It is important to have a working team develop the workflow plan (WFP). The team must include staff directly involved in every step of the current workflow process. The leader must clearly define the scope of the task and how success will be measured. The leader then selects one process to be developed. The process might include all three phases or just concentrate on one phase. Sometimes starting with a WFP for the pre-examination phase and then developing the examination and post-examination phases later simplifies the process for the team. It is helpful to set goals that can be measured so the team can see successes. Reduction in non-value-added steps, reduction in turnaround time (TAT), decreased number of sample rejections, improved quality control (QC) stats, decreased provider complaints, less overtime, less sick leave, and improved quality assurance (QA) performance are some examples.
