The application of workflow control in colonoscopy department

Background: Health and longevity are pursued by many people. Colonoscopy examination is the most effective method for the early diagnosis of colorectal cancer. The use of painless colonoscopy can further increase patient safety, comfort, and satisfaction. Therefore, the “Examination Workflow Management” is an important index for achieving both patient safety and medical care quality. Methods: This research is of a prospective design that utilized observation, measurement, and analysis of “Examination Workflow Management” to improve the presented issues. A total of 145 patients were compared between before and after intervention periods. The interventions included examining instrument resources, allocating team staff, and inspecting scheduling procedure. Results: The direct observations included checking daily procedures, patient waiting duration, examination time, patient satisfaction, overall procedural duration, first examination delayed start time, room turnover time, total examined patient numbers and daily nurse overtime. The indirect observations included patient scheduling and appointment, scheduled patient cancellation rate, and staff satisfaction. Conclusions: “Examination Workflow Management”, the standard of medical center operating room, was utilized to achieve the goal, including allocating equipment resources and team staff members, reviewing patient scheduling, and evaluating patient satisfaction and unit efficiency. The 18 month-long continual observation, intervention, and correction indeed improved the quality of painless colonoscopy medical service in our medical institution.