined to ensure staff, patient, and family satisfaction.